Sufjan Stevens - Majesty Snowbird

[thewho1572]

i love sufjan and all his music. only thing is i wish you could hear the piano a bit more once the rest of the band joins in. the piano makes the song along with his vocals in my opinion

[Dilanbg]

nice video! xD

hello world AS

[jenpotts]

i'd forgotton how much i love this.

[JonathanLundell]

I love this song!

[Clayterman]

oh... my... god...

this song is epic. sufjan is a legend.

[demian444]

Oh my lord...

[DarknessHowls]

Is she sick in this video or something? He doesn't sound quite like he usually does. : /

Oh well, great song and songwriter!

[fossefinguhs]

whaaat. His lyrics are one of his strongest points! He went to college for creative writing, you know.

[DukeLychee]

Sigh....I saw this very front row at BAM, about 20 feet away from Sufjan. While it is virtually impossible to find a bad song from Sufjan, this is by far one of my favorites.

[droctagon17]

His voice is pitchy in this performance. The other one on this site is better. I can't wait to hear that bird album though, or whatever he puts out -- hopefully soon!!!!

[snewhous]

Jeffrey, it definitely will. This is one of sufjans longest and most complex songs and he is very proud of it - just trust me when I say I have a close personal source. He's doing a bird album and majesty snowbird is a possible title, something about birds will definitely be in the title, although sufjan isn't telling anyone what he's thinking and keeping his secret plans for the new cd under lock and key in his bedroom, and he sleeps with a pistol under his pillow.

[jeffreyharrell]

Wow. Love this song, wonder if it will ever be on an album?

[supercoolguyofdoom]

indie means independent. it has nothing to do with a genre. sufjan is great, but he doesnt do generic, so many ppl dont like him. hes great at what he does, no-one can play like him. indie means he is not out just for money and promotion and labels from big companies, more of an independent music just for the sake of making music. you guys suck if you cant appreciate it even if its not ur style of music. relient k and green day and fob may be ur style, i wont diss it tho i do not enjoy it.

[cesareo12]

Try a Minor Threat video...they will make you believe in something..but not in jesus

Anyway Sujan is now one of the greatest songwriters alive

[joethehobo11]

Interestingly, the term 'indie' originated as nickname for independent punk. Great song by the way

[Theinstant]

There's nothing wrong with posting about how you do not enjoy Sufjan's music.

But there is something wrong when you think you can classify what is indie based on your tastes. Fuck you and fuck anyone out there who thinks they can turn a genre into their iTunes collection. If you think something is indie because it's rare, not popular, only in your possession, chances are it's not popular for a reason. It probably sucks.

Stop being assholes for no reason. You've already lost.

[sixfoottallrabbit]

As far as genres go, does it matter at all?

Stereotypical indie kids won't like this kind of music, because the music that people call indie today isn't real indie. This is indie, but not their kind of indie.

I, myself, don't have a kind of music and would rather have my own two catagories of music: good and bad.

Why not just be the same?

[JohnyVirgil]

It's just a way of describing things, but people take it was too seriously, In my opinion.

But I just need to mention, how beautiful this piece is!

[notcoolmy]

i hate when people write negative comments,

why take the time to watch a GOOD video if you don't want to and them talk crap about it, i mean this it almost ten minuets long.

i think Sufjan it the best

[trevah15]

to who ever said his lyrics suck:look up casimir pulaski day and read the lyrics...or just listen to the song.

[eyepoo]

What album is this on...? I think i'm going to have to buy it. o_o

[TsitraNamuh]

i totally agree

[kaaytee]

masdlnf;aoieasd. My eyes started watering when I heard this at the kennedy center. His voice was completely flawless, and the music was so heavy and loud. It was beautiful.

[drmic007]

this guys makes me wish i believed in jesus.

[ingratiate]

Same here, same here.

[nlck12]

he makes me glad i do.

[nlck12]

he makes me glad i do.

[frankenc]

That's amazing!

[gossipintown]

Man, that weird time signature at the end is so heavy. I'm going to his show in Stockholm next week. So stoked.

[expandyourmind2006]

i saw him in manchester last nite - best show ive ever seen

[joshuaschutz]

Just because you don't like it doesnt mean you should critique him and compare him to a CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA if he was going for that he wouldnt have 3 violins 2 trumbets a trombone a bass a banjo a piano and a glockenspiel... I am an indie -lover and I do love this as matter of a fact if your ever in the small town of la crescent minnesota me and my friends can play quite a few songs quite good of course we dont have sufjans voice but the instruments are about perfect

[djsosharp]

I won't deny that he has talent - I think some of his melodies including this one are inventive. But I strongly dislike his lyrics, and this arrangement is incredibly overblown (while getting nowhere). For some reason having a quasi-orchestral arrangement automatically makes a song genius in the eyes of fans...must be that none of you have ever gone to a classical concert so you don't know what's actually good.

