I had the same reaction to "Chicago" that you did, Eric. So I sold the CD to a retail music establishment for U.S. currency. Problem solved.

i don't get the sufjan thing. on my first trip to seattle ever, i saw joanna newsom open for him, "michigan" era. joanna was amazing, the audience was more rapt than any audience of hers i've seen since. sufjan came on, played "flint (for the unemployed and underpaid)," which is a great song and the only song of his i'd heard before, and i'm glad he played it so early in his set, sending me swooning, then played a bunch of stuff i didn't feel at all. i went for sufjan, but ended up loving joanna, whom i hadn't previously heard, and leaving four songs into sufjan's set. as an aside, i used to be huge into the danielson famile, but that suffered a sharp decline in the new millennium.

I like that song, too. It's twee and sweet and until just now, I didn't really catch on that that's what it was about. I like the harmonious vocal stylings and orchestration of the song, and have kind of always tuned the actual lyrics out.

I look at it like this: if I were a musician, and chose to write songs in which I referenced agnosticism and pagan leanings, I would hope that anyone who heard it and liked the actual musicianship of the tune might let that fact override any objectionable intent the lyrics may have. What does that mean? Does it make me a sell-out, or something worse?

I think it just means you're not an evangelist, eensy, which is just fine by me. I don't think Stevens is one either. And in this case I really do like the music, dude is unimpeachable on that front. It just makes me feel like a sellout, enjoying art that I just can't believe in/agree with on a fundamental level.

Meh. Well, I don't think you're a sell-out (have you paid money for that record? That may change things a bit). Obviously you recognize the dichotomy in this situation and you're taking stock of it. You're not running around telling people that Stevens' lyrics really resonate with you; that they really meeaannn something to you.

To sample Stevens' music sans vocals, check out Enjoy Your Rabbit from 2001. This is a truly odd electronic album, a total black sheep in his catalog. It's the only work by him I've been able to embrace fully.

Lots of artists with unimpeachable musical credentials espouse some belief that I don't personally hold. Who cares? As long as they're not annoying one-note shills for their religion (aka just about all "Christian Rock") I don't mind. I saw the Blind Boys of Alabama and while they were playing I felt the spirit, but as soon as the music stopped I went back to being the same old heathen I've always been. No harm done.

You don't have to be a Zoroastrian to dig Freddie Mercury.

@7, of course one can still enjoy the music on an immediate level, but art also exists in context, and it's distressing to enjoy the art but find the artist's beliefs untenable.

I deeply enjoy Miles Davis' music, but I know he was a shit to his wives/girlfriends. That's awful for the women in Davis' life and I feel for them, but, damn, I love the hell out of his music. And I don't feel an iota of guilt about it.

The Christianity on Illinois doesn't really bother me. A lot of the time I imagine it as him embodying a character, and it's subtle enough that I can just let it blend in to the rest of the music. The album I really can't listen to is Seven Swans.

"He will chase you; 'cause he is the looooooooooooooord!!!!"

Yikes.

Of course, why any of this is different from old blues/gospel/spirituals etc. is hard for me to explain. Why can I listen to the Carter Family and not Seven Swans? You got me.

I couldn't agree more with #9. I also often think of Miles when I start to judge an artist and his/her lyrics or lifestyle. Naturally, I don't condone wife beating, but the fact that Miles was an absolutely fucker isn't going to stop me from listening to his beautiful art. I feel the same way about Sufjan's outspoken Christianity. (not to compare wife beating with religion...) I'm willing to overlook the god/jesus/lord references and just appreciate his beautiful, lush arrangements. Although, I will admit there were times at the Paramount show that I lelt like I was sitting in a freakin' pew. *shudder*

well every artist has his inspiration, would you be more assured if suf played songs inspired by his Christianity but not referenced to them? That would seem more like a prostyletization to me. Besides, like 10 said, blues, early country are a heavily religious in theme, why do they get a pass? Would you write off Bach because every one of his pieces was dedicated to 'the glory of god'? I think you can maintain your own beliefs without marginalizing the vocalizations of another's or selectively listening to an artist. Furthermore, there's probably a point about us living and growing up in a judeo-christian influenced culture to the point of it saturating into our lives so much that even in our rebellion from it our actions are still colored by it, which makes it a valid topic of art.

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