Two Songs

“Woods” by Bon Iver

Whenever I listen to this song, specific memories replay themselves in my head. This nostalgic ode to the healing powers of the wilderness, and of solitude itself, reminds me of a backpacking trip in northern California that made me who I am today. More specifically, it reminds me of how I discovered my one constancy, the most important aspect of my life: nature. The dramatic buildup of “Woods” forces me to recall my initial realization that I belong away from the consciously created clutter of humanity’s modern civilization. This is the only piece of art that, I believe, could possibly come close to reducing me to tears. I do not particularly enjoy art, nor do I find catharsis through artistic mediums, but this song nearly does the trick.

“Yawny At The Apocalypse” by Andrew Bird

This song, too, conjures up fairly specific memories and the emotions intertwined with them. The high-pitched violins and droning cellos create a tension that is all too familiar to me. It reminds me of instances when I have felt like the embodiment of freedom. One would think that freedom ought to feel loose and devoid of constraints, but I have come to realize that it is quite the opposite. Looseness is more accurately attributed to oppression and control. Under control, you are directed by an outside force, as if floating on a raft amidst an ocean or river. The tides and currents remove any semblance of personal control; you are flowing. Freedom is quite the opposite. Freedom is taught, a feeling of internal energy. Within freedom, everything is a possibility and, because of that, the individual is filled with choice, and choice is an unstable, quivering feeling.

This song does a remarkable job of recreating the invigoratingly tense feeling of freedom that I feel most of the time, but most acutely in specific situations, for example, when I fall asleep beneath the stars and wake to the chirping of birds, greeted by the warm rays of morning Sun. In those instances, I realize that all I must do is live, and I don’t even have to do that if I don’t want to.

These two songs both reveal the same aspect of my personal aesthetic. My personal aesthetic seems to be dependent on my personal experiences. For me, art does not conjure up abstractions or singular emotions, but specific events and emotions with a context.