| Sufjan Stevens – Majesty, Snowbird Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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This song is ridiculously good. He's so prolific... I consider myself to be among the more dedicated fans but he's produced so much work that it's really difficult to get through all of it, which is awesome because it lasts longer and facilitates the discovery of gems like these. It's unfortunate that this was never studio recorded, but the live taping links are quite good. I think you've all sort of addressed the religious undertones... but I don't want to say too much about the song, the music speaks for itself. Another gem I found is "Christmas in the Room" off of the unreleased Songs for Christmas Volume 8. It's not that hard to find, and it is a BEAUTIFUL song for those who are interested. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I actually think it's death.... I think he struggles a lot with his mortality and physical fragility.... so maybe it's death. or the illness... I know (radar article) that the illness also caused severe insomnia (which, oddly enough I seem to have caught from this album....), I mean clearly saying oh he was sick that explains everything is silly, but I think the point of that clause is mortality and the sense of impending doom and the failure of the physical self to hold the soul hence: "it wasn't safe to breathe at all" | |
| Sufjan Stevens – I Want to Be Well Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I've said this before... it's really difficult to concentrate on the monotony of my life while thinking about this album/concert. I just wanted to say (for now) that I agree w/ kperkins that this is probably more of a cathartic crying out about suffering from disease, chronic most likely, but also mental and terminal. I think one of the main underpinnings/themes of this album is the randomness and injustice and the tenuous control we exert over our health and our mortality. We know that he stated in an interview with Exclaim magazine that he suffered from a debilitating illness which from a medical standpoint sounded to me like Guillian Barre subsequent to most likely EBV (which causes mono) or CMV (which normally just causes the common cold unless the pt is immunosuppressed) , which = autoimmune demyelination of neurons. Only reason I bring that up is to further belabor the point that kperkins makes-- that this song is both an expression of anger and a degree of self loathing because it was, in fact, his own body that had turned on him. Parallels can easily be drawn between that and mental illness which I would argue that this song is concurrently discussing-- mental illness, particularly depression and schizophrenia, but also forms, is also sort of a physiological and psychological turning on oneself that the body does-- more specifically the mind, which is probably the single most devastating form of "turning" our bodies can do on us. I also don't think that the mental breakdown and the physical breakdown are completely unrelated--this song (particularly it's ending climax) and the 3rd movement of impossible soul seem to describe both lyrically and sonically this rock bottom place that he hit where all the narrator could think was "I want to be well" and urges the universe or God or whoever was listening that he is "not fucking around" and (from impossible soul) that he "couldn't be at rest"-- and this is not just described with the words of the lyrics but also the intensity and increasing cacophony of the sounds. This really resonates with me as a studying health professional-- kind of reminds me that the actual physical ailment is only a portion of the suffering patients go through-- there's a huge huge psychological component as well. Regardless of the validity of my interpretation, one thing is clear, this song is extremely powerful, as is the entirety of this album. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I agree with all of you... it's been about 8 days since I saw the show and I'm still actively thinking about it, also, after contemplating Age of Adz based on what he's said and what I've read about it and his reasoning for the departure from his old "futile devices" it's almost made the old stuff more difficult to listen to, though no less brilliant as I perceived it before. The show "shook me up" in such a good way as well, I haven't been able to revert back to my monotonous self which is such a good thing. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I really appreciate your response actually, but the funny thing is if you look carefully at what I'm saying we're almost 100% in agreement, though I understand that I wasn't clear. First of all, I agree that whatever he is, he is very secure in it. I said I find the constant discussion irritating, not irrelevant-- I agree that the tension it creates is extremely relevant to the deeper meaning/underpinnings of his work, and I do agree that clarifying it (though, after listening to several interviews and contemplating the deeper implications of his music despite my better reasoning/judgment I'm 85% sure he's straight, but who really knows) would cheapen his work to some degree-- which was the root of what I was trying to say. I think that it's a very pop-cultural "in" thing to superimpose our society's current fascination with sexual labels onto public figures, particularly artistic figures, when the reality of the situation is, love is love, and love is a very powerful and unifying force that clearly served as one of the major inspirations for this album and many others. In my opinion, that's the message that Sufjan's work brings across, and accordingly is why a lot of his music seems sexually ambiguous. I think the perceived ambiguity is rooted in this extraneous need to categorize love as this thing that can only occur in specific settings as delineated by society, when reality love is a much less categorizable force-- and i think the