The Religious Imagination: Page France, Sufjan Stevens, Half Handed Cloud, Danielson Family, and oh so Many others...

Danielson Famile
In a follow up of sorts to my last blog post, I wanted to post this abstract of a paper I will be giving at an upcoming Popular Culture conference. More to come as I work on the presentation--should be fun!
"(Im)personal Jesus: Rebirth of the Religious Imagination in US Indie Rock"
In a recent article from Pitchfork Media, columnist Chris Dahlen claims that “ there is almost no strain of music as secular as indie rock” and asks why “hipsters hate Jesus”. In the context of an irony saturated indie rock subculture, in which the proclamation of “truth” is not considered sacred, but profane, a selection of musicians are creating songs that are deeply subversive and uncharacteristically countercultural in their relentless search for meaning. This growing community of indie rock artists has given birth to a postsecular musical Renaissance, creating music pregnant with questions about mystery, transcendence, religious wonder, and personal doubt. Musicians such as Sufjan Stevens, Page France, Half Handed Cloud, the Danielson Famile, and many others continually challenge the “truth” claims of what they see as a media-induced virtual paradigm that has become the surrogate for a “traditional” religious one. All of these musicians are well versed in the glossy texts of their culture; they ironically bring the products, ads, films, and shopping spaces that we call home into the foreground of their work. They use these postmodern texts as tools to not only critique the seductive metanarrative that has nurtured their own popularity, but also to create space for spiritual exploration. This combination of biblical and contemporary consumer metaphors opens up a new, relevant discussion of an “ancient future” faith. The rise, and surprising acceptance, of these faith-focused indie performers has also instigated the emergence of anonymous online communities that discuss what were previously considered to be “outmoded” ideas of faith. Along with the song lyrics themselves, I plan to read these virtual patterns of faith discussion within the emerging texts of chat communities, online reviews, and Mp3 Blogs. This shockingly earnest and imaginative music has instigated a new conversation, a reflexive dialogue, that continually re-interprets questions of both faith and doubt for its audience.

Paul Tillich, Sufjan Stevens, and Douglas Coupland: On Words That Need "Healing"

I was just reading the introduction to theologian Paul Tillich's Dynamics of Faith. In discussing the term "faith" he says this: "It belongs to those terms which need healing before they can be used for the healing of men. Today the term "faith" is more productive of disease than health...Indeed, one is tempted to suggest that the word "faith" should be dropped completely...".I really like this brief point about the seeming "corruption" and decontextualization of religious terminology. So many of our theological terms have become much more associated with commodity, scientific rationalism, and strangely systematic "religion" rather than mystery, wonder and devotion. Tillich ultimately argues that we can't drop a word such as "faith" as there is no other adequate term to replace it--and we need a label for this mystical "thing" that we discuss. We must re-invest it with the meaning it has lost in such a confused cultural context. But how do we do this? I don't want to try and answer this now, but raise the question. One thing that I think is very much needed is a new amount of respect and excitement for the religious imagination. We need to rely more on metaphors and imagination--concrete, creative descriptions of mysterious spiritual realities, rather an attempt to concretize through abstractions, reducing these words to correlating "scientific" principles concerning God and belief.
All of this discussion reminds me of my blog's first ever post, which looks at how Sufjan Stevens provides an awe-ful, rich description of the phrase "born again". Take a look here. I also appreciate how an author such as Douglas Coupland attempts to re-invest the often completely secularized (in the mind of contemporary society) term "apocalypse" with its prophetic, colorful, frightening and beautiful roots. Of course, this discussion (of Coupland) calls for an entire new blog post (or a 325 page dissertation!).

Christmas Music that Doesn't Make You Groan

Lots of Christmas music does make me groan--sentimental, commercial, "jolly", yuck. I would usually skip over a post that said "Christmas Music", espcially if it had anything to do with Santa or rockin around the tree or all that crap--any of that overproduced, saccharine schmaltz that is basically muzac for Christmas( although I love lots of classical Christmas pieces)--. But I ask you--yes, you who might even be as cynical as me--to stop and listen to a few refreshing Christmas offerings.
First, a trip back to Sunday School with Half Handed Cloud in these bubbly songs full of childlike wonder and faith:

The * That Moved Around the Nightmp3
Asian Meteorologists Predicted the Heavens to Snow-down a Child to Us (Plant a little Fir Tree) mp3

Next, a lovely reworking of a Christmas classic from Pedro the Lion. Bazan poignantly depicts the co-existence of faith and doubt, thus emphasizing the reality of the human condition. Check out these lyrics:"Now my wife and children dream of gifts beneath the tree/ While I place in the manger baby Jesus figurine/ Sipping Christmas whiskey wondering if I still believe/ Oh tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemenmp3

