The Sufjan Concert

Sufjan Stevens played in Oakland last week. I have a few rules in life. One of them is: If Sufjan Stevens is playing within 100 miles and you have the opportunity to go with some of your best friends in the world[1]…you do that. He played for almost two hours and it was as much theatrical art as it was a concert. The show opened with Seven Swans and closed with Chicago and was nothing but new music in between. This could have been a recipe for disappointment, primarily because his new music is such a shocking departure from what we love about Sufjan.[2] But I thought it was fantastic. In a sense, the new material works better as a show than as an album…and it really did work as a show. For two hours, a series of short films played behind Sufjan and his 9 piece band as he alternated between the epic, cosmic pieces like “Age of Adz” and “Too Much”, and more familiar “Futile Divices” or “Now that I’m Older.”

If he had just gotten up there and sung the new album without regard for our passion for the old stuff, it would have struck me as self involved marketing. But it was impossible to feel that way with all that went into crafting an experience of his new music. It held together as an intentional and cohesive piece of art. As much as I would have loved to hear “The Wasps of the Palisades” or “Cashmere Pulaski Day” they would not have cohered with the show he crafted. He was not playing a set. He was telling a story.[3] In a sense, he was performing a single, two-hour, piece that he had prepared for us. It felt special.

And then, for the encore, he came up alone and banged out three of his best songs from his earlier work. I would have paid the ticket price just for the encore. Anyway, while I am on the topic, I thought I’d tack on “Four things I love about Sufjan.”

1. His song titles.

They are just way more fun than anyone else’s. Consider songs like:

The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!
They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!!
Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? ...)
Springfield, Or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair
Or the musical interlude:
Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It

There was a fun Facebook group[4] dedicated to why members thought their state should get the next Sufjan album. In one discussion we took shots at what a Sufjan playlist might look like for our states. Here is what I came up with for NY[5]:

The last one out of Buffalo turn out the lights[6]
Old movies with the twin towers in them make me sad
Born During the Blizzard of '77
Stuck on 37 high peaks with deteriorating knees
A Resilient People in a Belt of Rust and Weather
Oh, Opalescent Feldspar, The Billion Year Rock Rainbow
The Silent Shafts (or Ore is More Profitable in Minnesota)
More cows than you would imagine
Purple lufstrife is Montazuma's revenge[7]
The surprisingly resurgent Rochester (or, Mr. Eastman[8], was your work really done?)[9]

2. Art with a sense of place

I have mentioned before in this blog that the art I tend to resonate with finds generality in specificity. In particular, I love art that can find something as broad as ‘human nature’ in a very particular sense of situatedness. This is why I enjoyed Garden State. This is why I loved The Wire. And this is why Illinois is one of the greatest albums of all times. Illinois generates the emotion of a Midwest upbringing that connects with our humanity in a study of similarity and contrast. Intentional spatial locatedness gives his work a surprising generality.

3. ‘Christian’ makes a great noun but a horrible adjective.'[10]

Sufjan writes about whatever he thinks or experiences. So he writes about Jesus and being a Christian and stuff. I, obviously, love this, because, well, I am also interested in Jesus and being a Christian and stuff.[11]

Near the middle of the concert he performed the sprawling “Get Real Get Right”[12], which ends with the verse:

For you will not be distracted by the signs

Do not be distracted by them

Do yourself a favor and get real

Get right with the lord

Get real, get right with the Lord

After the applause someone yelled ‘Praise Jesus’, which was quickly followed by someone else shouting ‘no.’ I loved this exchange (particularly the latter part) because it demonstrates the difference between an artist who is a Christian and a Christian artist. We do not own Sufjan. He is not ours in a way that a Christian act is.[13] We have not claim of ownership on him.[14] So he is free to do art, and not just produce a commodity for a niche community. It also demonstrates that there is not an insidious anti-Christian bias in the music industry. If Christians make great art, they get to make it about whatever they love.[15]

4. John Wayne Gacy

He closed with what I would consider his three most theological songs from Seven Swans and Illinois…culminating in his most controversial and most haunting piece: “John Wayne Gacy”. Gacy (who grew up in Illinois, hence, the tracks appearance on that album) was a famous serial killer. Known as ‘the clown killer’ he lured boys into his orbit, and then did unspeakable things…eventually collecting their bodies under his porch.



The song hauntingly describes the crimes.

Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things
Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God

I remember clearly the first time I heard it.[16] I was driving from Jackson to Vicksburg. It was chilling. But the final verse held more in store than I could have ever imagined. The song ends, somewhat abruptly:

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid

Some have interpreted this song as excusing Gacy…as a behaviorist apologetic blaming the actions of a monster on his environment. They hear this last verse and think ‘he is not just like me, he is qualitatively different.’ But the interpretive key to this song is actually Christian anthropology. Sufjan is not saying that he is just like me except for some bad luck in his environment. He is saying[17] that except for some social coping mechanisms, I am just like him. The difference is quantitative not qualitative. My heart hides its own dark secrets. The monster is me. The remedy…well, I think you might find it amidst a septet of graceful birds:



This post was written while listening to The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens
______________
[1] Amanda, Tyler the winemaker and his wife Byranie.
[2] He described the mood and themes of the new work as ‘cosmic’ and ‘processed based’ which is exactly the opposite of why I love Sufjan, which is universal story telling through the vehicle of the very, very particular (see "Why I love Sufjan #2). For the record, I hope he is not done with albums like Illinoise or Seven Swans…but I think The Age of Adz is a win.
[3] Which is ironic (ITWIHACTIK) because he sees this album as a departure from his fundamental nature as a lyrical storyteller, but the reason he couldn’t sprinkle older works into the concert is because it would have destroyed the continuity of the narrative structure.
[4] Which has mostly gone defunct since Sufjan revealed that the 50 states project was either a joke or WILDLY optimistic.
[5] Mostly upstatecentric
[6] When the steal mills were shutting down in the 70’s someon actually put a sign up that said this on I5 on the way out of town.
[7] There is a wildlife refuge in Western NY called Monazuma’s wildlife refuge. I-80 passes through it. It is overrun with the invasive purple lustrife.
[8] George Eastman’s (of Eastman-Kodak) suicide note read: “To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?”
[9] Some of the other fun titles on the site included:
California: Whose Fault? The San Andreas Fault/ The Worst Day in the Happiest Place on Earth
New York: Go F**K Yourself, Or what the Passerby said to me/What is Eirer than a Canal?/ / One Thousand Islands and not a single soul/ The Longest Island, that Spit of Land
Pennsylvania: A short Reprise for Bob Saget, who went insane, but for very good reasons
[10] From Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis.
[11] I think that sentence set a record for illicit comma use…but I cannot deconvolve the good ones from the imposters.
[12] The title track and a sort of homage to a complicated man who seemed to act as his muse for this album: an isolated, poor, bipolar sign painter from Mississippi who became too enveloped by an alternate reality to be able to live in this one. Apparently most of the cover art and a lot of the art used in the video portion of the show was his.
[13] Nor would most Christian labels have him as his latest album contains a couple (gasp) F-bombs. I am not entirely sure how we got here where an artfully used explative is more offensive than derivative art.
[14] Both ideologically or financially. Sufjan has his own label…which, incidentally has the uncontested best label name on the planet: “Asthmatic Kitty.”
[15] Well, I know it is quite a bit more complex than this. But this idea plays in the discussion.
[16] A good sign of an epic song.
[17] And I think the video underscores this.

Fragments and Links

I think that one thing Nietzsche and Bill Simmons have in commen is much of their best work is actually published in fragments. They are both observers more than orators and the kernel and digressions of their prose are always more interesting than their writing itself. So along those lines, I have collected some observations, quotes and links that do not warrant their own post but that I think are fun or provocative none the less.

"I find that I’m much sadder about the state of Dr. Horrible soul after 43 minutes than I was about Anakin Skywalker’s soul after—what, 12 hours?—of Star Wars I, II, III." -my friend Tom I have to say, I'm a big fan of decentralized production of art and this can only be a step in the right direction
Was anyone else startled by the honesty of "Believe" by The Bravery? Very Camus.
There's a smell of stale fear that's reeking from our skins.
The drinking never stops because the drinks absolve our sins
We sit and grow our roots into the floor
But what are we waiting for?

So give me something to believe
Cause I am living just to breathe
And I need something more
To keep on breathing for
So give me something to believe

"The call to service is often harder to exercise when power is so readily available." -Darrell Bock Commentary on Luke - on the Church's transition from movement to institutions.

It seems to me that the first question in Christian political theory is not what we should do with our power but is power the kind of thing the Church should wield. Power can provide the mirage of a shortcut to change when our mandate is service and proclamation. Bonhoeffer used to say that a church that expends most of its energy fighting for its own rights and struggling for its own existence has already ceased to exist.

My wife's response to the 'I kissed a girl and I liked it' song..."She makes some really good points."

Does anyone else feel disoriented that Stargate Atlantis has a Dr. Keller? The role is played by actress who was Kaylee, the ebulient mechanic from Firefly/Serenity, one of my favorite science fiction characters of all time (who SA is basically wasting as a timid flirt). But every time Shepherd dramatically yells 'go get Dr Keller' I envision the brilliant, bald, senior pastor of Manhattan Pres emerging to save the day.

Wouldn't it be cool if preachers had entrance music like baseball players. OK, it would actually be wrong on so many levels, mostly how it would play into the already problematic celebrity culture of the teaching ministry. But it is fun to think about what songs I would choose. I think I would have to go with "My Exit Unfair" by mewithoutYou or "Crawling" by Linkin Park

Speaking of mewithoutYou, (and here) I have had favorite bands before, but this is my first time as a hard core fan waiting anxiously for each new release, keeping careful track of touring schedules and buying the T-shirt. One of Charis' first words was 'ity bit' as she put her thumbs and pointer fingers together requesting the itsy bitsy spider song. I am convinced she is into spider themed music b/c we went to mwY's Brother Sister concert when Amanda was 39 weeks pregnant. (Incidentally, if you have never seen the look in a guy's eyes who is trying to decide whether he should card a 39 week pregnant woman who wants to get into Slims in a shady part of SF, it is truly a delight).

