Born on July 1, 1975, in Detroit, Michigan, Sufjan Stevens (/ˈsuːfjɑːn/ soof-yahn) was raised by his father Rasjid and his stepmother, only occasionally visiting his mother, Carrie, in Oregon after she married her second husband Lowell Brams.
Chosen by the founder of the interfaith spiritual community to which his parents belonged and named after Abu Sufyan – an important figure in ancient Islamic history – the name Sufjan has Arabic and Persian origins and means “one who comes with a sword.” Personally, I believe the choice was accurate, since the lyricism of his compositions is capable of cutting deep, but we will unpack that further later on.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
His musical career began in his teens, when he studied the oboe and English horn, but the list doesn’t stop there: guitar, piano, drums, xylophone, and others. Before pursuing a solo career, he was a member of the folk rock band Marzuki, and in his final semester at Hope College, he released his first solo project, the album A Sun Came. The debut served as a gateway for the public to his infinite and boundless creativity, but failed to generate excitement among critics.
The second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit, released in 2001, is a song cycle based on the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Starting out in 2003 with a project to release folk and instrumental compilations inspired by the fifty US states, Michigan, in honor of his home state, was the first to be chosen. He wanders gently between different cities, guiding us through melancholy and geographical references, and declaring his affection for The Great Lakes State.
Shortly thereafter, Stevens completed recording Seven Swans, characterized by its unprecedented sensitivity and sweetness, and resumed the state project in 2005. Illinois was largely responsible for elevating the artist’s career to another level of greatness and influence.
Throughout the journey, from “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois” to “Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run”, he delves deeply into the rich details of the culture and history of the state of Illinois and opens up a flood of scenarios: a girl with bone cancer, flying saucers, John Wayne Gacy Jr., Chicago, and many more.
What the public would not have imagined is that this would be the last album of the Fifty States Project, since Sufjan revealed that the proposal was nothing more than a joke and a promotional gimmick.
The Age of Adz came as an opportunity to explore other creative fields of music, such as hip hop and R&B. Very different from his previous works, Sufjan even flirts with the ideas of sex and death. Personally speaking, this album gave rise to my all-time favorite song, “Futile Devices”, which overflows with sensitivity and fear.
The journey of grief in Sufjan’s music
When commenting on the album Carrie & Lowell, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025, I like to revisit the idea that his compositions cut deep into the soul. The main themes explored by Sufjan are the nuances of his complex relationship with his mother, Carrie, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and suffered from chemical dependency, and the supportive figure of his stepfather, Lowell, in his development as a musician.
With the death of his mother, Stevens seeks comfort in songwriting to learn how to deal with grief and deep-seated resentment. Although reserved about his personal life, he portrays his attempt to make peace with the past. “I was recording songs as a means of grieving, making sense of it,” he states in an interview to The Guardian. “But the writing and recording wasn’t the salve I expected. I fell deeper and deeper into doubt and misery. It was a year of real darkness. In the past my work had a real reciprocity of resources – I would put something in and get something from it. But not this time.”
The most prestigious track on the album, “Fourth of July,” tells how, in their last moments together, he wanted to fill the void left by abandonment with forgiveness.
Healing with the time thought music
At the same time as the promotions for Carrie & Lowell, director Luca Guadagnino was certain that Sufjan was the right person to bring the soundtrack of his new film, Call Me By Your Name, to life, but the task of convincing the artist was not easy.The singer read the script and the adaptation book, and within a few days, the spectacular “Visions of Gideon” and “Mystery of Love” were born, resulting in an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
He was also invited to perform the song during the awards ceremony, and let’s just say that the experience was not the most pleasant for such a reclusive personality. “Honestly, one of the most traumatising experiences of my entire life. I don’t want to be part of any room full of adults hemming and hawing over plastic trophies.” he expressed to The Guardian.
The project launched during the pandemic, The Ascension, run in the opposite direction from Carrie & Lowell. Sufjan revisits the electropop style used in the past and mixes it with the seductions and confessions present in the lyrics, such as “Run Away With Me” and “Tell Me You Love Me”.
In 2023, the public had another rare glimpse into the musician’s enigmatic personal life: he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the peripheral nerves, causing paralysis throughout the body, months after the loss of his partner, Evans Richardson.
All these setbacks culminated in the creation of what would be his most intimate work since Carrie & Lowell. Javelin (My favorite project of his) wastes no time with lightheartedness and explicitly expresses feelings of loneliness and the difficulty of dealing with grief again.
Being exposed to Sufjan’s deepest anxieties and insecurities is painful, but it also has a kind of beauty. Even though the album begins with a departure, it continues to heal the wounds caused by nostalgia. I could spend hours talking about the transcendental power of “Goodbye Evergreen,” “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” and “So You Are Tired,” tracks that have definitely altered my brain chemistry since I first heard them.
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The article above was edited by Maria Clara Polcan.
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