Vesuvius

Sufjan gave a pretty significant (and somewhat rambling) exposition to Vesuvius in Boston at the Orpheum (11/11/10). Thanks to ShoGoEr on Youtube for recording a similar version of the explanation at the Philly show: youtube.com/watch

My apologies for the super-long interpretation — I hope it’s fun & interesting for some to read — those that hate literary over-analyzing, skip ahead and don’t flame please. :) What I took away from his story was the following:

The main struggle in Vesuvius is the artistic one he felt in the 5 years following Chicago. He was burnt out on Song Writing, exhausted by the sudden stardom and grueling tour. Songwriting had lost its power as an artistic outlet for him, and he started turning towards sonic experimentation and chamber orchestration. But embracing that turned out to be far more difficult - it turned out to be a vortex, a chasm, a ledge that spiraled away, that threatened an impossible return from. It reminded him of the feeling he got when standing at a precipice like the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls and being enveloped/overwhelmed by the nature around him, feeling paralyzed, and wanting to jump. Vesuvius is about standing at that precipice, wanting to take the leap. While Krobe23 is right, that Sufjan called it "wonderous and great", like everything typical of Sufjan, especially the grown up one of Adz, there's a much darker undercurrent to it - suicide. I got chills, hoping that it was just a metaphor for artistic suicide, and that he wasn't really heading down the dark path traveled by many of the brilliant artists of our generation - Elliot Smith, David Foster Wallace, etc.

But back to the artistic struggle, post-Illinoise, he had fame, he had an adoring audience, and he was contemplating abandoning them. It would be total artistic suicide to so radically shift his musical style & abandon songwriting altogether. I'm guessing he saw the world in which critics would dismiss him, his fans would abandon him, etc. Which is what some of us did after the BQE (guilty as charged). But the burden of living in the eternal shadow of Illinoise and never progressing as an artist was too much to bear, and he was looking for an escape.

Vesuvius / I am here /You are all I have Fire of fire /I'm insecure For it is all / Been made to plan / Though I know /I will fail I cannot /Be made to laugh For in life /As in death I'd rather be burned /Than be living in debt

The first stanza speaks to this directly. He needs to move forward artistically, but he knows that the volcano of sonic experimentation is certain failure. But he would rather die trying than forever live in the shadow of the glory of Illinoise, to which is indebted. The rest of the stanzas flesh this out and add layers to his struggle.

Vesuvius /Are you a ghost Or the symbols of light / Or a fantasy host? In your breast / I carry the form The heart of the Earth /And the weapons of warmth

The 3 symbols, ghost / symbols of light / host are tricky to interpret. Of course the words ghost & host are both stacked with religious meaning - the ghost being the holy ghost, and the host being the Catholic transubstantiation of the body of Christ, and perhaps the "fantasy" referring to the fact that as a non-Catholic he considers it a fantastic notion? However, both seem to imply something dark or negative pulling at him. Literary ghosts are often called upon to point the way forward, think Dickens' Christmas Story and the ghost of Hamlet’s father. If it's the same ghost as the "murdering ghost" in stanza 3 though, it is something far more dangerous - perhaps a dangerous ambitious that is not substantial and somehow linked to a darker current of self-destruction. That murdering ghost also doesn’t square with the notion of the holy ghost, either. I don’t know how to read it. Symbols of light is easier to interpret - it is the end goal, artistic transcendence — always in the distance, elusive, but bright. Fantasy host is again tricky — perhaps it refers to a temporary body that is just a mental fantasy that is just an illusion and not real? In this interpretation, Sufjan is asking himself and appealing to the volcano oracle, if this is the real path, or just a temporary fantasy, or something more dangerous.

The next two lines say to me that he carries in his heart the artistic form that he sees as the essence of his music. That it's the "weapons of warmth" suggests that he knows he can turn it into something useful. Even though the weapons image is aggressive, the fact that he uses warmth, rather than fire or burning, suggests that he knows that he can create something loving and out of it.

Vesuvius /The tragic oath For you have destroyed /With the elegant smoke Oracle, I've fallen at last But they were the feast / Of a permanent blast

The third stanza’s tragic oath probably refers to King Herod’s oath to Salome of half his kingdom, which of course ended up with John the Baptist's head on a plate. The lesson learned, that overpromising can have dire consequences, is what hangs over his head — if he jumps, there's no turning back. The "elegant smoke" may be the literal ash and smoke that came out of Vesuvius. Why elegant? Not sure… perhaps because the unearthed scenes at Pompeii and Herculaneum were elegant?

The third line, I'm not sure if it is "fallen at last" or "follow my last" — I think it's the latter, but it's really hard to tell. The last line in the stanza is the biggest mystery to me — who is "they"? Again, another reference to the citizens of Pompeii maybe, but… not sure what it's a metaphor for. Perhaps someone can come up with a good theory on this?

Vesuvius / Oh, be kind It hasn't occurred / No it hasn't been said Sufjan, follow the path It leads to an article of imminent death Sufjan, follow your heart Follow the flame / Or fall on the floor Sufjan, the panic inside The murdering ghost / That you cannot ignore

The fourth stanza is pretty straightforward. It’s his other self telling him that he needs to move forward. The path is alternately one of death or enlightenment, but failure to do that would be giving up ("fall on the floor"). The "panic inside" and "murdering ghost" are very evocative of artistic desperation to keep progressing and not becoming stagnant.

The last refrains then flesh out this indecision, although it's again hazy to me what exactly he's implying by following the ghost and host, since I'm not entirely sure what they stand for.

At the end of the day, Vesuvius is layered with meaning, as with all of Sufjan's music. He’s a true artist that uses his prodigious intellect as much as he uses his heart. He's a master at weaving ambivalence and ambiguity into his lyrics, and many interpretations are equally plausible. I choose to interpret his song as artistic struggle, but there are clearly many other interpretations — about struggle with/loss of faith, death, sexuality and innocence — his bread and butter, really!

One last thought, if anyone has bothered to read this far, is in revisiting the last 2 lines of the first stanza, I came away with a pretty interesting reading related to faith… it suggests that he would rather burn in hell than live in the debt (of Jesus Christ who paid for humanity's sins). That line alone makes the case that everything that I’ve said is bullocks, and the entire thing is about the questioning of faith.

Happy listening, everyone! :D