I think I am going to expand on this idea in a future blog, but Keller (the pastor, not the fictionalcheif of medicine) dropped a fantastically provacative quote the other day: "Christianity is the only religion that does not claim moral superiority of the believers to unbelievers." (paraphrase)

Speaking of moral superiority, I love this website. It is written as a helpful guide for Latinos, Asians and African Americans to negotiating the strange world of liberal Anglo culture: "stuff white people like". #'s 14, 21, 28, 30, 35, 39, 44, 61 and especially 73 (Gentrification) totally nailed me. I love #2 (Religions their parents don't belong to.)

I highly recommend visiting the comments section of my last post. Our friend Tiffany knows us from more life stages than any one else (Beaver Camp, Madison and Buffalo - and she and Josh even visited CA). She is a bona fide English Professor and excellent poet. She has posted an Allentown poem of her own and I couldn't be more honored. For those of you who are wondering what we are talking about with all this bronze angel stuff, Amanda and I lived in this second story dive in downtown Buffalo. It had mold, was under heated, grew icicles on the walls (inside) and is still my favorite place we have ever lived. It was across from a great restaurant/bar called Gabriel's gate which had a large bronze statue of the angel Gabriel with 2 propane torches on top of it. Our window afforded the finest view of Gabriel in Buffalo. The first time i saw it at night I thought the building was on fire.

Rilo Kelly's "Pictures of Success" is one of the best songs I've happened on in a while. I love the verse:
I've had it with you
And Mexico can f%@&ing wait
And all of those French films about trains
'Cause I’m not scared
But I’d like some extra spare time
I'm not scared
But the bills keep changing colors
Bills changing colors to convey various levels of lateness and urgency is such a visceral image of uncertainty and upheaval.

A friend recently said ‘profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate.’ I understand his point. But for those of us who love words, though we tire of their overuse, taboo words are too rich and powerful to completely set aside.

I actually think this guy is an atheist and many of these dioramas (for lack of a better term) are actually deconstructions or decenterings of the text. His intent is clearly to undermine the Biblical narrative by highlighting the sex and violence. But he just does such a great job. He parses of the description of Solomon’s Canaanite wives and concubines ...word...by...word...so he could fit as many images of his extensive Lego sex scene as possible (and props to him as Lego's are not known for being particularly limber). And honestly, this gets at the heart of the narrative. Solomon wisdom was no match for his sexual apatite. Intelligence is not a particularly helpful weapon against moral failure (and may actually be a detriment). The Bible is a remarkably honest book. Prudes tend to make poor exegetes.

All of this talk of Legos reminds me of the very good Death Star Canteen sketch. It is fun to think about how many levels of management there must have been between Vader and the guy who hands out trays in the Death Star Cafeteria.

Speaking of an exegete who is not a prude...my favorite Mark Driscoll line of late: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...unless its itchy."

If there are two kinds of people, those who think the Flobots are a gimmick and those who think they are an immensely talented and refreshingly contemplative hip hop act, count me in category 2. Love the muted trumpet. Love the themes.

Eminem is a technical virtuoso. But his stuff just ends up making me sad. His creative genius is obscured by his lack of emotional maturity.

A movie like "The Kingdom" wants me to believe it is a deconstruction because of the heavy handed moral ambiguity of the ending (which was about as subtle as the rat at the end of "The Departed"). But if you make a movie that is 60% gunplay and Jenifer Garner's pouty lips...and market it as 98% those thing...you may assuage your conscience by your quaint little deconstruction - but you are just war profiteering.

And on the topic of action movies that try become message pieces with a brief post script...I finally saw "Lord of War". Unlike the tobacco lobbyist in ‘Thank You For Smoking’ I never felt a thing for Cage's protagonist. But it did have 3 very interesting lines
"She didn't know I existed. I was beginning to think she had a point."
"Maybe that's what I can't escape. You can fight a lot of enemies and win. But you can't fight your biology."
"They say evil prevails when good men fail to act. They should say evil prevails."

I noticed that I pass a Decatur Street on my new bike ride to work a couple weeks ago. Last week in Omaha, one of the students in the class I taught showed me a picture of a sediment problem at the bridge in Decatur. I don’t actually know where Decatur is. But what went through my head in both of these instances:
Our stepmom, we did everything to hate her
She took us down to the edge of Decatur
We saw the lion and the kangaroo take her
Down to the river where they caught a wild alligator

Speaking of Sufjan, I saw a really intriguing film that parenthetically tells the story of his rise. The movie actually follows the Danielson Family on tour. At the beginning of the movie he is ‘my brother’s buddy Sufjan.’ By the end he is an international phenomenon. But Danielson is intriguing in his own right. The Church has only recently abdicated a central role in the realm of creativity and art. I find it interesting what kinds of art emerge from a life of faith that turn out to be of value to those outside the church. In this case the answer is…slightly disconcerting art.