Gospel: Communicating Beliefs Through Music

As popular music developed during the 20th century, many folk, blues, rock, and hip hop artists found inspiration in hymns and spirituals that expressed belief in the Christian faith and created music alternating from mainstream secular pop.

I want to start off by saying that I am not a Christian, but rather agnostic. I haven't typically found myself listening to much worship music, apart from some Relient K in the 7th grade, at which point my religious viewpoints were far from developed. As I grew older, I became increasingly turned off by what I saw as a lack of dimension in the Christian music I heard. Those who went out of their way to explicitly label themselves as "Christian" musicians tended, in my eyes, to push the messages to ridiculous lengths (i.e. Jesus this, Jesus that). For Christian pop punk bands like Relient K, subject matter either revolved around God or girls. Annoyed by what came across as teenage naivety and just naivety in general, I stopped listening to both Christian music and pop punk.

Enter 2010. Last June, I was listening to my local radio station in Rochester, MN, The Current. The Current has the best variety. In an hour block, they'll play Kanye West, Janelle Monae, Arcade Fire, The Roots, Edward Sharpe, Mumford & Sons, LCD Soundsystem, The XX, The White Stripes, Sigur Ros, and Frank Sinatra - basically, everything except Christian music and pop punk. So, it's exactly my taste.  On this particular day, the station chose to play the song "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens. I found it instrumentally complex, catchy, upbeat, meaningful, and relatable. I downloaded it later that day, and my Sufjan phase had officially begun.

Around October he put out his new album, The Age Of Adz, which was electronic, abstract, experimental, and in great contrast to "Chicago." I was shocked at first to hear what Sufjan was doing, but I loved him for it. Here was an artist with ambition, diversity, and broad talent making music that was groundbreaking and potentially timeless. As a musician myself, this kind of find is inspiring and motivating. I would love to do what Sufjan does.

I decided to obtain his entire discography, including six studio albums and four other releases, and listen to it all on shuffle. Stylistically, his music ranged from minimalist folk to avant-garde electronica to baroque pop to jazz. I loved the sounds. But one of the first things I noticed lyrically was what seemed like homoerotic wordplay. Sufjan is often ambiguous about the subjects of his songs, avoiding pronouns and context in an attempt to universalize what are a simple messages of love. Nevertheless, his word choice is sometimes puzzling. In the song “To Be Alone With You” he sings about wanting to give everything to be alone with an unnamed man. In the song “The Predatory Wasp of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!” he exclaims “We were in love!” to a "him" whom he refers to as his best friend. And in the song “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” Sufjan says that he sees part of himself in Gacy, and that he has secrets, too (Gacy was a gay serial killer who had sex young boys). What secrets does Sufjan have to hide, and why in reference to Gacy? Even Sufjan's aesthetic can be described as effeminate; he sometimes wears butterfly wings on stage and prances around. And after some research I learned that Sufjan is not married and does not have a girlfriend.

I don't know if Sufjan Stevens is gay, and it really doesn't matter to me because it doesn't define him as an artist. Even if he was, it wouldn't make his music "gay" music; certainly his sexual orientation is not something he chooses to write about very much either way. Judging by his music alone, he is just as likely to be straight or bisexual.

Finally, I noticed that a some of his lyrics were devotional to Jesus Christ. I never would have guessed at first glance that Sufjan was a Christian. He yells "I'm not fucking around" repeatedly in his song "I Want To Be Well" on an album that is overwhelmingly dark. But upon some further reading, I learned that he is indeed a Christian artist. Likewise, I never would have guessed that I would listen to Christian music again. On the other hand, this was a different kind of Christian music from an artist who sometimes chooses to sing about his faith, while other times talking about love (for family, friends, and genderless lovers), his affinities for Illinois and Michigan, and society as a whole.

Why? Well, Sufjan Stevens doesn't play Christian music. He is a musician who just so happens to be Christian. Similarly to the way that Sufjan Stevens might be gay, but it would only be a small part of him and therefore a small part of his music. And regardless of what I believe, I have immense respect for any artist with the dimension Sufjan has, and I can enjoy even his most hymnal tunes for what they're worth, as insights into his life and his artistry which is so inspiring to me.

I use Sufjan as an example because he is, along with Iron & Wine, the only good example I can think of when it comes to faith-inspired artists. Just because I've gotten into Sufjan doesn't mean I'll be listening to Relient K again anytime soon (or Creed or Jays Of Clay or Underoath). These artists have found niche appeal, but when you only sing about Jesus, chances are you're only going to attract a mostly Christian demographic. And such a genre self-imposition denies these groups the crossover fanbase that might include a listener such as myself. It seems self-limiting and, for that reason, rather unadventurous and ultimately unartistic. Contrast that to Sufjan Stevens who never stops developing and can appeal to hipsters and old church ladies alike. I'd even go so far to say that Sufjan is good for Christianity. He's definitely doing wonders for the image of Christian music.

Ah well, I guess to each his own.