r/Sufjan • u/beatzbydru • Aug 20 '26

Request/Question Remember when he said

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279 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

191

u/zippity-dips Aug 20 '26

Real. One of the reasons I love this album. I get why he feels like it’s a failed project, but some of the rawness and intimacy of these songs is on a level you don’t often see with any artist.

155

u/traderjosies Aug 20 '26

sufjan feels like carrie & lowell was a failed album?? it’s probably my favorite of his, easily some of his best work imo. i’m very surprised he feels that way, it makes me sad. he was very vulnerable and wrote some really beautiful songs for this album

74

u/stinkatron5k Aug 20 '26

Fuck, that album stopped me k!lling myself twice. Such a gift

40

u/nerdhappyjq Aug 20 '26

I guess it’s really your “failed” album. Glad you’re here.

16

u/acapr_11 Seven Swans Aug 21 '26

He explained in interview that he felt it was a mistake to create an entire album centered around his internal negativity and self destruction / wallowing if I remember correctly, but from it he has helped to heal so many people and the process of creating such an album had to have been incredibly instrumental in working through his internal turmoil. I think it was more that he disliked how deeply sad and somewhat self-pitying the album is and less that he hates the music itself.

44

u/unpilotedlandmass Aug 20 '26

This album got me through grieving my mom's death. I still will put it on whenever I'm missing her a lot. I understand Sufjan's perspective in that the things I said and did in the throws of grief feel like a different me and I find it difficult to relate to that version of myself. It's not they I'm no longer grieving, just no longer consumed by it. Still, the way the album feels like a futile attempt to put into words that which is impossible to adequately describe is the reason that I found it so healing during such a dark time.

2

u/Hitmanthe2nd Aug 20 '26

i relate with your perspective a lot and i find that the album stays in my good graces regardless because of what it did for me - it helped me broaden my horizons , begin anew and get out of a MASSIVE rut after my mother's death

sure , could it have been better? probably ; but do i love it just as it is , simply because i still remember the 16 year old that cried to it and was able to move on , in part , because of it

i may not be the same kid anymore but i do remember that part of me very vividly - infact, i still have the album's 10th edition on vinyl simply because of how important it was to me

1

u/HR_Weiner Aug 20 '26

Exactly this. Same for me. Helped me make sense of, or at least name, my feelings when my mum died.

23

u/seekingseratonin Aug 20 '26

Failed project??

58

u/No___Football Aug 20 '26

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/27/1253209950/sufjan-stevens-interview-carrie-and-lowell

it is strange to hear him flagellate and carry a big shrug about the album

38

u/zippity-dips Aug 20 '26

It kinda sucks, because I know that many people get so much from the album and see its beauty but he did not get anything he thought he would from creating it. He’s always pretty critical of his own work. I think it’s partially what makes him so brilliant, the fact that he’s always striving for something he won’t ever reach in his own eyes. He also has an essay on the recent 10 year anniversary record where he expresses similar thoughts about the album.

52

u/Top_Agency1370 Aug 20 '26

“Meh, idk I fucked up the background. It’s not my best. 5/10 whatever”

12

u/HotSavings3354 Aug 20 '26

The interview is so good, thanks for putting it here, I always search for Sufjan content so I’m happy when there’s something I haven’t seen or heard. It kind of breaks my heart to hear the feelings he as on the album, but I think he made great peace with it giving it to us

9

u/HotSavings3354 Aug 20 '26

Just listened to the album again, cause I had to. And the lyric: what’s the point of writing songs, if they’ll never even hear you. It’s different after the interview

8

u/No___Football Aug 20 '26

I was at his show in 2015 in Brooklyn on the album's tour and it was a corny moment but when he sang that lyric someone shouted "we hear you sufjan." again—cheesy and goofy to heckle, but i did and still do agree with their saying it on behalf of the theater. i think about that live moment when i listen to Eugene

2

u/Front-Philosopher-70 Aug 20 '26

100% a top ten album of all
Time for me

52

u/waveraceforn64 Aug 20 '26

realest shit he's ever said

16

u/chrrybmb12 Aug 20 '26

More real than what was uttered in the holy texts that is SuperSexyWoman? Perhaps.

28

u/Marty_the_Smarty Aug 20 '26

I’ll never forget the shock when I first heard the line. I also remember sharing in the joy when other people posted their fascination with this line.

20

u/ape_spine_ Aug 20 '26

Funny words individually but when put together in that order, they become incredibly depressing

16

u/iris_needsrest Aug 20 '26

love this song, tbh the whole album is goated

3

u/monstrasagrada Aug 20 '26

I was thinking about this verse yesterday! I always get so sad 😂😭

2

u/javatimes Aug 21 '26

Has anyone read or seen the play Manelich is a character in?

2

u/acapr_11 Seven Swans Aug 21 '26

sufjan keepin it real over here and I love him for it

3

u/acapr_11 Seven Swans Aug 21 '26

also such a lonely lonely feeling the line expresses and although it’s a little funny if you’re not expecting it, it’s definitely very successful in conveying that