Dear Sufjan Stevens,
Every single day that I am at work I find a way to listen to music. Some days I find myself drifting along to whatever John Richards of KEXP has to offer, other days I browse random websites, myspace pages, and other forms of online media like youtube, and on a few days each month I dive into old albums and songs that I’ve always loved. I love music and I love to hear random tracks, brilliant live covers, and new music from artists that I genuinely appreciate.
Today at work I received an email that had a link to a youtube video. It was an artistic piece filled with clips of World War II stock footage and it was set to one of your songs. I immediately fell in love with the track and began to search, in earnest, for what the track was called and upon what album I could purchase it. In all honesty this song is quite brilliant. I went to your website, I visited your label’s website, I spent part of my lunch hour googling your name and reading every abstract blog post containing the words Sufjan or Stevens that I could find.
And I finally found the song. It was from a performance you did awhile back at PENultimate Lit and the song has never been properly recorded or released. The bigger issue, though, is where I found the track in question. You see I found it on my very own blog. From a post I made almost a full year ago. It has been so long since I last listened to this random collection of rare Sufjan Steven’s tracks that I literally forgot that I had already posted the song Barn Owl, Night Killer. It has been this long because you, my friend, have disappeared.
mp3 : Sufjan Stevens - Barn Owl, Night Killer (Live at PENultimate Lit)
You have disappeared and we, your faithful fans, don’t know where to go to find you again. We miss your voice and your clever storytelling. We want another album, or even a live show for which we can purchase tickets. We would even settle for a rumour that you’re again in the studio working on something that might, possibly, become a song.
I was inspired by you five years ago and it is largely your music that first made me interested in blogging. I remember how torrents and peer to peer file sharing networks didn’t have your music but there were blogs all over the world that were infatuated with your trademark sound. They trolled through hours of live recordings to find the newest rare Sufjan track and they cleaned it the best they could before releasing it onto the hungry masses. I remember checking almost daily on hype and elbows to see if there were any new songs of yours that I could listen to; and I remember being rewarded for that persistence.
At one time I believed that you might yet fulfill the dream of releasing a full album for each of the fifty states. When other people claimed that the Fifty States Project was too much for any one man to handle I promptly and disdainfully retorted “obviously you don’t know how prolific Sufjan really is.” I mean you’re the man who created Illinoise and then realized you had cut enough amazing material from that already sprawling epic album that you dropped another full album, The Avalanche, that was filled with just your leftover genius.
But where have you gone? Where have you disappeared to? I loved the BQE, and I know you were busy composing, recording, performing, and filming that entire process. I was overjoyed when I heard you were putting a new song on the compilation the boys from The National cobbled together. But there is only so long a man can sustain himself on mere scraps that fall from the master’s table.
So I ask you this. Please let us know that you’re working on a new album and that a massive national tour will follow. We all miss you. We are your faithful fans. Please come back to us.
Sincerely,
Billy
www.theworldforgot.com
+ Sufjan Stevens @ twf hype elbows site asthmatic kitty amazonmp3 itunes
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I agree with everything wholeheartedly up to the point where you called him “suf”…
but I also await his next album, as I pray there will be one.
Seriously. There is an emptiness in the past few years that can only be explained by the lack of a new Sufjan album.
“Barn Owl, Night Killer” is one of my favorites! Though I am a slightly disappointed you weren’t able to dig up something new… But I guess that isn’t your fault… Sufjan isn’t giving us anything to dig up!
Keep up the good work, Billy!
Now if only this letter would garner his, or his friends’ attention…
(At least, we have the last Christmas album?)
Thank you Billy,
I Love this blog and all the great music you bring us! Even though i tend to lead towards dance music i still love this type of music eg)
sufjan, elliot smith, bright eyes.
Your blog makes me happy much love
madethegrade.blogspot.com
I think he is done with music as horrible as that sounds… but I know if Barn Owl and Majesty Snowbird were put on the same album it would one of the greatest ever! ahhh
@Jake - oh how i hope you’re just spewing forth a vile internet rumour. there’s been no real talk/interview/etc. that says anything about Sufjan being done with music… i’m holding my breath
Ya I am just saying there hasn’t been news that he is in the studio or that he has any intention of making new music…. it just seems like he is going the route of Kevin Shields or the dude from Neutral Milk Hotel… I know it sucks, you should try to contact him and get some info
I agree with you 100 percent - more if that’s cosmically possible. Maybe we need to start a petition or something?
Seriously, you guys should put one on this site or somewhere, i bet we could get the whole sufjan community to sign… Then things would get cookin
Seriously, where he be? Those Dark Was the Night tracks will not suffice (for long)! “Majesty Snowbird” is exquisite, it’s true. Sufjan, we hardly knew ye. Get back.
Not related to the article, but Billy, have you heard this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no6_COroeLY
The Welcome Wagon has sprung up to fill the void. Sufjan had a big hand in putting it all together.
Nice find, Joe! I’ll help spread the word too - The Welcome Wagon is stellar!
100% agree.
3 years is too long.
This almost made me cry - its so true! But you can’t rush genius so we will just have to be patient and trust in Sufjan.
maybe he’s sick of fans asking him for more music and as such, is denying them that which they crave.
I miss him and his brain and his ‘rare’ songs that I have already all found out traipsing throughout youtube. come back to us sufjan! come baaaack!