We

Album: I, I (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • Longtime Bon Iver collaborator Brad Cook co-wrote and co-produced this song with Justin Vernon. He told Apple Music "We" was a song idea that he and Vernon were unsure what to do with when they were working on I, I in Wisconsin. When they moved onto Sonic Ranch in Texas to complete the record, they asked several different people to have a go at trying to make something out of the song. Eventually, Big Thief producer Andrew Sarlo "took the whack that broke through the wall." Vernon then completed the track by adding some acoustic elements.
  • Like many Bon Iver songs, the lyrics are difficult to decipher, but Justin Vernon seems to be addressing those who haven't figured out that President Trump "is not what you've been sold."

    I'm coming over for another story told
    I'm saying homie that it's not what you been sold
    It's hardly what you'd know


    The penultimate track of I, I, "Sh'diah", is a more direct attack on Trump (the title is an acronym for "shi---est day in American history"). "If you could drop an MDMA cloud on the White House, just maybe he would have empathy," Vernon told Pitchfork. "But we don't want to make the mistake of sending all our energy to this one guy. He's just a metaphor. He's a black hole."

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