Someone commented they wish they had a partner to listen to this too, which is valid, but i find this music incredibly personal and private and think they best way to listen is a night alone
I think I've been coming back to this video for five years now. At age 16 used to listen to this, sitting at my desk, weeping endlessly (this was caused in no insignificant part by the hormonal birth control I was on). Now that I'm older, I imagine that she still weeps inside me. I don't give her enough sympathy - I've spent the past five years running from that pain. Ultimately, I may have to admit that I'm as frail and fragile now as I was then, as I always have been - as most, if not all people are.
Around 15:45 I was struck with clarity at the strangely intimate connection of sharing music between strangers. Someone (Sufjan) created this piece. He sat down and pressed the keys in a way meant to convey something he was feeling-- I can't comment on the intention-- but he shared it. However, the way we individually interpret music is completely different from its original form (and indeed completely different for each person listening) but that's... well, it's honestly very beautiful to me. Where would we be without music? It is expression where words fail-- it is connection, if only ephemeral, with thousands and millions of souls. Maybe I'm looking too deeply at this, but I can only stand in awe as I close my eyes and wonder at each and every person that I'm sharing these emotions with. My heart goes out to you.
Yes, I had the very same reaction to Sufjan Stevens' music that you've described. He conveyed something he was feeling, and we got to hear the message. And you're right... Music is expression where words fail... What a trip.
When I first started dating my husband, he was so excited to show me all the music he loved. Even just sharing his favorite songs, sitting in his apartment, it felt so intimate. So vulnerable of him to share something that affected him deeply, it's like sharing something more intimate than any childhood story you could tell. I could barely make eye contact because I was so taken aback and disarmed. He thought nothing of it. I need to remember that: music is his expression.
Who are the others in your group? I'm always looking for new artists to explore. (My group includes Bibio, C418, Fleet Foxes, Kings Kaleidoscope, Bobby McFerrin, to name a few.)
@@davidstiles4015 I would recommend checking out Aphex Twin, they have a lot of good work, such as "aisatsana", "Rhubarb", and "Avril 14th" to name a few.
Yes, I feel the same! Sufjan Stevens is my favorite singer, and I love musicians close to him - The Clogs, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, David Lang, Thomas Bartlett, Caroline Shaw, Shara Worden etc.!
This is the first thing I heard by Sufjan Stevens. Since then, I haven't been able to stop myself from listening to his music on loop. Probably driving my coworkers crazy putting the "Illinoise" album on over the speaker every morning lol.
whenever I feel lost or alone or too much, I continue to come back to this music. this will be lost in the comments forever, I’m sure. I have been known to write too much in too many comment sections but tonight feels strange, like described before and I would just like to cry. each section was written as I heard it, just for tonight. this piece makes me feel like I’m closing up inside, shrinking in on my crumbling infrastructure like a kicked sandcastle until I fold over so many times that I become nothing. it makes me feel like a gaping maw is opening up inside my chest and swallowing me from the inside, gnashing teeth and a pitch black suction that pulls and pulls till I am no where but the void. it makes me feel like I’m making up for lost time with long forgotten friends that I miss so desperately but never want to see again, people who have betrayed me so many times but I am desperate for any sort of inkling that they care, desperate for a simpler time of many years ago. it feels like walking through every memory, good and bad, watching my own life pass me by in a spiraling whirlwind of color and scents and feelings, so bold and shameless that they eat me up and overwhelm me until I disappear inside a time I will never regain. it feels like a bad choice and a good one, like change in a way you can’t describe, a bittersweet tomorrow that will never again see the light of today, only the sun of the future and you are preparing yourself for a voyage into the vast unknown of next year, next month, next week. each second is a new beginning but, alas, a final chapter as well and you can’t help yourself but notice a pang of sorrow before that burst of excitement as you watch it all end. and you just can’t help but watch it all end. it feels like truth in the rawest way, something perfectly ugly and achy and real, but you dance in it anyway. it’s rising up and spiraling around you and it hurts, but it feels so good to be free. to finally be free of your past and all that hurt you before, and you’re laughing and you can’t control it because it’s all gone, you know you will see tomorrow’s rising sun and you will live on. you finally know you’re safe. it feels like being comforted by an old friend, a new one, and some version of yourself. like always knowing something would end up this way but still being upset anyway. it’s alright though, you know you have the right people and you know you will heal. it’s wiping your tears away and feeling hope after a dark, dark night. finally, you will heal. and by god, you are so ready. it’s being so ready to be whole again you can’t contain it. so warm and safe and prepared to feel something again that you can’t help but tear up a little bit at the thought of it. but you are ready. and so you move on. it just all feels so bittersweet. so melancholic and so nostalgic and so much of that ache between your ribs you can’t describe in any other way besides a hum in the back of your tired throat. something about this just makes you feel. and I am so lucky to have found it when I did. we all were so lucky. I can tell.
