So far this year, no other song has come close to this one for me. I was immediately drawn to it the first time I heard it, and not too long after that I lost a close childhood friend to suicide just after dealing with some other intense personal issues. I was scared and I was heartbroken and I had little to turn to for comfort, except for this song. Though the lyrics on Bon Iver’s latest album are quite cryptic, there was something about Holocene that really gave me such deep assurance, and I listened to this song literally hundreds of times during those weeks, which were some of the hardest of my life. The song feels desolate, but at the same time I felt a glimmer of hope from it every time I hit play. Some nights tears streaked my eyes and I stared out blankly into the black street, numb and grieving, but this song reminded me that it was okay to feel.

The official video is now out and though the imagery here is nothing much like what I see when I hear the song, it’s absolutely beautiful. A young boy explores the Icelandic wilderness on his own, sometimes looking scared and lost, other times looking completely liberated. The scenery is truly breathtaking in this video, from ice-capped glaciers to vast, moss-covered mountains and endless lakes. He is alone, but he is free, and as the video ends he closes his eyes, completely at peace. For me the song lives in a darker place than this because of its associations, but this video does it justice despite the fact that it’s not necessarily my interpretation.

I encourage everyone to listen to the song and watch the video and make what they will of both. The beauty of these ambiguous lyrics is that each individual will take something different away from them, and for me, this song was as close as I’ve ever come to a saviour.

Rachel – this will always be your song for me, even though you never heard it. I hope wherever you are is as beautiful as the places this video takes me.

My very valid question is – why, in my own state of not-marital-but-happy-in-a-long-term-relationship bliss, am I inexplicably drawn to sad songs by artists I don’t normally listen to? These two have been swirling around and around in my head for the last couple of weeks and both stir something up inside of me that I can’t quite explain. I suppose there’s a reason why people are driven to write so much more about heartbreak than anything else – I know myself that some of my own creative bursts have been inspired by similar things, and it’s easier to write about being hopelessly sad than it is to write about being happy, because really, how many ways can you rewrite a smiley face?

For a while on my iTunes I had a playlist of sad songs, prepared for any kind of break up or heartbreak that might be lurking around the corner. Don’t have that anymore, but every once in a while I’ll pop on Elliott or I Know It’s Over by The Smiths, as a reminder of the very raw centre of music. And hey, sometimes I’ll have a sneaky cry, even though I’ve got nothing much to cry about. Not too afraid to admit that I tear up a bit every time that god forsaken Adele song comes on in the shops, even though it’s been quite a while since I could relate. I’m one of them, aren’t I?

And on the topic of relationships, mine hits the two year mark in a week or so. We listen to things like Belle & Sebastian together, and he’s not such an Elliott fan. Probably a good influence.

It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of the Revolution Festival.

Tickets purchased online will be refunded automatically as soon as it can be processed. If you purchased from an outlet, refunds will be available next week from point of purchase.

So reads one of the most personally devastating music-related press releases of the year. While a lot of the music I write about on this blog isn’t what Soundwave normally covers, I was extraordinarily excited to go to the festival in September and see some of my favourite bands from my teenage years – Sum 41, Dashboard Confessional, Yellowcard and The Used, to name just a few – as well as more recent favourites, like Kevin Devine. It was truly an impressive line up, one that caused me to think that Soundwave had really outdone itself. Unfortunately that seems to be the case.

Rumour is running rampant about the real reasons behind the cancellation. We’ve been told that it’s because a headliner (Van Halen) pulled out, and a second co-headliner, due to be revealed in the twice-postponed second announcement (rumoured to be either Aerosmith or Limp Bizkit), also pulled out. It seems that the Soundwave team has pushed forward the statement that although it would have been more financially profitable to go on with the festival anyway, they weren’t willing to put an incomplete, or “inferior”, festival out there. To me this smacks of complete falsehood – out of the 60 or so other bands on the line up, surely people were attending for more than just the headliners – but it looks like this is the final word, and it’s a damn shame.

Word from the promoters is that “mini festivals” will be planned for each city, possibly one for metal bands and one for punk bands. I’m intrigued to see where this goes, and to see which bands will still be appearing. Most of all, the price tag on these mini festivals is a matter of great speculation – will they carry the same $170 demand, or will we be paying less for less bands? Part of the fun of a festival for me is checking out bands I’d never pay to see headline their own show – I was quite looking forward to seeing Van Halen and Hole, in particular – so I wonder how much of the festival experience will be lost with these new boutique line ups.

I attended the first two Soundwave festivals in Sydney, in 2007 and 2008. I have some wonderful memories from both, but also some extremely unpleasant ones – missing bands because of inordinately long lines for water, timetable shuffles that weren’t notified to anybody, a complete lack of signage at the actual venue… From the very start Soundwave has had organisational problems, and as much as I hate to say it, the cancellation of the Revolution festival is, while disappointing, not so surprising. It’s become routine for bands to drop out of Soundwave – it’s a very strange festival indeed if that doesn’t happen – and it’s incredibly upsetting that it’s come to this, the canning of a festival that possibly held a lot of promise, even if it was only supposed to be a one off event.

Looking forward, one of the worries on many music lovers’ minds at the moment is what this means for the upcoming Harvest, Soundwave’s new indie-orientated festival featuring Portishead, Bright Eyes, The National and more. It’s a completely amazing line up and I’ve already got my ticket, but right from the announcement of this new festival I was already trembling – what if Soundwave continued its streak? What if bands cancelled last minute, as they’ve been known to? We can only speculate for now, but as November draws closer we’ll be more in the know.