Christmas Unicorn

Maybe the answer is there :

Aside from loving basically everything that Sufjan put out on Silver and Gold (not to mention everything he’s ever done), I was struck by the last song on the album: “Christmas Unicorn.” The song over 12 minutes long and carries an intriguing message about the nature of Christmas. As we would expect from Sufjan, the lyrics are simultaneously playful and deep, communicative and yet elusive (and allusive).

The song begins:

I’m a Christmas unicorn In a uniform made of gold With a billy goat beard And a sorcerer’s shield And mistletoe on my nose

We see from the first words that Sufjan is mixing categories that don’t appear to belong together. What has Christmas to do with unicorns? What do either of these have to do with billy goats and sorcerer’s shields? He continues:

Oh I’m a Christian holiday I’m a symbol of original sin I’ve a pagan tree and magical wreath And a bowtie on my chin Oh I’m a pagan heresy I’m a tragical Catholic shrine I’m a little bit shy with a lazy eye And a penchant for sublime Oh I’m a mystical apostasy I’m a horse with a fantasy twist Though I play all night with my magical kite People say I don’t exist

Category confusion. That seems to be what Sufjan is implying. Many of our Christian Christmas traditions do indeed have pagan roots. Sufjan sees these elements combined and highlights the oddity of a single holiday that manages to nod to each of these diverse traditions. He adds later:

Oh I’m hysterically American I’ve a credit card on my wrist And I have no home nor field to roam I will curse you with my kiss Oh I’m a criminal pathology With a history of medical care I’m frantic shopper and a brave pill popper And they say my kind are rare

Now we have American consumerism, which results in the stress of frantic shopping, thrown into the mix. What are we to make of all of this? Sufjan’s unicorn explains:

For I make no full apology For the category I reside I’m a mythical mess with a treasury chest I’m a construct of your mind

Sufjan Jumbled ChristmasOur Christmas season is a jumbled mess of categories. So many sectors of our modern society look at the same holiday and see very different things. Is this good or bad? The song ends with the affirming refrain: “It’s alright! I love you!”

Sufjan’s view of Christmas is explained in the album’s artwork (which includes a fine essay about the eschatological connotations of the advent season by the protestant pastor Vito Aiuto (of The Welcome Wagon) and an essay on the meaning of the Christmas tree written by Sufjan himself). Why does Sufjan enjoy Christmas even with its jumble of traditions and connotations? I will quote a significant chunk of his answer because I think it can help all of us think through the Christmas season:

In spite of my best judgment, in spite of public opinion, in spite of common decency, in spite of seasonal affective disorder, mental disease and Christmas fatigue, I’ve continued the musical tradition (ever onward forever amen), in pursuing all the inexplicable songs of the holidays, season after season (without rhyme or reason), relentlessly humming, strumming, finger-picking, ivory-tickling, finger-licking, soul-searching, fact-finding, corporate ladder-climbing, magic hatter rabbit hiding, rapping, slapping, super-sizing, miming, grinding, flexing, perplexing, plucking and strumming all the celestial strings of merriment with utmost Napoleonic fever. This tradition will not die.

What is it about Christmas music that continues to agitate my aging heartstrings? Is it the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen? Or the boundless Potential Energy inherent in this bastard holiday so fitfully exploited, subverted, confounded, expounded, adopted and adapted with no regard for decency. Christ­mas is what you make of it, and its songs reflect mystery and magic as expertly as they clatter and clang with the most audacious and rambunctious intonations of irrever­ence. And all its silly-putty, slippery-slope, slap-dash menagerie of subject matter (be it Baby Jesus or Babes in Toyland) readily yields itself to the impudent whims of its contemporary benefactors, myself included.

Though Jesus is who he is, and his birth signifies what it signifies, Sufjan is right to point out that the Christmas season is what we make of it. Some choose to ignore Jesus at Christmas, and that’s their prerogative. Many of us claim that Christmas is about Jesus, yet behave as though it’s about consumerism and Starbucks’ seasonal beverages. Christmas is what we make of it.

But at its best, Christmas reflects “mystery and magic.” It seems our society as a whole has a sense that this is true, and this shows up in stories about Santa Claus, elves, Jack Frost, and an endearing red-nosed reindeer. It also shows up in a beautiful (true) story of a Creator who mysteriously appeared in a manger, was worshipped by shepherds and kings, and eventually went on to save the world. That’s magic if I’ve ever seen it.

Well it's a little bit complex and theological but this song is a masterpiece and a twelve minutes trip with good neutral headphones

From December 19, 2012 ↔ 1 comment Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas Unicorn Mark Beuving in facultyblog.eternitybiblecollege.com/2012/12/sufjan-stevens-christmas-unicorn/