I listen to this every year on my birthday just to relax and reflect on what I've done so far and where I'm going. Sufjan Stevens music is emotional bliss.
this music is what it feels like when i dream of leaving everything behind, abandoning my possessions and obligations and responsibilities and just running away, making it work, learning who i am, exploring the world and forgetting time exists and just existing for the sole purpose of feeling
That’s gay. Fulfilling responsibilities and being there for the people who love you and depend on you is the greatest satisfaction in life. Don’t run from time, be a man and embrace it, grow to be stronger, don’t run like a coward from responsibility.
Psh ik no one cares but I've been listening to this for a couple of days on repeat without really understanding why this is so serene to me and I think I finally understand. The music is so mundain yet feels as though it's the beginning moments of a movie that leads up to something extraordinary. Steven's music makes me feel as though I'm about to go off and do something fantastic, but for now my life is calm and peaceful, letting me catch my breath and clear my head before everything gets too crazy.
I broke up with my girlfriend today, and this playlist was something I regularly listened to with her. I'm so unbelievably sad... No more shared laughter, no more funny gestures and sounds. No more taking pictures and walking through the neighborhood. No more this deep love. No more looking into each other's eyes with this intense gleam. Her beautiful blue eyes... I will never forget her, but it just didn't work out. I have no words for this hole in my heart, which she left behind.
you were alone all along and will be for the rest of your life even with a partner. the only way out is to make peace with yourself which is the hardest challenge you will ever encounter. stay strong soldier
I was also listening with her this music. When we broke up I was thinking the same romantic stuff, then I found that she was with someone else 2 weeks later… I still have Sufjan though
I almost committed last time I heard this song. Please don’t give up. I was set on my decision. I thought it was set in stone. But it’s not. It doesn’t have to be. I love you.
I feel like the tears rolling down through my hair as I lay on my floor, starring at the ceiling as the lights from cars dash by, listening to this, thinking these melodies must be the sweetest death
Today I went to donate blood, im feeling specially melancholic, about what we have, what we are and what we do with the rest of time we have. This melody is a special companion today. Nice to read you Ivory.
Somehow this reminds me of things I have never achieved, places I've never been to, people I never knew, some flowers I have never smelled, stories never heard or told, oceans never sailed... but it's all good... May you be blessed by the grace and peace of God, whoever reads this, and live your life abundantly with wisdom and love...which are gifts from the Father!... 💚 Thank you for this masterpiece.
@@herrlastmann1896 you should read about what God represents. It's a word with many meanings and is interpreted differently wherever you go in the world. To some it means love.... Can you show me physical proof of love? Proof of hope? No. It only exists if you believe it's there (just like everything else in existence)
I used to listen to this in our math library at UIUC whenever I would study (he's even wearing a UIUC tshirt in the cover photo!!) and every time I hear this, part of me is brought back to a place I miss so much.
I wish I could make a video compilation of the snippets of time in my life I have listened to this. The different houses I have lived in, the feelings of these moments, it has always been so special to me no matter what was going on in my life.
These songs make me feel different. Like I want to cry and dance in the rain all at the same time. It is like it shows the future to all and they are more beautiful than I know how to describe.
