Genius Lyrics
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Sufjan Stevens – Death with Dignity
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The first track off of Sufjan’s 2015 album, Carrie & Lowell
The song’s title is an oblique reference to Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act of 1994, a watershed physician-assisted
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Sufjan Stevens – America
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“America” is the last track and first single from Sufjan Steven’s eighth studio album, The Ascension. The track and album were announced on June 30th, with the digital edition of
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Sufjan Stevens – Fourth of July
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This song is a conversation between Sufjan and his mother, Carrie, while she was dying in the hospital. Each stanza alternates between them.
Sufjan spoke of this time in an
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Sufjan Stevens – Futile Devices
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The opener to Sufjan Steven’s beautiful, introspective The Age of Adz concerns itself with the different types of intimate and/or platonic love.
Here, Sufjan (or the Narrator
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Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
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In “Carrie & Lowell,” Sufjan Stevens is a child again or, more specifically, the child character in the family of man drama that often but not always centers on the story of love
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Sufjan Stevens – All of Me Wants All of You
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In the third track of Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan takes advantage of the ambiguous language used to describe love in English in order to write a love song that could be addressed to a
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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister – Mercury
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This song is part of the long-running Planetarium project, which combines the planets themselves with lyrical themes inspired by the Roman Gods they were named after.
The music
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Sufjan Stevens – To Be Alone with You
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“To Be Alone With You” is about making sacrifices for love. There’s a lot things that can be read into that sentiment–religion, forbidden love, etc.
Insofar as the song is about
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Sufjan Stevens – No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
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“No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross” was released in advance of Sufjan Stevens' 2015 album Carrie & Lowell.
In “No Shade”, Sufjan writes about his descent into self-destructive
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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister – Neptune
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Neptune is the 8th planet from the Sun and the Roman god (whose Greek equivalent is Poseidon) who holds dominion over and dwells within the seas. He is also the god of earthquakes
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Sufjan Stevens – Genuflecting Ghost
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[Verse 1] / Give myself as a sacrifice / Genuflecting ghost I kiss the floor / Rise, my love, show me paradise / Nothing seems so simple anymore / [Chorus] / Rest assured, words
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Sufjan Stevens – Abraham
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This song is about the Biblical figure Abraham. It tells the story of Abraham on Mount Moriah, going to sacrifice his son as commanded by God but being stopped by an angel before
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Sufjan Stevens – Visions of Gideon
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“Visions of Gideon” is one of the two original Sufjan Stevens' songs (the other one is “Mystery of Love”) from the soundtrack for Call Me By Your Name.
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Sufjan Stevens – Goodbye Evergreen
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Written after the passing of his partner Evans Richardson IV, in “Goodbye Evergreen”, Sufjan explores coming to terms with losing the “light of his life”.
This album is dedicated
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Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
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Just as Chicago is the most important city in Illinois, “Chicago” is the center of Sufjan Stevens' Come on Feel the Illinoise album. More autobiographical than the other songs on
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Sufjan Stevens – I Walked
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[Verse 1] / Lover, will you look at me now? / I'm already dead to you / But I'm inclined to explain / What I could not before / Whatever you didn't do, what you couldn't say / I am
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Sufjan Stevens – Jacksonville
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This song is about Jacksonville, Illinois and poetically explores the past and present of the town, from it being named after Andrew Jackson to the schools for the deaf and blind
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Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
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The title track of its album, “Age of Adz” (pronounced “odds”) copes with themes of life, death and love, seeing all through the lens of the other.
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Sufjan Stevens – Blue Bucket of Gold
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As the closing song to Carrie & Lowell, “Blue Bucket of Gold” doesn’t offer much closure. Sufjan reaches out to his surroundings for support–his friends, his faith–and finds
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Sufjan Stevens – Impossible Soul
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Impossible Soul, Sufjan’s 25 minute epic, is the capstone of his introspective and emotion-oriented album, The Age of Adz.
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Sufjan Stevens – Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!
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This song is a duet with Matt Morgan until “Denominator, go Decatur, go Decatur” where the Illinoise Maker Choir joins in. After this part, Elin and Daniel Smith provided vocals
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Sufjan Stevens – Javelin (To Have and To Hold)
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[Verse 1] / Searching through the snow / For the javelin I had not meant to throw right at you / For if it had hit its mark / There’d be blood in the place where you stood / [
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Notelle – Sufjan Stevens
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Ded-de-unh nin-na unh-nin-deh / Mm mm mm mm / [Verse 1] / I want to write like Sufjan Stevens / Make 'em cry with a mandolin / Sing a song in a tongue I don't speak with / Get it
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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister – Moon
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This combines two indigenous American myths about rabbits on the moon.
The first stanza details a story about Quetzalcoatl and a rabbit who offered himself as food for the god
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Sufjan Stevens – Rake
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[Verse 1] / I never felt so safe / A line I once told her / Warm resting place / Her arm on my shoulder / [Chorus] / You are the rock / You are the rake / You are the one when I
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Sufjan Stevens – Mystery of Love
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“Mystery of Love” is one of two songs written by Sufjan Stevens for the soundtrack of the 2017 film ‘Call Me By Your Name’. The film’s director, Luca Guadagnino, originally
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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister – Uranus
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Interestingly, the song about Uranus, the primordial father of the Roman pantheon, comes immediately following the song about Venus, the goddess birthed from the blood of his
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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister – Jupiter
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Jupiter is the second track off of Planetarium, and is named after the largest planet in our solar system, which is in turn named after Jupiter, the King of the Gods in the Roman
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Sufjan Stevens – All for Myself
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This song is about two men in love maintaining a relationship; however, due to several circumstances, they have to keep their relationship hidden. On one hand is the external
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Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans
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In following with the Christian themes on the album of the same name, “Seven Swans” uses imagery and themes from the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
While the number “seven
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Sufjan Stevens – Gilgamesh
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“Gilgamesh” is the tenth track from Sufjan Stevens' eighth studio album, The Ascension. It talks about the Sumerian/Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, which is regarded as the oldest
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Sufjan Stevens – Vesuvius
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Sufjan suffered from severe anxiety and related issues in the interim between the release of 2005’s Illinoise and 2010’s Age of Adz. This song deals with the insecurity Sufjan
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Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister – Saturn
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“Saturn” is part of the Planetarium project. It incorporates lyrical themes associated with Roman mythology with a space-age electronica sound. The Planetarium project was a song-
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Sufjan Stevens – Justice Delivers Its Death
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The somber “Justice Delivers Its Death” is Sufjan Stevens' penultimate song on the tenth and – for now, latest – volume of his “Songs for Christmas” series. In essence, the song is
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