I realize that a lot of the conversation on this song deals with Sufjan's sexual orientation. Yet, while this album is supposed to be much more deeply personal than his "state albums," I don't feel that this is entirely what is important in the song. This song marks an abrupt change in the style of his lyrics. Yes, on the surface, the comment to the person being referred to as a brother consists of the words being referred to as "futile," but I think that what this song is indicating is the reason for the change in his lyrics. We have all read that he suffered an existential crisis between Illinois and Age of Adz, and I think what is being indicated is his loss of confidence in the power of words, which is why this record is so much more sparsely written than his older ones--he is sick of people talking so much and saying nothing. Words have become futile in some way. And it would also explain the drastic change in the style of the song titles.
I realize that a lot of the conversation on this song deals with Sufjan's sexual orientation. Yet, while this album is supposed to be much more deeply personal than his "state albums," I don't feel that this is entirely what is important in the song. This song marks an abrupt change in the style of his lyrics. Yes, on the surface, the comment to the person being referred to as a brother consists of the words being referred to as "futile," but I think that what this song is indicating is the reason for the change in his lyrics. We have all read that he suffered an existential crisis between Illinois and Age of Adz, and I think what is being indicated is his loss of confidence in the power of words, which is why this record is so much more sparsely written than his older ones--he is sick of people talking so much and saying nothing. Words have become futile in some way. And it would also explain the drastic change in the style of the song titles.