| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I don't know if I agree with any of the analyses offered here. I think this is quite simply a story of a relationship where Sufjan has allowed the busyness of life as well as the worries and stresses to get in the way of truly enjoying whoever she is. Thus the title, "impossible soul." The beginning is him asking her to come back meaning she probably left in frustration of all of his "wigging out" and distractions from whatever was bugging him at the time. The second part is her response where she reminds of him of what truly matters in a relationship by explaining her side of things. In her mind, if what is supposed to be an experience of delight and pleasure has turned into a curse. Therefore, she asks the question, "is it worth all the work?" The third part, Sufjan's light bulb turns on and his soul is becoming less "impossible." He's like "duh. What was I thinking?" He had gotten so wrapped up in stuff that he couldn't be at rest and truly enjoy his love. The fourth part is the resolution where Sufjan will set aside the distractions/difficulties and truly enjoy his love. In this case now they can do much more together. The last part is the most confusing, but it seems like it fits in as now she is willing to work things out but in the end, Sufjan decides she's not the one for him. He is readily admitting to the fact that she was good for him for a time to fill his desires. Now that she is asking for more commitment (boy we can do so much more), it's time to fess up to the fact that Sufjan was in it for the pleasure and to fill a void that is no longer there. The last stanzas are a conversation between the two characters in the story. In short, I think this is a ballad about convoluted relationships. I think there is a piece of this story in all of our lives if we're honest. We regularly make messes in our relationships. |
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| M. Ward – Chinese Translation Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I'm reading these lyrics and the responses and I think that the surface has only barely been scratched. I would argue that this song is about perseverance. The message is extremely encouraging to me. We can all figure out the story. The characters are caught in a vicious cycle. They recognize the difficulty we all experience in life. Life can be extremely dark. We can be disappointed, carry dark views of ourselves, and wonder if we will ever truly experience peace in the nights that seem to drag on incessantly. It's a feeling most if not all people experience at some point. Feelings like these invoke our innate "fight or flight" response. The first old man in the story claims that he used to be foolish and played "an escapade just like you." Escapade (dictionary.com defines it as an escape from confinement or restraint)describes the multitude of people who tend to respond to the dilemmas of life by retreating into them and running from them in order to find the answers. In the end, the escapade is over, the dilemma never went away, and the only thing you can do is find the nearest tree and warn others from making the same mistake. I think the message here is that in the midst of it, those who really triumph in life are those that aren't "afraid to do the things that I was supposed to do." The answer to the question is that one needs to pick themselves by the bootstraps and get going. If we look at these issues, most of the time we can figure out what needs to be done. Those that succeed do so in spite of the internal conflict and end up finding the answer to that conflict. I see similar themes in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Solomon looks at his life near the end and sees that nothing really matters in the grand scheme of eternity. Everything seems to be in vain. In the end, Solomon realizes that the answer is that we have been given our time on this earth and despite the hardships we must persevere in order to live a full life. Great song. M. Ward is a wise man. Hands down. |
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