Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens - True Meaning

Sxerks One of my favourite songs of 2015, Fourth of July has an even more evoking meaning behind the song. From the album "Carrie & Lowell", Fourth of July, essentially, is a conversation between Sufjan and his mother, Carrie, as she was dying in hospital. In an interview between Sufjan Stevens and Pitchfork, he spoke:

"She had stomach cancer, and it was a quick demise. We flew to see her in the ICU before she died. She was in a lot of pain, and on a lot of drugs, but she was aware. It was so terrifying to encounter death and have to reconcile that, and express love, for someone so unfamiliar. Her death was so devastating to me because of the vacancy within me…
At that point, I was only interested in communicating my love for her, unconditionally. There was a reciprocal deep love and care for each other in that moment. It was very profound and healing."

This really moved me. My mother almost died when I was about two years old. At that time, my younger brothers were being born. And because of a fault in the system, the surgeons had to perform a cesarean birth, manually taking them out. They are both fourteen now, and living a calm and serene life, while my mother is still alive.

And while the meaning behind the song, the dark riff makes it all the more dejectful. It's Sufjan's only way of moving forward.

Comments

Any thoughts are highly appreciated. It's just something I felt like sharing. - Sxerks (12/16/2015)

It's a brilliant song, and the album might be my favourite released this year. - PetSounds (12/18/2015)

Yep, definitely one of most underrated songs of the year. Truly outshines the modern pop culture that is being overplayed on the radio. - Sxerks (12/18/2015)