What does it feel like to be a Japanese maple leaf floating down a mountain stream twinkling with dappled sunlight? I don't know, but I it might sound like this. Consider me one of the delighted.
@@normalname8768 Sonna koto iu no. Ijiwaru ja nai ka. By the way, those kind of terms when they are in Japanese are generally not said directly to the person they are referring to...more like when you're with someone else talking about someone not there. Japanese people don't say rude things like that directly to people...maybe children( or in anime-which is a terrible way to learn proper Japanese), but even then it's considered unbecoming behavior and you'll probably get checked by someone for it. Japanese people are cool that way....encouraging best behavior in society and not encouraging mean spiritedness. They are also unapologetically sentimental at times. I miss that. Our country could use more gentleness.
I once listened to this song on my headphones as my brother was overdosing in the other room. Needless to say, Bless U for uploading this. And Bless U sufjan stevens
I want to go back to the seemingly endless days spent on the beach building sand castles. Only tethered by my own imagination. Entire worlds would ascend only to be washed out by the surf later that day. Standing where waves would come crashing ashore I was on an imaginary battlefield where I'd be fighting to the last stand. Sometimes the waves would win and I'd come crashing down without knowing up from down, swirling and twirling. Other times I would defy the waves and stand tall above the water once again. At the time blissfully unaware how I was a part of a little ecosystem. My family. There'd always be someone looking out for me. I felt safe. I could manage the whole world. Now I am forlorn, questioning my allegiances and the world just becomes too real too quickly too often. I'm waiting to see the sun shine again like it did back then only to realize that I will never see things in the same light again.
Has anyone here watched Demolition, it’s a film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts it’s about a man by the name of Davis. Davis has just lost his wife in a car accident, she loved him, he was confused on her loss, Davis writes to a vending machine company after having his peanut M&M’s stuck in the hall vending machine of the hospital which held his wife, he writes on the confusion which has been flowing through him since the accident and finds a friend. It is this confusion and wonder which really speak to me quite profoundly, the idea of choosing the road less traveled is something shown to be intensely beautiful in this film and that’s something I wish for myself. I guess I’m writing this comment because I feel indebted to Sufjan and I wanted to say thank you. So thank you Sufjan from a person who’s been inspired to be a bit different.
This could be the soundtrack for my cat's life, the alternating moments of victory and hardship she goes through as she breezes past neighbour's rooftops and backyards, with hidden dogs and unpredictable dangers, in search of excitement and exotic treats beyond the delicious gourmet food she enjoys at home.
Haha this is lovely. I enjoyed imagining a Ghibli style cat speeding on roof tops while clouds float lazily above - with this music in the background. Thank you.
This comment is so perfect - or should I say, "Purr-fect"... mainly because the life you attribute to your cat could be very well attributed to my own little darling. I know she has been scoring "exotic treats" from some of the neighbours, and thank goodness she is as black as pitch so she can evade the mountain lions and other such "monsters" in our vicinity.
I sometimes harm myself to this, after which i suffer a manic episode. There's something to this composition which completely breaks me down yet it always stops me from committing. This composition is beautiful yet really painful.
Feels like someone just shown - no, rather made me FEEL their whole life, otspoken, desparate, beautiful. Is there any possible way to get any sheet music for this? Tutorials, play-throughs, anything? It would be amazing to experience this coming from beneath my fingers on the piano.
What am I looking for? I have been searching for someone so far away from me for so long that I no longer remember what I wanted in this first place. As you walked away from me, the meaning of our feelings slowly grew more convoluted until I was sure that I could love another. I, of course, was wrong but I don't know how to keep searching for you when you don't want to be found. Will I ever rediscover what your love is or will I forever be chasing people who are merely a shadow of you?
