Wash.

I think this song is about every young person's desire to break away from the society they were born in and seek out their own modern opinion, or style. Eau Claire was the town Justin Vernon grew up in, so it seems appropriate. "Climb is all we know" (All youth starts out at the very beginning) "When thaw is not below us" (Thawing, like settling out) "No can't grow up in that iron ground" (Young opinions can't take root in a place where everybody already has their own strong opinions) "Bet is hardly shown" (Differences in thinking are not apparent) "...like they stole it, and oh how they hold it" (Elders keep differences locked up)

"I'm growing like the quickening hues" (As he discovers the world around him, hues light up) "I'm telling darkness from lines on you" (He's realizing parts of his identity that had not been apparent before) "over havens fora full and swollen morass, young habitat! all been living alone, where the ice snap and the hold clast are known" (Life is growing where everything else is static)

"home we're savage high come we finally cry oh and we don it because it's right Claire, I was too sore for sight" (When he finally finds himself, he is at the end of a long hard journey)

"I... we're sewing up through the latchet greens I... un-peel keenness, honey, bean for bean" (He's rebuilding what he knows about basic morality) "same white pillar tone as with the bone street sand is thrown where she stashed us at all been living alone, where the cracks at in the low part of the stoning"(He's discovering the society has a fatal flaw at its roots)

In Q Magazine, he says "Wash. could be Washington state. Really it's about the March rains in Eau Claire, which wash the snow away."

One of my favorites! This song, along with so many other Bon Iver songs, need to be felt. I think interpretation of lyrics will always be to personalized and subjective because of the vagueness of some of the lyrics. But to add something new (I think), the second last verse seems to me to be talking about returning home after having grown immensely and having a different position in some way.

Bon Iver's songs are best served on a good winter day! They have really lived up to their name. :)

A lot of references to not being able to grow because of the winter freeze, but then, when things do finally warm and thaw... well "over havens fora full and swollen morass, young habitat!" sort of says it all.

Beautiful song. Maybe it's about the inevitable decay of a relationship where the issues finally come to the surface... ("cracks at in the low part of the stoning")

Unreal.

just gorgeous. so appreciative of the leak but everyone go buy the album! when i first heard this i thought he was talking about his hometown, eau claire. who knows. its just beautiful.

Are these the official lyrics? I hear at least a few things differently and am unsure whether it's his pronunciation.

What I hear:

Claire is all we know when [thought/thaw] is not below us no, can't grow up in that iron ground Claire, all too sore for sound

bed is hardly shown scraped across the foam like they stole it and, oh, how they hold it

Claire, we nearly forfeit

I'm grown like the quickening hues I'm telling darkness from lines on you over havens for a full and swollen morass, your habitat! I'll be living alone, where the ice snap and the hold clast are known

home we're savage high come we finally cry oh and we done it because it's right Claire, eyes too sore for sight

We're sown up through latchet greens Un-peel keenness, honey, bean for bean same white pillar tone as with the bone street sand is thrown where she stashed a sack I'll be living alone, where the [crack sat/crack's at] in the low part of the stone

I think it definitely about the relationship one has with their own hometown. I can especially relate here, because I'm from a small town in Nodak. The way the town is personified rings very true. I believe that the place where you grow up, will become a very strong character in your life, for better or worse. The feelings always end up being somewhere between love and hate.

"climb is all we know when thaw is not below us no, can't grow up in that iron ground Claire, all too sore for sound"

I think this part of the song is about people trying to rise up out of home and never quite making it. From my experience, the people who never moved past their town, were never really able to leave their comfort zones and do anything with themselves. Sometimes I wonder what my friends would be like in a different setting. There is a certain sadness that moves in after to many winters in freezing flatlands.

There's something Justin says right at the end of Wash. that I can't get my head across to what he actually says or what the lyrics to it are, but right around 4:04 he wails out (and in my mind) it sounds like he says “There’s nothing else to loose, give us the pride…give us the pride” Or something along those lines, does anyone know what he says?

Did anyone notice that there is a rhythm that sounds like ice cracking in the background? Totally stunning effect.