Many of those who have experienced music throughout the 50’s to 80’s might bear a certain disdain towards the music of today. If this is you, you are not wrong in doing so. I mean, one must always remember that at any given time, a lot of junk is played that will not withstand the test of time and become a reference to an era later. Hence our tendency to like music from the past more than music from present times. But even taking that into account, the 50’s – 80’s are decades of great music! And I don’t know if any modern musician quite matches the level. Three that come as close as any, though, are Tom Odell (example HERE), Finn Andrews (example HERE), and Sufjan Stevens.

In this post, I am going to focus on the latter. Though a lot of what Sufjan writes is not related to gay themes, he is a homosexual, and this aspect of his life does evoke itself at times in his work.

One example is his song ‘Casimir Pulaski Day’. You can listen to the song by clicking HERE. I originally planned to choose a snippet of his lyrics to post here, but the high quality pertaining to all off them makes it impossible to cut/choose. I can describe it though: in a nutshell, this is a story of a man whose boyfriend has bone cancer. It speaks of the fleeting moments, the complicated contact, and the layered emotions/thoughts throughout the hope that the ill man will recover.

The second song I would like to mention is entitled ‘to be alone with you.’ You can listen to it by clicking HERE. Again, picking lyrics is hard. It speaks of the sacrifices to be made and the hardship suffered in the longing for love with a married man.

As you might be able to see, or better yet hear, Sufjan’s insight, as presented in his music, surpasses the barriers of his age as a young man, and provides something accessible to people of all ages, particularly gay men when it comes to these two songs. This is further observable in Sufjan’s lyrics of songs he made for the film Call me by your name, which I wrote about HERE.

If you have an ounce of curiosity for what younger generations of musicians are producing, and feel you relate to this material, then I highly recommend checking Sufjan Stevens’ music out. Even if it doesn’t level up to earlier decades of music, you might still like it.

Please feel free to leave a comment in the box below (anonymously or not), to let myself and others know about your thoughts/experiences. Thanks and all the best!