The chorus of voices is very cathartic, like screaming with a bunch of people. It reminds me of being in choir and the pieces we’d do that were a celebration of life even in its saddest forms. I think that’s the beauty of it. And then he lets you sit in it. He lets you cry it out give your heart and then finishes it with this serene ending that leaves you rolling in the aftermath of emotion. It doesn’t just let you feel it, it lets you hold onto it, and then let it go so when the song is over that feeling is easier
I often hate long songs, bit I disagree that there were parts that could have been taken out. I think the repetitive lines are really representative of those words of regret alternating with sadness we all go through in these moments, and the ambient music on the end was the oeriod of reflection at the end. To me, cutting any of it would have felt like moving on top quickly (which many of us do). He needed that space to build the feeling, then give us reflective slace to bathe in it and process it. It fit the tone of aong and my perceived intent perfectly.
@@jrk10 long songs can be overly indulgent, sometimes bombastic, and can have a tendency to lose their punch. Not all. There are long songs I love. I just don't think a lot of long songs earn their length.
Brian, I absolutely love watching you digest the music and dig into the hearts and brains of the artists. This episode was incredibly moving. I have a lot of love and respect for you. Keep up the good work. ❤
The song is the climax for a number of reasons. When listening through the album while doing other things, this is the first song that grabs you. The many repetitions and lengthy ending demand that we stop and pay attention to the words. It’s designed that way, to evoke emotion, pause, and wonder. There’s nothing like it here, and Carrie and Lowell approaches this is places but not quite. It’s gorgeous and heartbreaking.
That was great... the song, your analysis, all of it. Thank you. I feel, though, like there's this entire layer of theme/meaning that you've neglected. The soing is about both a breakup and a death. On one hand, the idea of loving someone you can't be with is certainly a topic there. On the other hand, though, there's also the person you can no longer love because they're not alive anymore. Sure, sure, love never dies and all that, but love as an active and interactive experience sure does. Now he's left with his 'love' and his memories. He doesn't ever get to fight again or even break up, that 'love' will be there like an aching empty tooth-socket for the rest of his life. In both senses, this song is being sung after it's all over. He's found a kind of comfort by turning those experiences into song and music. Maybe he's no longer fighting with his feelings, but he's more than a little ambivalent about all of that, and the socket is still empty and he can't stop fidling with it. Yeah, I dunno, maybe that too many layers, but they all feel like they fit together amazingly neatly to me.
I'd really like to listen to it against one of his earlier songs about loss, 'Casimir Pulaski Day'. Which also has some more of the style and sounds that were common in the first half of this song and much of his earlier career.
@@ggluckmanful 'Casimir Pulaski Day' has been one of my favorite Sufjan songs for a logn time, and listening to 'Javelin' almost feels like listening to a grown-up album version of that song. It's got many of the same themes, with some very specific details, and a very cerebral and sometimes even distant and cold way of looking at love and death, while other lines paint a much rosier picture of the earlier parts. You can also definitely draw some instrumental parallels, with the lush and soft vocal mixing and the way the song builds. Obviously, this was before Sufjan delved into more electronic stuff and explored a lot of different instruments and stuff, which is why I say 'Javelin' is a grown up version of that song, as a lot of the songs on 'Javelin' sort of sound like it but with a lot more on top, if that makes sense. What does strike me is the way his views on death and loss have clearly changed quite significantly. In 'Casimir Pulaski Day', he deals with it in a naive and almost immature way, which makes a lot of sense. I mean the song is literally about a young guy who's girlfriend dies of bone cancer, it's not something a kid would know how to deal with so the way he frames it is pretty perfect. Meanwhile, he clearly understands a lot more about loss and death on this album, which sort of makes it hit harder in a way. On this song in particular, the instrumentals show just how drawn out the process of acceptance can be, the amount of pain he's going through. Either way, Sufjan is definitely one of my favorite artists of all time, and I've certainly cried while listening to both Casimir Pulaski Day and Javelin, which is about high praise as you'll get from me
@@zTeaTheCoffee I'm jealous that you can dig into both like that. I'm not in a place to celebrate loss, so they're both currently a bit inaccessible to me. Sufjan's highs, in my estimation are very high, but I've not been able/interested in keeping track of his music since the Age of Adz (an album I likes, but Carrie and Lowel just never connected with me). I also always enjoy when I recognise his contributions to the work of other artists I like (Im a sucker for Brooklyn in the mid 200s still) .
I think his songs dont work the way many songs work. He has a visceral approach, a way that bathes you a bit but then soaks in. I always find myself in a mood just because of the way he arranges it and the fearlessness (here the ambient music and some breaks and shifts that cab be jarring at first). I get why some don't like him or aome of his tracks. For me, this aong is almost more of an experience than a song; and unlike much of what we hear musically, it takes a level of acceptance, preparation or deliberate.vulnerability to enjoy that ride. I cry my eyes out every time I hear this song. Hopde closely hold me tightly lest I fall.
EVERY second of this song is perfect to THIS song!.It is brilliant as is. My only objection (if you can call it that seriously) ...is that I cannot listen to it without crying.
I believe the pitch of the drum is based on the diameter of the head, paired with how tight the skin is over that head, and the resonant skin, usually at the bottom of the drum will be similarly 'wide' and the depth affects the tone and resonance of the 'note'. This song reminded me lyrically of U2's 'with or without you', but lacked the eerie longing of that song. It was however very beautiful. It almost felt like a song of realisation, rather than one of bitter sweet longing. Aaw, I think that topic can resonate with people even when the relationship is strong. Looks like it resonated with you too, based on the body language and tone of speech :)
Great info about drums and heads. All of that sounds accurate to me so I'd wager you're right. And yeah, the lyrics certainly resonated with me quite a bit and perfectly encapsulate a recent relationship. It's wild to read something hit that close to home.
I've said on other Sufjan videos he's an artist I've been meaning to check out forever but haven't got to yet. I've been pretty mixed on what I've heard, but I can also tell he's probably an artist where you really have to dig into the albums to get into rather than hearing tracks in isolation. Even with this track I can imagine it working really well as an album's emotional climax, but out of context it didn't do a lot for me. I do love some of the more baroque pop elements, and if I do end up really liking Sufjan's stuff it will probably be those aspects that draw me in.
I think, to me, rather, the repetition was necessary for this song. It seemed to encompass the loss but almost with an uplifting resolution (maybe evidenced by the letters, rising on the screen?). The choral singers were a nice addition. I, personally, feel the song lacked 'nuance.' A part of the song that you can come back to when not listening to it. I feel like this was a perfect opportunity for some percussive nuance. Each to their own, of course, and regardless, the song was powerful, in its own right.