[rachiochi]

im just going to further carry on my post here by saying you are a twat and also rather condescending " must be that none of you have ever gone to a classical concert so you don't know what's actually good." what a load of utter bollocks

[schroeder666]

I love a clutch of Sufjan songs, but he writes a boatload of shit lyrics. I don't think he cares much, though, about that or whether his songs "go anywhere". I say this because he rarely vamps. He lays his arrangement down and just gets to it. Add to that his sometimes brainwashed sounding lead vox, the ALWAYS brainwashed sounding backup singers, and the weird carefulness with which everyone plays everything, their opaque phrasing, the time signatures...Sufjan's a funny duck.

[supradude7891]

hey. stfu. gtfo. its a shame you cant appreciate it.

[schroeder666]

Who says I can't appreciate it? I think it's genius and very beautiful. I just think his lyrics are his weak point.

[supradude7891]

sry man didn't mean to get pissed. i just get annoyed at people who post negative things. and dude, his lyrics are his strong point! there absolutely beautiful. its different than your general "love" songs. he sings about God and when he DOES sing about love he sings about it in a different way which IMO sets him apart from alot of the artists out there. there have been great articles about him that talk about how he is more lyrically beautiful than anything else.

[schroeder666]

I'm willing to concede I've been rather harsh, considering I appreciate him as much as I do.

[earart]

What "makes a song genius" in my ears/heart is when a composer puts his innermost thoughts and feelings to music with whatever elements he/she finds most personally reflective of those thoughts and feelings, such that a listener almost (though never thoroughly) "gets it" as well. Artistic genius takes alot of passion and courage and innovation. From what I can tell, Sufjan Stevens has that sort of genius in remarkable abundance. (see more in next post)

[djsosharp]

I watched the whole thing just to make sure I wasn't missing something and...nope...it's terrible. I can't believe how many indie fools idolize this pretentious moron.

[nubbs]

"pretentious moron" ....wha? you live a very angry, lonely life, don't you. let the love in buddy

[rachiochi]

Indie fools! what are you on about, the only people i know who like sufjan are certainly not indie, and how do you know sufjan is pretentious? have you ever met him. and for god sakes if sufjan wants to expand his music to include and orchestra then its his choice, and dont go blabbering on about classical there are actually different genre's and just because he has a fucking orchestra it doesnt mean he's trying to be Offenbach or Liszt, and yes i do listen to classical music.

[iplayawashburn]

his point was that sufjan is an indie artist. most people who like indie artists listen to a lot of indie music. that is however the only thing i see eye to eye on.

[ingratiate]

I cant believe you called him a pretentious moron. Is that something you would say if you meet him in person. I mean that is what you think of him right.

[supradude7891]

now, why did you say that? to get attention? or just to be a dick? Sufjan is one of the more talented artists out there...along with the late Elliott Smith IMO. so if you don't have anything positive to say about this beautiful song, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET THE FUCK OUT.

fuck you very much,

John

[SovietVV]

OMG, I absolutely agree. I think Sufjan's lyrics are a HUGE strong point in his music. I can, without hesitation say that Sufjan Stevens and Elliott Smith are the strongest songwriters of my generation.

[supradude7891]

i couldn't agree more. 100% on the money. Elliott and Sufjan have changed my life. i can honestly, seriously say that, without hesitation.

[pinnballwizzardd]

sovietvv... you are my hero... hah.

[emoprincess001]

don't forget conor oberst! Well, he kind of stems off Elliott, but still..

[Jilf]

This is the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of mankind.

[CH1098]

Yes.

[wearewayfarers]

I just came back from the LA concert - and I had to look this song up. Oh my god. This is probably my new favorite Sufjan song.

[twotonearmy22]

This is so fucking epic. I wish all of the NYC shows hadn't been sold out, I really wanted to see him live with the big band. But this is so amazing.

[lfeuln]

Thank you, thank you, thank you - I just returned from the Philly show and was blown away by Sufjan's new song. Wow.

[zeppelin48]

sweet i was at the philly concert at the towers and it was so amazing!

[stangonim]

It was the most Beautiful music I've ever heard. "He Woke Me Up Again" Just blew me away. Furthermore, I can't get "Majesty Snowbird" out of me head. I was at the 1st night of the the Austin show and the one here in Philly, PA, both fitting Venues. No ice cream @ the W. Philly show. Truly the best Show I've seen. Never Been moved to tears at a concert before.

[iambob47]

Another thanks for posting this ... I was in complete awe during this song. Best show I've ever been to.

[Dope1984]

The Atlanta concert blew my mind and so did this song. I think I've watched this video at least 50 times.

[concertmedia]

I was absolutely floored by this last night, as well.

[garythetramp]

This song's amazing. I just saw him last night.

[lennon2082]

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[FearMeDecember]

Thank you for recording this. When Sufjan sang this I was totally in awe. I was so happy to find it here and listen to it. I think it may be one of my favorites. It is so beautiful.