Like a prayer: Sufjan Stevens's 'Seven Swans'.(music)

From: Commonweal | Date: September 9, 2005| Author: | Copyright information

For the better part of the last month my iPod has served as little more than a delivery vehicle for the music of Sufjan Stevens, a thirty-year-old Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter. After a week of obsessive listening, it suddenly hit me: he's using messianic language. Not that I should have been surprised--the song that had struck me most after all is called "The Transfiguration." I was so transfixed by the song's lush, unusual musical landscape--starting with a simple banjo and building to a layered mix of horns, drums, guitar, keyboard, and xylophone--that I had barely noticed ...

Read all of this article with a FREE trial to HighBeam Research

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

Nature, Humanity, and Love in Song of Songs
; ...an implicit likening of Love to God. As the Song recalls verses from other biblical...books carry clear references to God; the Song features love and the amorous in...further example of Love supplanting God is in Song 2:7 and 3:5. The Song's oath evokes...
Helen's song (aged and God).
; ...in a strong and clear voice: God is always with us, you know. God is always with us wherever we are. God is always with me. At the beginning...while, these words became her song. It was the refrain to whatever...words of hers came to my mind: God is always with us, you know...repeating each ...
The song at the sea
; ...privileged to utter the song and God's presence rested upon...just as they sang their song only after attaining faith in God. "Thus one should purify...in God and in Moses as God's servant. The importance of the song, therefore, is as an expression...
GOD'S BURNING UP THE MUSICAL AIRWAVES\Osborne's Grammy-nominated hit the latest in a rush of songs that\put musings about Supreme Being's existence in the spotlight.(L.A. LIFE)
; ...believe, bellows Jon Bon Jovi on Hey God, a song about the crumbling state of society...for repenting. In his post-Beatles song God, he proclaimed, I don't believe in...caustic message. Newman's 1972 dirge God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) seethed...
Song of the sea
; ...that "Your Majesty" here means God Himself. They saw God and then they said, as the prayer continues (quoting the song): "This is my God!" Another somewhat later midrash...the practice of quoting the song before reciting the amida in...were privileged to recite the song, and the ...
Heavenly `One of Us' No God Squad Tune
; ...of its appeal: Any song that includes a reference to the pope calling God on the phone can't...religious." "I like the song. It expresses a desire to relate to God," says John Styll...seemed to focus on "the God song," as some call it...
Where God is not: the book of Esther and Song of Songs.
; ...two most common names of God occurs either in Esther or in Song of Songs, though at least...be construed as names of God: shalhevetyah (Song 8:6) and bi-tseva'ot (Song...opinion that the name of God does occur in Song of Songs. Accordingly, the...
Tracing the Footsteps of God: Discovering What You Really Believe
; Tracing the Footsteps of God: Discovering What...Believe. By C. S. Song. Minneapolis, Minn...inquiry from 'Who is God?" to "How is God?" Song reanimates the theological...experience to discern God's movement in the...Throughout the book, Song frames rehgious themes...
Song brings us closer to God
; ...Chasidic texts to show us that song and prayer together bring us closer to God. Connected to this are...Children of Israel sang a song for God, and not for flesh and...Because this service of song is to God, I do my best, imagining...
Adrian Smith: Striving to do what God called him to do
; Adrian Smith: Striving to do what God called him to do Adrian Smith is a man of God who has a vision of reaching the world through ministry in song and music. This is a God-given gift, anointed for God...to get enlightened as to what God was calling me to do." That...the benefit of a ...