discussion of his sexuality is relevant when rooted in that context, but not so much relevant/irritating when discussed the context of the exhibitionistic nature of our society, which btw, I would argue is the main reason why he refuses to discuss it one way or another, but is very open about the fortitude of his faith, although he has stated that the public is not necessarily the best forum to discuss matters of religion. From what I've heard from him, he doesn't seem like an intentional drama creator to me, though I agree his work does intentionally invite discussion and contemplation when dissected carefully. If you don't believe me, google Vish Khanna-- he gave a very compelling interview earlier this month that brushed on some of these subjects. Anyway this is why I love him so much, we could sit here and debate all day, but still we'll never really know, which is the mark of good art, it's ability to prove, negate and impact the various opinions of individuals. anyway. thanks for the stimulating discussion... I'm glad to know there's someone else who thinks about this stuff as much as I do. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| Actually now I'm annoyed with myself because I don't think that this song can really be reduced to one meaning or another, which is why it's been on repeat for the past 4 days. I think it's a multifaceted thing... it means many many many things, and different things to all of us... which is the beauty of it all. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I posted this as a reply but I feel like it's a more general comment. I have to say I find the whole debate about his sexuality extremely irritating, I don't think that any of his songs contain any concrete evidence that he is or isn't of any particular sexual persuasion, but I also don't think it matters. That's part of the greatness of his work, that he is able to translate the complexities of his thoughts/imagination into sounds and songs that manage to strike a cord with all of us, regardless of who we are or what our lives have been like. I have to say that I honestly didn't "get" Age of Adz as a whole until I saw his live show in Boston a couple days ago. I haven't been able to turn it off since, especially this piece in particular. When introducing this song he didn't say much about it specifically, but based on what he said about his life for the past four years both in the concert and in interviews I've read, it's pretty clear that this piece is sort of a multifaceted culmination of his journey over the past few years. He mentioned that he went through a pretty nasty break-up before getting sick, all the while having this huge existential crisis about the worth of his music and the redundancy of his old folky style. He stated in the concert that he got lost in "aural exploration" and had a lot of trouble finding his way out, so I think the song sort of depicts the descention into that "black hole" as he describes, and the torment that went along with that and the nervous system issues he had. I find the 3rd and 4th movement to be the most powerful, especially juxtaposed against each other. the 3rd movement is so tormented, enraged and haunting, and I think it's reflective of hitting a rock bottom creatively, emotionally and physically.It's fitting that it's followed by this joyous (and in the show, confetti and dance-worthy) celebratory "It's a long life, better pinch yourself Put your face together, better stand up straight" Which, is to me, him waking himself up out of the darkness. I think this is a journey a lot of us can relate to, but what is so wonderful about it is that it's so abstract that we're all allowed to project our own meanings onto it. He's done it again. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I have to say I find the whole debate about his sexuality extremely irritating, I don't think that any of his songs contain any concrete evidence that he is or isn't of any particular sexual persuasion, but I also don't think it matters. That's part of the greatness of his work, that he is able to translate the complexities of his thoughts/imagination into sounds and songs that manage to strike a cord with all of us, regardless of who we are or what our lives have been like. I have to say that I honestly didn't "get" Age of Adz as a whole until I saw his live show in Boston a couple days ago. I haven't been able to turn it off since, especially this piece in particular. When introducing this song he didn't say much about it specifically, but based on what he said about his life for the past four years both in the concert and in interviews I've read, it's pretty clear that this piece is sort of a multifaceted culmination of his journey over the past few years. He mentioned that he went through a pretty nasty break-up before getting sick, all the while having this huge existential crisis about the worth of his music and the redundancy of his old folky style. He stated in the concert that he got lost in "aural exploration" and had a lot of trouble finding his way out, so I think the song sort of depicts the descention into that "black hole" as he describes, and the torment that went along with that and the nervous system issues he had. I find the 3rd and 4th movement to be the most powerful, especially juxtaposed against each other. the 3rd movement is so tormented, enraged and haunting, and I think it's reflective of hitting a rock bottom creatively, emotionally and physically.It's fitting that it's followed by this joyous (and in the show, confetti and dance-worthy) celebratory "It's a long life, better pinch yourself Put your face together, better stand up straight" Which, is to me, him waking himself up out of the darkness. I think this is a journey a lot of us can relate to, but what is so wonderful about it is that it's so abstract that we're all allowed to project our own meanings onto it. He's done it again. |
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