YMMV / Bon Iver

• Bizarro Episode: 22, A Million is by far the least insular of Bon Iver's albums.
• Colbert Bump: They received one from Kanye West in 2010, when he sampled "Woods" for his song "Lost in the World" from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Justin Vernon also contributed new vocals to both that album and to Yeezus.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Song version. "Perth," "Flume," "Beth/Rest," and "The Wolves (Act I and II)" aren't singles but are fan favorites and get played live at most concerts.
• Epic Riff: "Perth," "Towers," "Beth/Rest."
• Everyone Is Satan in Hell: Believe it or not, a large number of the band's more religious fans are sorely convinced that Justin Vernon is now a member of The Illuminati after the release of the lyric videos for "33 "GOD"" and "666 ʇ".
• Friendly Fandoms: With Kanye West. Thanks to their several collaborations, much of Vernon's and Kanye's fanbases overlap.
• I Am Not Shazam: Even though the band has a set lineup now, Justin Vernon still gets called "Bon Iver" sometimes.
• Lady Mondegreen: When Bon Iver won a Grammy for "best new artist", many fans of the other nominated artists were confused over just who this "Bonny Bear" was. By coincidence, there happened to be a children's educational series called Bonnie Bear — YouTube videos of the show started getting inundated with joking comments about the fictional animated bear's supposed Grammy win.
• Magnum Opus Dissonance: Slightly downplayed; Vernon has gone on record as saying that "Flume" is the best song that he's ever written, and considering the song's fan-favorite status, it seems his opinion doesn't stray too far from the public's.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Despite the heavy industrial influences on 22, A Million, the album is actually filled with this, such as the backing distorted vocalizations in "22 (OVER S∞∞N)" that make up much of the main beat, the filtering in "715 - CR∑∑KS" or the distorted crescendo of "29 #Strafford APTS".
• Narm Charm: "Beth/Rest" embodies this, making use of so many 80s cliches that it would seem horrible on paper. So why is it so damn moving? Nobody knows.
  • Several reviewers actually theorized that the entire album was arranged to build up to it.
• Nightmare Fuel: "It might... be o... ver soon."
• Refrain from Assuming:
  • Somewhere, somebody thinks that "Holocene" is called "I Was Not Magnificent," or something along those lines.
  • It's called "Skinny Love," not "My My My."
  • It's called "The Wolves," not "What Might Have Been Lost."
  • It's pretty easy to assume that "Minnesota, WI" is actually called "Never Gonna Break."
• Signature Song: "Skinny Love" and "Holocene."
• Tear Jerker:
  • "Re: Stacks," the climax of "The Wolves (Acts I & II)," "Beth/Rest," "Perth," "Skinny Love," and "Hinnom, TX.," not to mention "Holocene" and "Towers," which can induce Tears of Joy.
  • "Calgary" is probably one of the most haunting songs of the bunch.
  • If you listen VERY closely at the end of "Re: Stacks" (after the sound of Vernon standing up and walking away), you can hear him pick up a phone, sit there for a few seconds with the dial tone, then hang up. As if the song wasn't already heartbreaking enough.
  • "Woods". The entire song is overwhelmingly beautiful, but it's around the two-minute mark that it really takes off. But then, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, he starts to just scream the lyrics, and that's when it becomes too much.
  • From 22, A Million, there's "8 (circle)" and "00000 Million."
• Wangst: AVERTED. One would think an album called For Emma, Forever Ago would be filled with this, but somehow it isn't.

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