Okay, I wasn't going to include Sufjan because EVERYONE includes Sufjan and perhaps we are all sick of it. But I just had to come back and edit this post to include this song. "That was the Worst Christmas Ever" is one of the most real, touching Christmas songs I have ever heard. This picture of hope and redemption in the midst of a very dysfunctional family situation speaks reality into the plasticized notions of sentimental, hunky dory pictures of Christmas gatherings depicted in most Christmas related rhetoric. For many people, family harmony and vacuum packed faith are not the reality of Christmas--but Sufjan emphasizes the brokenness, of a family, of an individual, that needs some sort of healing. Listen to the words. For some folks, Christmas is not a happy time. Maybe a great deal of this is due to the fact that the falsified notions of peace, love, and joy embodied in plastic smiles and jolly music highlight the pain of family dischord, questions about faith, the hardness of life. This song does not ignore the hardships,pain, and dysfunction and emphasizes that this is exactly the real reason for Christmas. Part of the strange appeal of Sufjan's music is the constant inclusion of a violence of sorts--physical violence, violence of relationships, of words, of expectations that haven't been met. This tends to offfset the soft, breathy voice, calling attention to the consistent presence of both beauty and pain that is the disturbing mixture of our real lives: "Silent night, holy night; silent night, nothing feels right."..."In time the snow will rise, In time the snow will rise/ In time the Lord will rise, In time the Lord will rise."
I believe in this hope, a hope that doesn't ignore what seems hopeless.

That was the Worst Christmas Ever mp3

Lastly, here is a little surprise treat (although not a video of amazing quality) from the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers:

Enjoy!
Oh---One more thing!!
Another reminder that for more music of this general ragtag, creative sort, don't forget to purchase the compilation Peace on Earth which includes Christmas offerings from Michael Nau, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Prayers and Tears, David Karsten Daniels, Rosie Thomas and many others. It is only 7 bucks and ALL of that money goes to Toys for Tots. It is only available until Christmas on this blog.

**Okay, so I have another edit/addition. I just found out that there is a free Christmas Collection over at the blog for Sounds Familyre records. These folks--including Danielson, Half Handed Cloud, and Soul Junk among others have given us this little free gift. Check it out! The cool thing is that they are adding a song a day for 12 days--they have added a Sufjan number since I originally posted this.

Okay, that really is it! Please let me know what you think about all this stuff, especially the interesting lyrical content of most.

Sufjan Stevens, a UFO, and the Incarnation

I have been thinking quite a lot lately about the postmodern rebirth of the religious imagination,particularly in the indie music world. This is actually why I am posting the videos and lyrics for these Sufjan and Page France songs. Once I finish all my exam and essay grading, I will be writing an expanded post on the larger subject. This lush, yet sparse, song from Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise takes the contemporary, quirky imagery of a UFO siting to somehow allude to the perplexing mystery of(and the disorientation we feel when trying to understand)the Incarnation. I also really like this guy's little homemade video--hope you do as well.

Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
When the revenant came down,
We couldn't imagine what it was.
In the spirit of three stars.
The alien thing that took its form.
Then to Lebanon, oh God.
The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow.
Oh, history involved itself.
Mysterious shade that took its form.
Or what it was, incarnation, three stars.
Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes.

Sufjan covers The Innocence Mission

Oh, how lovely.

Sufjan--Chickens, War, Bathrooms, and God.

There has been much said in Christian circles about the fact that Sufjan Stevens has told his publicist that he prefers the media not to ask him about his faith in interviews. This seems to have bothered some, caused some to question Sufjan's devotion, given a reason, perhaps, to judge. I was also somewhat puzzled by Sufjan's stance, but have been much more sympathetic with it recently. I appreciate the fact that perhaps Sufjan does not seem to want to have his faith misenterpreted, turned into an evangelistic power point presentation, or, even worse, used as a marketing strategy. Here is an interesting excerpt from an interview with Sufjan on this very subject:
"I'm not an evangelist. I'm a songwriter and a storyteller. If that story happens to be about Christ, then perhaps, in some odd semantic way, the song could be termed 'evangelical'. I gladly accept that. I also sing about divorce. And murder. And adultery. I sing about chickens and war and bathrooms. In my mind, the gospel is not something to pander and pawn off like a diet soda drink. There is no product. There is no selling point."

I appreciate the authenticity of Sufjan's art--an authenticity that is sometimes raw, often delicate, always mysterious. The very mystery of his art, its resistance to becoming a bottled up evangelistic product, is something I respect.

In the same interview, Sufjan explains what he thinks "being born again" means. This phrase, which I am ashamed to say often makes me wince inside because of its near commodification in evangelical Christian subculture--the ease with which it is used--is ultimately mysterious. It cannot be fully explained or understood by converting into formula (no,not even the "four Spiritual Laws" or "Two Ways to Live"). In trying to simplify this phrase, we have stripped it of its mystery. I LOVE Sufjan's wonderful poetic definition--it seems that only poetry can even begin to reawaken our sense of wonder by both disorienting and familiarizing us at the same time. I love the concrete images, the smell and feel of life, that points toward this amazing mystery, giving us a bit of access to it through the poet's imagination. Sufjan again:

"This is what it means to be born again: to fully and completely disengage with the preconceptions and preoccupations of the adult world and its religions, to dismantle all laws - of physics and society - and yield yourself to the birth canal, and what comes after, in which everything begins to shake and tremble with all senses fully turned to the centre of the universe, the creator, God the Father, in whose cultivation we begin to know and understand our true selves, our real selves, as a reflection of God's image, his creation, like newborn babies, full, fresh, suckling, elated and laughing at everything. "