Blogging is for lists, Vol. II: Sufjan Stevens

(Photo: Joe Lencioni, Shifting Pixel)

Time for another (pretentious?) list.

Sufjan Stevens’ music isn’t for everyone.  If you mainly rock out to death metal, for example, you’re probably not going to go crazy for long banjo and orchestra-riddled compositions built upon obscure Midwest trivia.  Or you may, I don’t know.  I’m not sure what you kids are listening to these days.

There’s nothing ordinary about Sufjan’s rise to indie-fame (but isn’t that what being indie is all about?).  A quiet, oboe-playing kid decides to do an experimental instrumental electronic album based on the Chinese Zodiac (Enjoy Your Rabbit), takes a break from music, starts his own record label with his step-father, announces that he’s going to make a soundtrack for every state in the United States, and does so with an army of banjos, woodwinds, strings, synths, and bells (many of which he plays himself, then mixes together himself).  Oh, and those “God” and “faith” things pop up a lot along the way, too.  And as you see in the picture above, costumed concerts are the norm, too.  That’s an act destined to hang around in Top 40 radio for years, right?

Somehow, though, Stevens has become a household name, based on a little something called “quality” and the critical acclaim that comes with it.  Come On!  Feel the Illinoise!, his latest (non-Christmas-themed) effort, was the best-reviewed album of 2006, was Paste’s album of the year, and was featured on the soundtrack of just about every movie going for that Little Miss Sunshine vibe (including Little Miss Sunshine itself).

So I give you my favorite fifteen Sufjan Stevens songs…consider them to be fifteen suggestions, if you’re looking for some new music to get with those coming Christmas iTunes gift cards.

15. “Come On! Let’s Boogie to the Elf Dance!” (from Songs for Christmas): This selection is really just here to represent all of Songs for Christmas, since holiday-themed songs don’t normally make these lists.  ”Come On!…” is an addictive mishmash of Christmas themes and musical styles, and is a great example of Stevens’ use of musical form to convey a certain message.  Be sure to check out “Get Behind Me Santa!” as well as the rest of this gigantic collection of Christmas songs.

14. “Come On! Feel the Illinoise!, Pt. I: The World’s Columbian Exposition/Pt. II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In a Dream (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): Did I mention that Stevens loves absurdly long titles?  This one isn’t at all the longest, either.  In this two-parter, Sufjan throws just about every instrument at you in a jolly orchestral exposition.  It’s hard to listen to this song and not feel good about life.

13. “Ring Them Bells” (from the I’m Not There soundtrack): This Bob Dylan cover, made for last year’s biopic, only vaguely sounds like a Bob Dylan song musically, but still carries the proper spirit.  Interestingly, Dylan’s approach to Christian themes in his writing closely mirrors Stevens; it would be easy to assume that this was a Sufjan original.

12. “All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands” (from Seven Swans): Seven Swans, a break from the States project, came up in many “Best Christian Albums” lists after its release.  The album takes a stripped down, acoustic approach while retelling Bible stories and revealing some of Stevens’ more intimate thoughts on faith.  ”All the Trees…” is a reflection on Isaiah 55, and again, illustrates some great musical form/function.  It’s a great example of Sufjan’s ability to approach faith thoughtfully without scaring anyone away.

11. “Amazing Grace” (from Songs for Christmas): Some of the best moments on Songs for Christmas are not the Christmas norms, but rather some more traditional hymns.  His arrangement of “Amazing Grace” is both familiar and unique, as well as appropriately understated.

10. “The Transfiguration” (from Seven Swans): Here’s a unique idea: paraphrase the story of the Transfiguration and set it to music.  That wouldn’t even fly on Christian radio…too much Bible.  But he makes it work.  ”The Transfiguration” is a wonderfully whimsical reflection on the wonder and mystery of the incarnation, which a prevalent theme in Sufjan’s music.

9. “For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti” (from Greetings From Michigan): The first haunting plucks of the banjo in “For the Widows…” cut me deeply every time, as well as the ending repeating refrain: “I did everything for you.”  I had to listen to this one about two hundred times before I decided who the “I” was, but that’s probably part of the idea.

8. “Out of Egypt, Into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt From My Sandals As I Run” (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): This is the only purely instrumental track on the list, though there are more than a few other worthy efforts (such as Songs for Christmas’s “The Winter Solstice”).  But “Out of Egypt…”, when you mix the imagery of the track’s title and the musical imagery, is truly breathtaking.  This composition is perhaps the most accurate musical representation of running and freedom since the theme from Chariots of Fire.

7. “Chicago” (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): This is the one you probably know already.  Great, great song.  I’ll leave it at that.

6. “Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother! (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): This song is fun in an almost Veggie Tale sort of way. with the nonsense lyrics (“Stephen A. Douglas was a great debater/ but Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator!”), the happy banjo strumming, and Sufjan’s trademark strange/pleasant harmonies.  Then there’s the mysterious ending refrain (“It’s the Great I Am…”) that comes out of nowhere…

5. “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!” (from Come on Feel the Illinoise): Silly name, epic song.  Childhood freedom and innocence in musical form.

4. “Casimir Pulaski Day” (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): “Casimir Pulaski Day” goes everywhere: love, death, faith, doubt, innocence…It tells the story of a boy falling in love with a girl who eventually dies of cancer; normally a subject that degenerates into unnecessary sappiness.  But Stevens keeps it subtle.  The chilling last line sums up the all-to-true tension we live in: “All the glory when He took our place/ But He took my shoulders and He shook my face/ and He takes and He takes and He Takes”.

3. “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland Illinois (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): At first listen, this song is a strangely beautiful description of some alien encounter.  However, after many listens (and after becoming more accustomed to Sufjan’s writing style), I’m nearly positive that “Concerning the UFO Sighting…” is a metaphor for the Incarnation.  In that context, the song takes on greater meaning and beauty.  Truly unique.

2.  ”Vito’s Ordination Song (Acoustic Version)” (from Greetings from Michigan): “Vito’s Ordination Song,” written for a real life friend and minister of Stevens, is the song of my life, or at least how I wish it would be.

1. “Holy, Holy, Holy” (from Songs for Christmas): It’s kind of cheating to put at #1 a song not even written by Stevens.  But there’s no way around it; this version of “Holy, Holy, Holy” is my favorite piece of recorded music of all time.  I’m not making that up.  The perfectly gentle piano, divine harmonies, and simple humility of the classic lyrics have brought me to tears many, many times.  It just sounds like church.