Arts: The Music Club, 2011

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The Music Club The Music Club, 2011 Is the worst poet in the history of pop music the guy from Bon Iver? By Jody Rosen Posted Wednesday, Dec 28, 2011, at 10:33 PM ET Jonah, Ann, Nitsuh, Carl, I'd planned to spend some time this entry taking a whack at Bon Iver, but Carl has done the dirty work for me. I'll simply second what Carl said: Justin Vernon can obviously make pretty sounds, but his marble-mouthed singing, and the drooping-wet-sock formlessness of his songs, are maddening. As for the lyrics, they're gibberish: Christmas night, it clutched the light, the hallow bright above my brother, I and tangled spines we smoked the screen to make it what it was to be now to know it in my memory: … and at once I knew I was not magnificent high above the highway aisle (jagged vacance, thick with ice) I could see for miles, miles, miles When I hear that song—and I do, most mornings, at my local espresso joint—I wonder: Is Vernon the worst poetaster in the history of popular music? Is he simply incapable of writing a lyric that makes sense—that tells a story, conveys a recognizable human emotion, in English or Elvish or any other language? Maybe, but you have to hand it to the guy: He's gobbeldygooked his way to glory. I don't understand, though, how critics can give Vernon a pass—can fail to demand a semblance of meaning from songs delivered with such shuddering self-importance. Not everyone can be Jay-Z or Rhymin' Simon. But at a certain point we need to stick up for the Five Ws, or we may as well ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate South Hadley Reveals How Much It Paid Phoebe Prince's Family in Settlement Why Was There So Much Whistling in Pop This Year? The Incredibly Vicious Dishwasher Wars of 2011	Advertisement
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