Bon Iver Songs Ranked

Bon Iver (/boʊn iːˈvɛər/) is an American indie-folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver’s debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was recorded while Vernon spent three months isolated in a cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. In 2012, the band won Grammy Awards for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album for their eponymous album Bon Iver. They released their third album 22, A Million to critical acclaim in 2016, which was followed by their fourth album i,i in 2019. The name “Bon Iver” derives from the French phrase bon hiver (French pronunciation: ​[bɔn‿ivɛːʁ]) (“good winter”), taken from a greeting on Northern Exposure. It is pronounced “Bonn-ee-vair”. Here are all of the Bon Iver songs ranked.

Don’t miss out on the music of Bon Iver below! Click to enjoy their chart-topping songs that became a worldwide hit!

20. Minnesota, Wi (Bon Iver, Bon Iver, 2011)

“Minnesota, WI” makes it almost seem as if the first song was a false impression of the album’s trajectory, starting up from scratch, wounded and concerned with winter and scriptures.”

19. 22 (Over Soon) (22, A Million, 2016)

“A suffocatingly fragile opening track. The constant C# with such a warm tone and a cold timbre that it becomes the very definition of juxtaposition. Blossoming like the petals of a blue hydrangea swaying in the crisp, winter breeze, clean guitar tones soon come soaring over the now saxophone-laden landscape.”

18. Flume (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2007)

“Inventive cover of a great song. “Flume” is one of the best tracks on the Scratch My Back album. Bon Iver’s answer is pretty good as well, but it doesn’t have the bite of Peter’s interpretation.”

17. Creature Fear (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2007)

“His instrumental chops are unquestionable; where little on this record is terribly technical, a lot of it is dynamically purposeful, like the switching between thumbed and picked strums on “Creature Fear.”

See more: Bon Iver Albums Ranked

16. 8 (Circle) (22, A Million, 2016)

“The once jarring and unnerving saxophones on the previous track are now soothing and droning, as if windmills powering a distant city ever so gently and effortlessly. This track is passing through a threshold, living at the height of a drug trip, deciding whether or not to help a person in need, trying to recall amazing memories… (at this point in my writing, tears roll down my face as this song fades in and out of consciousness in the background).”

15. 715 (Creeks) (22, A Million, 2016)

“Whenever I hear “715 – CR∑∑KS”, every emotion becomes numb, every bodily movement halts, and Justin Vernon’s auto tune-soaked vocals become the only palpable instance, the only fleeting moment, the only possible thing to comfort, console, delight, depress, relieve, refresh, sooth, and encourage.”

14. 29 #Strafford APTS (22, A Million, 2016)

“29 #Strafford APTS” is also one of those songs that just becomes a loss of words, a jumble of thoughts too dense and too mangled to cleanse the very innards of my being. A melancholic guitar ballad, the track itself is very subtle in the way it presents in bare, fragile emotions.”

13. Roslyn (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, 2009)

“Much more of a folk/indie sound than I would have imagined with a film series that is so popular.  It’s a very good soundtrack, offering an increasingly mature atmosphere over the first movie.”

12. Beth/Rest (Bon Iver, Bon Iver 2011)

“‘Beth/Rest’ probably is the most improbable track from Bon Iver’s self-titled. The dense atmosphere, the sax, the romantic guitars, the stereophonic falsetto… It has everything to go wrong. And, still, this is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in a few years! It is one of Bon Iver’s best moments. The reason? I dunno, the soul is a complicated thing. But every time I listen to this one, I feel like my soul is being caressed.”

11. The Wolves (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2007)

“To hear Vernon plea for space in the climax of “The Wolves” or work his way around images of heavy stones and spilled blood is to feel those moments of loss within you, to find your scars softened and turned ruddy.”

10. I Can’t Make You Love Me (Bon Iver, Bon Iver, 2011)

“Completely brilliant, so very moving and compelling. The lyrics are phenomenal as always, but Bon Iver’s ability to tell a story in 4 minutes is incredible. “I close my eyes, so then I won’t see, the love you don’t feel, when you’re holding me.”

9. 33 – “God” (22, A Million, 2016)

“I’m definitely not a religious person, but “33 ‘GOD'” makes me ponder and prod at my own spirituality. With vocoded samples of old, religious country songs draped over these heavenly piano chords, to be blunt, it’s hard for me to describe this track. So transcendental, so cathartic, so grand, so realistic.”

8. Towers (Bon Iver, Bon Iver, 2011)

“Towers” is the first upbeat song, complete with a catchy riff that Death Cab for Cutie will be pissed they didn’t think of first.  When the drums come in the song takes off, soaring as a bright spot on an already bright album.”

7. Perth (Bon Iver, Bon Iver, 2011)

“Perth” opens with those Bon Iver falsettos mixed with Vernon’s deeper register. The lo-fi produced keys accent as the song builds with an eventual double bass pedal filling in the background. Vernon has called this his heavy metal song, but no worries: the song is not a face melter. Rather, it uses things like double bass pedals as a way to uplift the listener.”

See more: Bon Jovi Albums Ranked

6. Calgary (Bon Iver, Bon Iver., 2011)

“Single “Calgary” is a great representation for the album, which makes it a well-chosen single, but it does a lot more in context of the album. “Calgary,” up until this point, feels the most stuck in the 1980s.”

5. Blood Bank (Blood Bank, 2009)

“On “Blood Bank”, Vernon asks the question “what’s that noise up the stairs, babe? Is that Christmas morning creaks?” It’s a wonderfully universal image which, regardless of the context in which it is packaged after the deceivingly complex consideration preceding it in the lyrics mentioned earlier, can be nothing but positive, one of true anticipation for whatever is advancing up or down that staircase.”

4. For Emma (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2007)

“The horn arrangement on here really adds a beautiful new layer to his sound. Having seen them perform this at Red Rocks last summer I can say that this is probably the highlight of their live set.”

3. Re: Stacks (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2007)

“As briefly mentioned before and as many people have experienced, this album especially helped through various relationships that happened at various stages in my life. For a long time, I, like many others have and probably still do, settled into all of the earlier songs on the album in times like these to fulfill that feeling of someone understanding that pain of all sorts of loss. But as time has gone on, my perspective has changed and has since allowed the beauty of “Re: Stacks” to settle.”

2. Holocene (Bon Iver, Bon Iver, 2011)

“Like the best moments of For Emma, “Holocene” evokes an icy atmosphere. However, where Bon Iver’s earlier work had done so with hushed vocals and stark production, “Holocene” projects its wintry sound through crystalline arpeggios and baroque instrumentation. Ultimately, what made it such an engaging track was the fact that underneath those instrumental flourishes was a song every bit as affecting as any on Bon Iver’s acclaimed debut.”

1. Skinny Love (For Emma, Forever Ago, 2007)

“Most of the best songwriters born since 1980 have emerged in the field of folk: Joanna Newsom, Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes foremost amongst them. Perhaps Gen X’s explorations of guitar noise and electronic soundscapes had gone about as far as they could, sending those who followed back towards something more elemental and rootsy. But it now seems that the era of the 00s folk revival has long since peaked. Nothing which has followed it has been as impressive in terms of songwriting chops.”