This is definitely a poetic "conversation" between Sufjan and his mother. I listened to this song recently, and honestly this song seemed morbid. But, being a Christian (as Sufjan is, too) I think this song is actually pretty hopeful. Bare with me...
The joy of Christ is that his power prevails through every circumstance, even the really devastating ones. He conquered death, so that his followers will have "abundant life" on earth and after death. So then, death becomes hopeful, not hopeless. With that in mind:
When Sufjan's mother says,
"Well you do enough talk, my little hawk
Tell me why do you cry?
Tell me what did you learn from the Tillamook burn, or the Fourth of July?
We're all gonna die."
... It's his mother comforting him. I'll be frank- I love my mom, and she has comforted me through all kinds of pain. Sufjan's mother was dying, so it makes sense that the most comforting thing to say would be "someday you will die, too." Death is a reality, but I find that with Christ, I'm really alright with dying. And even though it hurts, I can have hope in the midst of watching someone I love die.
Anyway, the main poetic point of the song is a mother trying to provide comfort for her son, even as she didn't do the best job when her son was a child. And of course there is emotional pain from a loved one dying, because this is a broken world. It's just interesting to me that the mother is talking to Sufjan as if he were a child, but this song was written when he was a fully grown man. I can relate to that. Even as I get older and become and adult, I am still my mother's child.
This is definitely a poetic "conversation" between Sufjan and his mother. I listened to this song recently, and honestly this song seemed morbid. But, being a Christian (as Sufjan is, too) I think this song is actually pretty hopeful. Bare with me...
The joy of Christ is that his power prevails through every circumstance, even the really devastating ones. He conquered death, so that his followers will have "abundant life" on earth and after death. So then, death becomes hopeful, not hopeless. With that in mind:
When Sufjan's mother says, "Well you do enough talk, my little hawk Tell me why do you cry? Tell me what did you learn from the Tillamook burn, or the Fourth of July? We're all gonna die."
... It's his mother comforting him. I'll be frank- I love my mom, and she has comforted me through all kinds of pain. Sufjan's mother was dying, so it makes sense that the most comforting thing to say would be "someday you will die, too." Death is a reality, but I find that with Christ, I'm really alright with dying. And even though it hurts, I can have hope in the midst of watching someone I love die.
Anyway, the main poetic point of the song is a mother trying to provide comfort for her son, even as she didn't do the best job when her son was a child. And of course there is emotional pain from a loved one dying, because this is a broken world. It's just interesting to me that the mother is talking to Sufjan as if he were a child, but this song was written when he was a fully grown man. I can relate to that. Even as I get older and become and adult, I am still my mother's child.