plus profond que les étoiles il allait un insecte curieux planait sur sa bouche "non plus jamais, plus jamais du surréalisme" dit-il au reflet qui le contemplait de l'autre côté de l'univers mais le son de sa voix n'arrivait pas à sortir de là il butait contre des vers qui l'absorbaient et devenaient gros à en éclater "comme si vous faisant jouer ici, parmi d'autres images, vous deveniez papillons" "chacun reste à sa place et mon langage ne déroge pas à la règle comprenez-vous bien ?" personne, bien entendu, ne comprenait rien c'était écrit pourtant un message curieux planant entre les étoiles qui ploierait bientôt sous leur silence virevoltant
I am posting all of these songs top down within the next few months. Been a long time waiting, just in case anyone wants to learn these beautiful piano pieces.😉
the picture of the young man reminds me of my cousin who died of a brain tumor in 2017, leaving behind his widowed wife and 3 young kids. the opening track is somber and makes me think of his 36 years spent on this earth, gone too soon.
I'm terribly sorry for your loss. The picture is of the artist, Sufjan Stevens, and he has written quite a few songs dealing with these sorts of themes, some of which I've found incredibly moving. If it would interest you, you could try listening to "Carrie and Lowell" - a breathtaking exploration of family, loss, and memory.
These aren’t just songs. They are so much more. Emotions maybe.. it’s crazy, how a song can simply make you feel like the only person in the world. Or make you feel as if you are in a movie where the main character is just utterly alone forever. Feel me?
Man, you know something what most of us will never reach or never understand! Thank you for this Song and I wish you the Best! I proud of your Creation!
If this piece of music’s only contribution to this world was solely the comments it has generated here, then I’d say it was worth all the effort, and I’d laud it as an artistic success. We are however lucky to also have the music. Carrie and Lowell is my most played record. The vinyl is so worn out (it was a bad printing) that it has quite a lot of noise. I love all this noise, I can anticipate it and am grateful for it. In this way my copy is unique and nowhere else can you listen to the version of Carrie and Lowell I have, my evenings with this record have created that damage, and it is my record. Thank you, Sufjan
I've never heard this before, but, I swear I have!! Someone must have used a snippet that I knew the tune perfectly !! If anyone knows please please tell me, it's going to kill me all day!!
I have no idea how these songs make me cry every single time I hear them, but I love it, it's so freeing, like a weight that comes off the top of my head
Someday, I'll tell how I love you, and how I miss you. I want to be silent, I will not admit, but you have to remember you're fully inside my heart, and I'll wait for you. This is the love I want to convey, delicate and subtle, deep but implicit. This is so abundant that I'll wait until the day you live in my love and love me in a way that resonates and fulfills.
I am listening to this with beautiful and sad feelings ..with my eyes full of tears ..this music like all the feelings that you can't use words to describe them ...It like a friend just understand you ,without saying any word..
This is what happen when he realized making an album for each state with the level of passion he has was not possible. lol but fr it was a gimmick all along if u know the history.
there's a really crazy dichotomy goin on here with some genuinely tortured genius on one end and a vividly inspired master on the other. It's all very intriguing.
This is very lyrical stuff. Just came across this singer by my gf recomendation. I have now an idea of his sensibility and i have to say, this clashes at the piano are really exploring.
Tiny crunching sounds raddled in my bones. It was all I could hear through my frozen tears. I took my first steps onto the ice. As the sun breaks through the coulds and smothers my face, it dances through my eyelids. Its warmth, forces a smile. Smiling.
Poem I wrote while listening to this... our love began as a trickle in a crack in a well, in a rock multiplicity into duality divinity in simplicity creation in the spark spontaneous efflorescence what became untethered and unleashed into the void what must be loved must be allowed freedom fled into the cities, and into the trash ridden streets what callow folly we make our log cabins in the forest where no human memory or foot imprint we reminisce in the shallows of all that was broken of the lost sages and wandering apparitions into gradual surrenders, misshapen hopes of unwritten endings, burnt out conversations
This guy is the Neil Cicierga of contemporary music: by knowing him not by his face, but by the quiet yet loud impact given by the quality of his content. An underrated musical master. This one best heard with the accompaniment of the rain.
La musica di Sufjan scava a fondo nell'anima e ti porta a scoprire cose solo apparentemente nuove, perché in realtà esse ti appartenevano già sin da prima di sentirla
