Vito's Ordination Song - Sufjan StevensI always knew you in your mothers arms
I have called your name
I have an idea placed in your mind to be a better man
I have an idea placed in your mind to be a better man
I've made a crown for you put it in your room
and when the bridegroom comes there will be noise there will be glad and a perfect bed
and when you write a poem
I know the words I know the sounds before you write it down
when you wear your clothes I wear them too
and when the bridegroom comes there will be noise there will be glad and a perfect bed
and when you write a poem
I know the words I know the sounds before you write it down
when you wear your clothes I wear them too
I wear your shoes and your jacket too
I always knew you in your mothers arms
I always knew you in your mothers arms
I have called you son
I've made amends between father and son or if you haven't one
rest in my arms
I've made amends between father and son or if you haven't one
rest in my arms
sleep in my bed
there's a design
to what I did and said
New Criticism
These song lyrics use imagery and symbolism to create a powerful metaphor for Jesus of the Bible. Jesus is represented by the speaker himself. Ordinary words from our modern culture that do not fit at all within the context of the Bible show up throughout the lyrics. These have two effects, first of all to metaphorically identify certain aspects of the life of Christ. They also communicate the belief in Jesus' relevance to present-day culture. One instance of this occurs when the speaker says "I wear your shoes and your jacket too," which is a reference to the incarnation, when Jesus, son of God, took on a human body like a person might put on their clothing. The images of Christ in this song are varied, ranging from "bridegroom" to "father" to an omniscient person who "always knew you" to comforter ("rest in my arms"). They do not find their unity in the song, as it is not even directly stated that the speaker is Christ. It can only find it's cohesiveness with the outside knowledge of the character of God, which encompasses all these aspects.
Deconstructive
It's interesting to note how the speaker goes from first person to third when he mentions the "bridegroom," which is a familiar Biblical image of Christ. This inconsistency seems to be contradictory, however, I think its purpose is to make a further connection to the speaker: Christ. In the Bible, Christ often spoke about himself in third person as "The Son of Man". So this ambiguity is somewhat typical of Christ, and yet in the Bible He always attributes his listener's inability to understand his words to their own blindness or lack of faith, rather than the cohesiveness of His words. So this wording implies that any confusion the listener might experience from this song actually comes from the listener's own mental weakness. Another contradiction can be found in the first line, "I always knew you in you mother's arms." It would be impossible for someone to do this because obviously one is not an infant forever. How can you "always" know someone in a temporal stage of life? Again, this contradiction can be attributed to the musician's intent to reveal aspects about Christ's character. The only way possible for someone to always know someone in a temporal position in life would be if that someone was not bound by space or time. So this ambiguity implies that Christ has this ability, and one might make the further connection that he therefore is God.
New Criticism
These song lyrics use imagery and symbolism to create a powerful metaphor for Jesus of the Bible. Jesus is represented by the speaker himself. Ordinary words from our modern culture that do not fit at all within the context of the Bible show up throughout the lyrics. These have two effects, first of all to metaphorically identify certain aspects of the life of Christ. They also communicate the belief in Jesus' relevance to present-day culture. One instance of this occurs when the speaker says "I wear your shoes and your jacket too," which is a reference to the incarnation, when Jesus, son of God, took on a human body like a person might put on their clothing. The images of Christ in this song are varied, ranging from "bridegroom" to "father" to an omniscient person who "always knew you" to comforter ("rest in my arms"). They do not find their unity in the song, as it is not even directly stated that the speaker is Christ. It can only find it's cohesiveness with the outside knowledge of the character of God, which encompasses all these aspects.
Deconstructive
It's interesting to note how the speaker goes from first person to third when he mentions the "bridegroom," which is a familiar Biblical image of Christ. This inconsistency seems to be contradictory, however, I think its purpose is to make a further connection to the speaker: Christ. In the Bible, Christ often spoke about himself in third person as "The Son of Man". So this ambiguity is somewhat typical of Christ, and yet in the Bible He always attributes his listener's inability to understand his words to their own blindness or lack of faith, rather than the cohesiveness of His words. So this wording implies that any confusion the listener might experience from this song actually comes from the listener's own mental weakness. Another contradiction can be found in the first line, "I always knew you in you mother's arms." It would be impossible for someone to do this because obviously one is not an infant forever. How can you "always" know someone in a temporal stage of life? Again, this contradiction can be attributed to the musician's intent to reveal aspects about Christ's character. The only way possible for someone to always know someone in a temporal position in life would be if that someone was not bound by space or time. So this ambiguity implies that Christ has this ability, and one might make the further connection that he therefore is God.
Reader-Response
I LOVE this song. Some songs about Jesus do a great job of pointing out aspects of His character worthy of praise, while others focus on how He personally relates to us, and yet it's not often that one can find a song that mixes these two styles together so intricately and seamlessly as this song does. For instance, the lines "when you write a poem I know the words I know the sounds before you write it down" speaks of the omniscience of Christ yet to me it also speaks of how He is interested and involved in every aspect of our lives, and that He is the source of our creativity. The fact that Christ is the (implied) speaker is one of the aspects that makes the song so personal. The lyrics don't even slightly stretch the Biblical view of Christ, but rather take the most basic truths about Him and present it in an intimate manner that shows that He is a relational God who wants us to be in fellowship with Him. This song is a far cry from your typical worship song, and yet I find that it takes my mind into a place of meditating on God's goodness in my own life, aka ascribing worth to God, aka "worship."
Sufjan's cover of "Come thou fount" is one of my favorite worship songs-- I think that one's on the Christmas album? Beautiful stuff from him.
ReplyDeleteYour commentaries are great-- blended, I would say, with Historical Criticism; that works for Deconstructive, but not for New Criticism which leaves outside context alone.
Love the emphasis on the relational illustrations in this song.
9/10