| Aimee Mann – Wise Up Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Um, I think alcoholism is a big part of the song. But I think it's more general than that, also considering Aimee wrote it specifically for the film. | |
| Nina Simone – Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| My favourite. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Excerpt taken from: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/interviews/s/stevens_sufjan-04/ ---------------------------------------------------------- Pitchfork: Given that the Famile has such a strong and specific religious component to what they do, did you have to acclimate yourself to that in some way, in order to be comfortable being out on tour with them? Sufjan: Well, they're a Christian family, and I'm a Christian. That was already inherent. I think it would be very difficult-- but not impossible-- to be playing in that band, performing some of the music, that material and that content, if you didn't have a similar kind of ideology. We are characteristically and aesthetically very different. And even our liturgies-- we're ecumenically very different, because I'm more Episcopalian and they're more non-denominational. Pitchfork: Seven Swans spurred a lot of interesting conversation about Christian themes in rock and folk music. Especially about how those songs are generally received so differently than a gospel song or a hip-hop track, and the racial implications of that-- how black gospel can be haphazardly glorified, while white Christian rock is almost unilaterally vilified. Maybe it's as simple as rock fans having a real, instinctual aversion to the religious components. Which in some ways is really natural-- to be distrustful of any kind of art that feels too didactic or overtly instructional. There's a big fear of Christian music out there. Sufjan: I haven't really heard that. I know what you're saying about the stereotypes and the prejudices against certain kinds of Christian music. And the criticism is often just against the aesthetic, the artistry, the lack of substance in a lot of Christian pop music. That's really easy to deconstruct. Why is black gospel music accepted and enjoyed by people of all religions? I don't know. There might be a little bit of racism inherent in that. I don't know-- you'd have to be a cultural theorist. But I do have to reckon with the material I'm singing about. And I want to be responsible for what I'm singing about. But I can't be responsible for an entire culture, or an entire church. I can't be responsible for Christendom, and all of its messes and all of its destruction and all of its mistakes. That's not my burden to bear. I think that when people react reflexively to material that is religious, they're reacting to the culture of religion. And I think an enlightened person is capable, on some level, of making the distinction between the institution of the culture and the culture itself. The institution of Christianity, the way that it's set up, it's institutionalized and comodified, and anytime that happens, anytime it's incorporated, it leads to disaster. I'm on the same page as everyone. I have the same knee-jerk reaction to that kind of culture. Maybe I'm a little more empathetic to it because we have similar fundamental beliefs. But culturally and aesthetically, some of it is really embarrassing. Pitchfork: I can understand how it could be frustrating for you, since it very quickly became the central quirk with your record, even though God and religion are talked about all the time in other genres of music. A hip-hop artist can write a song about Jesus and not have to answer to 50 journalists asking about the Christian themes on their record-- of course, I'm playing into that right now... Sufjan: No, I think it's a fair and interesting question. Can you be a liberal, enlightened, modern person and still believe in God? That's a really big question! I think that's what people are asking me, and honestly I'm incapable of answering. I have no idea. I'm as confused as they are. It's a much deeper conviction; it's much larger than just you and me. ----------------------------------------------------------- Sufjan, I will crochet you a hat. |
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