| Sufjan Stevens – All of Me Wants All of You Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
Shall we beat this or celebrate it? You’re not the one to talk things through You checked your texts while I masturbated Manelich, I feel so used = I think this song is about how he coped with Carrie's death by sleeping around a lot. He is saying should I find a better way to cope or live in the moment and make choices that feel good temporarily. He's talking to himself saying he isn't good at talking through things or dealing with them. The texts part is hard to say because presumably when he was a kid texting wasn't a thing. So I want to say this is maybe his one night stand checking her messages while he masturbates because the encounter wasn't fulfilling, it was just a meaningless distraction. Manelich I think is a name? Maybe he feels used by himself, used by his partner as just a sexual object? Found myself on Spencer’s Butte Traced your shadow with my shoe Empty outline changed my view Now all of me thinks less of you = Not sure if he found himself as a kid in Oregon hiking Spencer's Butte or if maybe he looked back on an old photo from there and realized his mistakes. That interpretation makes me think that he is looking at this photo and tracing carries shadow and thinking about how this isn't what he wants in life.So now after seeing that he thinks less of his hookup partner. On the sheet I see your horizon All of me pressed onto you But in this light you look like Poseidon I’m just a ghost you walk right through = Even after this realization he reverts back because it was a distraction from his pain and loss,even if it didn't fill the gap Carrie left. During the course of events and being pressed onto this person he realizes that this isn't some angel to deliver him from pain it is symbolic Poseidon, the god of storms and bad weather aka someone bringing negativity into his life. Poseidon also was notorious about getting around and had offspring of many differnt species human, horse ect. So Sufjan is just a ghost this person walks right through because he doesn't matter to them, it is just another casual encounter and he is easily replaceable. Saw myself on Spencer’s Butte (All of me wants all of you) Landscape changed my point of view (All of me wants all of you) Revelation may come true (All of me wants all of you) Now all of me thinks less of you (All of me wants all of you) = This part is him finally realizing that this isnt what he wants. A recollection of his past as a kid at spencers butte makes him realize and change his point of view on things. Revelation may come true because if he continues down this bad path it'll be like the end of the world, the end of him and his happiness. But at the same time he is hurt and confused. He says he thinks less of this person but at the same time wants them. It reminds me of the feeling of doing something you know will hurt you but doing it anyway because it feels good in the moment. At the end though I think he decides to stop going down that path, even though it is hard. |
|
| Sufjan Stevens – No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| @[sufjyfever:4006] Also forgot to correct it is get DRUNK to get laid not get drowned! | |
| Sufjan Stevens – No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
I don't know why there aren't more comments on this one, it is by far my favorite piece from Carrie & Lowell. The lyris are pretty straightforward but heres my analysis. BTW whoever posted the lyrics needs to fix them asap because they are incorrect. Check Sufjam's tumblr, he posted the lyric sheets used at his listening parties. ----- Now that I fell into your arms My only lover, give out to give in I search for the capsule I lost = This part is about his mother and how he has a capsule full of memories, short and sweet from before she left his family. He treasures these but now that he is in her arms again when she is in the hospital everything happy and memories of old are lost. Drag me to hell in the valley of the Dalles Like my mother, give wings to a stone It's only the shadow of the cross = The dalles is a valley in Oregon. Sufjan spent many summers there when Carrie was married to Lowell. This place could be a hell for him because it wasn't real. She had left them and going back in the summer and pretending everything was ok and normal must have been hard. But at the same time Carrie was her best during those summers. She was radiant and could even lift a heavy stone with her happiness. Ooh ooh I slept on my back in the shade of the meadowlark Like a champion, get drowned to get laid I take one more hit when you depart =I imagine this as Sufjan sitting under neath a meadowlark tree as a kid and feeling free and happy. This is juxtaposed with the following lines about how he got into drugs and alcohol after Carrie passed because he thought he was destined to become like her. He admits he slept around and made mistakes. He took one more hit is a triple entundre (SP?) because he took hits of drugs, it hit him hard when she died, but it also hit him hard when she abonded him as a kid. So her death was like losing something you had already lost. The death was just another hit for Sufjan who had lost his mother long before then which must have hurt even more. I'll drive that stake through the center of my heart Lonely vampire inhaling its fire I'm chasing the dragon too far =This part feels like its about suicide or maybe just giving up, like he is destined to be like her so he might as well die honorable. Kinda reminds me off people who fall on their sword in battle. Lonely vampire is like a vampire who has no one else who undestands their dark needs. Not blood thirst for Sufjan but a peculiar desire to self destruct. Chasing the dragon too far is definitely about Opium which was traded from China. I remember some story from school about people in battle using it and becoming complacent. Ooh ooh There's blood on that blade, fuck me, I'm falling apart My assassin like Casper the ghost There's no shade in the shadow of the cross =Blood on the blade as in he is finally doing it, self destruction. His own blood on the blade.His killer is like Casper because you can't see his pain from the outside, it is all internal affliction eating him up. Sufjan said in an interview that the grief would hit him at random times and places and for random reasons like a kid at the park or a floating balloon. It was like casper because it was everywhere and nowhere. There is no shade in the shadow of the cross because his cross to bear (Carries death) was too much and he can't hide behind it in shadows. It was on display for everyone to see. |
|
| Sufjan Stevens – We Are What You Say Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| I think this song is about the difference between following God and following the church. There are a lot of refernces to Methodism with the acolyte part. Sufjan has stated that he grew up in the methodist church and always wanted to be the acolyte who performs the ceremonial crufix carrying which symbolizes God's accesibilty to everyone. This song says that it isn't about some holy duty it is about faith. Having faith is the main tenent of methodism. | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.