Sufjan Stevens’ So You Are Tired: A Spiritual Experience in Under Five Minutes

Sufjan Stevens is coming back into the studio after two years with his new record Javelin. His latest track So You Are Tired is the second single off the record and is a return to the form we heard in Illinoise and Michigan from the 2000s. That is to say, it is a lush and sprawling epic with excellent writing and deep emotional hooks.

Stevens experimented with some more electronic arrangements, but found himself returning to his indie folk roots with his highly personal and introspective record Carrie and Lowell in 2015. He then did a combination of the two forms in 2020 with The Ascension and finished 2021 with an ultra folky folk joint EP entitled A Beginner’s Mind with musician friend Angelo de Augustine. These experiments and swings between genres have brought us full circle to the early indie style that made Sufjan Stevens a common name in coffee shops and indie record stores across the world. So You Are Tired begins with a stripped back and simple keyboard arrangement as Stevens lays out the emotional stakes of the track. However, guitar, choral background singers, light bass and percussion slowly build as the song reaches its spiritual zenith. This is an instrumentally complex track that is not overwhelming, but still epic in scale. It is the type of arrangement Stevens is so skilled in, which is something that cuts through and connects with your soul.

Lyrically, Stevens is one of the most vulernable and personal writers out there. He sings about regret, lost connection, spirituality and death within a context of self – reflection and searching for a larger truth. What makes the track so special is that the music builds as Stevens lyrically dives deeper and deeper into his own fears, insecurities and grief. As he learns more about himself and comes to grips with years of unprocessed emotional weight the music brings you to this higher place, which reinforces his own larger understanding. The way the music and the lyrics bounce off each other is transcendent.

It is hard to put into words the journey this track takes you on. You fall into these low emotional depths to then have the music lift you up to higher planes of understanding. You can feel the spiritual journey of discovery Stevens is on during this track. This is a truly special track that will definitely be in the top three of my yearly list.

Listen to So You Are Tired