Sufjan Stevens released his 10th studio album, “Javelin,” on 6 October 2023, through Asthmatic Kitty Records. The album has been warmly received by critics and listeners alike all over the world. It is one of his shortest albums yet, with 10 songs and with each song having a duration of less than 43 minutes.
Sufjan is known for his hushed singing, unconventional use of instruments in his songs, and the concepts in his albums. But what makes him stand out the most is his unique use of metaphors in his lyrics, which is a combination of homoeroticism and mysticism. There were always speculations about his sexuality, and people never had a concrete answer to the question of whether his religious or historical metaphors and references had an underlying meaning or not. Alexander’s lover Hephastien, Jesus’s love for John (my beloved), or even lyrics like “I cannot explain the state that I’m in, The state of my heart; He was my best friend”
He finally put an end to the discussion in the most solemn manner possible by introducing the album and revealing how he had written it about his partner, who passed away in April. In a series of headlines about Sufjan this year, which started with him getting diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder causing muscle weakness and temporary paralysis, it’s understandable why Sufjan’s music has always been somewhat mellow, even when it’s not clearly reflected in its unusual lyrics. Even his most popular album, “Carrie and Lowell,” was about him coming to terms with his feelings about the death of his parents, who had abandoned him at a young age.
Grief has always been a lifelong companion of Sufjan and it has been acutely displayed in his art as he acknowledges it with lines like, “Please forgive me now for the heartache and the misery I create”
We cannot escape loss, and everyone has their own unique way of mourning. But while we try to navigate around grief, an artist has to go through it. They feel a sense of responsibility for turning their suffering into art and hope it’s something worthwhile. It’s a big responsibility when it’s someone you love, and the art you make can do justice to the love shared between you two or the kind of person they were.
Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino put it into words perfectly by saying, “Some people just have a very difficult role to feel things so intensely, and that’s not easy. It’s a big ask—even of someone phenomenal like him (Sufjan).”
The answer to how he plays this role can be found in his lyrics too. Even the most devoted person can sometimes feel terrible anguish in the face of suffering. Godliness doesn’t exempt you from the pain, but it does help you to make peace with the inevitability of it.
In the opening song, Sufjan says “ Everything heaven sent, must burn out in the end,” there are moments where he seems to be conflicted and having a tough time dealing with it. In his song ‘Shit Talk,” which is the longest and one of my favorites in the album addresses this by saying “Did I fail to believe in positive thoughts?”
Lyrics like, “I will always love you but I cannot look at you”, “So you are dreaming of after, was it really all just for fun? I was the man still in love with you when I already knew it was done,” that seems to say how he can’t bear to see his lover like that, how he is already thinking about the afterlife which to him, however selfish it may seem, means leaving him.
The song “Will anybody ever love me?” gets a new meaning with the knowledge of his partner’s passing. So, what he is asking isn’t essentially if anyone will ever love him rather it’s if anybody will ever love him as selflessly as his partner did.
But would he do it all over again if he had a chance not to feel this pain and live a life without tragedy?
He said it best in an Instagram post remembering his lover,
“It’s always worth it to put in the hard work and care for the ones you love, especially the beautiful ones, who are few and far between. If you happen to find that kind of love, hold it close, hold it tight, savor it, tend to it, and give it everything you’ve got, especially in times of trouble .Be kind, be strong, be patient, be forgiving, be vigorous, be wise, and be yourself. Live every day as if it is your last, with fullness and grace, with reverence and love, with gratitude and joy. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Loss and heartbreak are not strangers to anyone. It’s the universal language that all humans speak. We cannot escape it, and Sufjan tells us that we shouldn’t try to either. The heartache we endure is a part of the larger human experience, and it only makes us more grateful for each day that passes with our loved ones, speak what’s on our minds, be kinder to everyone around us, and love more freely. It only makes us more human.