Front man Justin Vernon explained the song title in an interview with Mojo : " It 's partly named after the ( geological ) era , but it 's also the name of a bar in Portland where I had a dark night of the soul . " He also stated that " the title is a metaphor for when you 're not doing well . But it 's also a song about redemption and realizing that you 're worth something ; that you 're special and not special at the same time . " The music video , directed by Nabil Elderkin , was filmed in the region of Vik in Iceland with a Red Camera . It features a blonde Icelandic boy waking up and roaming around the island 's volcanic landscape and glaciers , equipped with just a walking stick . Since the lyrics of " Holocene " describe the idea that the self is part of something greater , the music video highlights the expansive landscapes in contrast to the boy . The video was debuted on the National Geographic Channel . In January 2012 , music video blog Yes , We 've Got a Video ! ranked it at number 10 in their top 30 videos of 2011 , saying that the video " should serve as proof that the art of the music video is not dead . " The song was highly acclaimed by critics . Pitchfork Media named it as the second best song of 2011 , saying " the rising and falling chord changes create a sense of motion that develops throughout the whole song , a tide-like ebb and flow that ends with an abrupt denouement , so swift it withholds almost as much pleasure as it yields . " Rolling Stone ranked it as the 22nd best single of 2011 , simply stating that " ' Holocene ' takes sensitive-guy poetry somewhere sublime . " The song also won 2nd place in Stereogum 's annual Gummy Awards . It was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards , but lost both to Adele 's " Rolling in the Deep " . It was voted 52nd in the 2011 Triple J Hottest 100
54th Annual Grammy Awards
54th Annual Grammy Awards
Holocene (song)