March 30, 2007
Sufjan
Listening right now to “Illinoise” by Sufjan Stephens. There is something special about this guy. I just heard “Casimir Pulaski Day” and the sweetness of the banjo and quirky delightful horn arrangements and lines like “and He takes and He takes and He takes” in reference to a friend with bone cancer–not quite pissed off at the Almighty, but not covering over the difficulties either. I find Stephens’ story fascinating: his parents gave him his unusual name because they were followers of Subud at the time; he has since converted to Christianity. I know little about the details of his faith, but what comes across in his music is a warm open sensitivity to the quirky possibilities of life that makes the oft-maligned old faith look pretty good.
Listen to this music makes me glad to be alive, open to creative possibilities for myself, and less stuck on issues of names and forms, allegiances or resistances for or against any particular tribes. What a nice gift!
One other personal note: a huge relief today, as a workplace complication I had been dreading was suddenly smoothed out very nicely. I am hoping, hoping, this will free up some emotional energy and enable me to focus more of my time and attention on this blog and the creative projects of various kinds that inspire me to write it. What shapes those will take–not known yet. Electronic fantasies on chant, or barbarian kings and their Psalms, or the mystical garden of the Song of Songs, or more adorations of the divine mother, or some combination thereof. Although you wouldn’t think so from the title, Sufjan Stephens’ “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us” fuels all these musings and helps generate a beautiful sphere of hope.