In my review of the self-proclaimed “Sufjan Stevens Workshop Tour” last year, I wrote that out of the new songs played “All Delighted People” was my favorite, and if ever recorded, it would blow people away. After Stevens released the song as the opening to the accompanying 60 minute long All Delighted People EP on Friday, I think “blown away” would be a huge understatement. I’ve taken the weekend to digest the first proper album since his 2005 masterpiece, Illinois, and have come to the conclusion that the near 12-minute orchestral epic “All Delighted People (Original Version)” may be the artist’s finest work yet. It’s certainly his most ambitious recording to date with dense, elaborate instrumentation and a highly demanding vocal performance from Stevens himself. The song is broken into two distinct parts. It begins with a solemn vocal and the choir’s gentle “ooh”s, then eventually builds toward a triumphant cacophony of instruments with trumpets, distorted guitar, and drum fills. The last half is more melodic with acoustic guitar, staccato vocal harmonies, and a beautiful symphonic string arrangement.
“All Delighted People” is described in the liner notes as a “dramatic homage to the Apocalypse”. The Christian tradition of the world’s end is certainly a prominent theme within the lyrics, with references to the rapture, judgment day, and heaven. I was also entranced by the love story that is being told in the midst of the apocalyptic panic. Whether this love is between man and God, like in “To Be Alone With You”, or is a more traditionally romantic love is unknown, and I think Stevens leaves that purposefully vague. What’s more evident is two distinct groups of people that are continuously mentioned throughout the track. There’s the people that bow and pray to the neon god they made (a line cleverly lifted from Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence”), symbolizing American superficiality and greed. As the lyrics state, all the bowing and praying makes no difference in the end. Then there’s all the delighted people raising their hands. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that one of the synonyms of the word “delighted” is “enraptured”.
The track concludes with two refrains, both sung by a celestial choir of voices. These, in my opinion, encapsulate the song’s theme. The first is fairly self-explanatory, “When the world’s come and gone shall we follow our transgressions, or shall we stand strong?” The second refrain, “Suffer not the child among you or shall you die young,” has a more cryptic message. Stevens hints at two different Biblical teachings, both from the book of Matthew: “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” and another which states “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven“. I believe he’s alluding to the choice that is at the foundation of the Christian tradition, whether to be bound by the things of the world or to enter paradise with child-like faith and innocence. It’s a choice which Stevens struggles with throughout the track. Like his previous spiritually-minded songs “Casimir Pulaski Day” and “John Wayne Gacy Jr.”, Stevens is not preaching or attempting to say he has all the right answers, but letting the listener in on his own spiritual dilemma, which makes the song all all the more fascinating.
MP3 Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People
MP3 Simon & Garfunkel – Sounds of Silence
Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good 