My Favorite Songs of 2010: #13

#13: Arnika by Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens, whose existence I was completely unaware of before February 2009, has released a flurry of material over the past year after a hiatus of three years between releases. For some artists this type of gap isn't that big of a deal; for Stevens, who gained a reputation as a prolific, creative musician, it was causing a bit of concern among his fans.

Late 2009 saw the release of a CD/DVD package of his completely instrumental The BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), a venture into a more classical genre. Then this past fall, within a span of a few weeks, he suddenly announced the release of first an EP, All Delighted People, and then a full LP, The Age of Adz.

I procured all three releases and feel pretty good about them. With The BQE I saw the difficulty about trying to relate a symphonic work to an old, dirty, and overcongested highway, so I instead just decided to appreciate the music for its own value. It fits along with other similar works from other artists over the ages. All Delighted People and The Age of Adz, though, represent a substantive change with Stevens from his previous three vocal albums, which dealt with states (namely Michigan and Illinois) as themes and as points of departure for folk, autobiographical and disguised spiritual songs. Stevens is no longer "doing the states". These two most recent releases are, in my opinion, quite emotionally unbalanced, seeming to reflect the efforts of an artist who has undergone a good amount of pain in his life over the last couple of years.

It's tough to have a neurological condition that can't seem to be specifically diagnosed; about fourteen years ago I suddenly developed numbness over various parts of my body without a definitive diagnosis, and it was troublesome to me. Stevens apparently came down with something more debilitating but still equally unidentifiable. Add to that other personal issues and you have someone with a lot of grief to pour out. And that seems to be what he did on All Delighted People and The Age of Adz.

I generally don't like the songs of Sufjan Stevens' latest releases as much as the ones he put out earlier. He sounds over-the-edge with his emotions, and I'm not too keen on repeatedly hearing his voice breaking as if he is about to haul off and have a major crying fit. But in the middle of this, on his less-publicized EP All Delighted People, is a beautiful song: Arnika.

Arnika epitomizes anguish and expresses the sentiments of someone who feels that, although chronologically still young, he is already "tired of life". The music hearkens back to songs like Pittsfield (from The Avalanche) and Romanus (from Greetings from Michigan). Personally, I think Stevens would have been better off just expressing his problems through this song and then trying to pick things up a bit with the others. Instead, personal grief pervades both albums (with occasional disguised Christian-themed tracks such as Vesuvius and Djohariah).

Arnika, although sad, has stuck with me as being one of the classic (albeit almost completely unknown) Sufjan Stevens songs. I like this artist and appreciate his efforts. I'm looking forward to his future works with interest and anticipation.

Oh, and I hope he's feeling better now!