Christianity has had representatives in just about every music circle there is, but very few have chosen to venture out into the elitist realm of indie folk/rock. Pedro The Lion and Damien Jurado are two artists that spring quickly to mind, but many more traditional listeners have a hard time embracing them, for a variety of reasons. Whether it's their lyrical ambiguity, distaste for coming across as proselytizers, personal dissociation from mainstream evangelicalism, or their choice to drink vodka while strumming away at Cornerstone, indiedom is a tough ground to mine for both listeners and artists.

But indie heads need Jesus, too, and Sufjan Stevens seems well aware of this. Unafraid to wear his convictions on his sleeve both musically and in conversation, Stevens (his first name is pronounced SOOF-yahn) didn't really discuss his faith much until his fourth album, the folk gem Seven Swans. Prior to its 2004 release, he was just a songster making music for art's sake, dabbling in electronica and lo-fi folk-rock, as well as conceptualizing his dream of one day making an album about every state in the union (he has done Michigan so far).

Ironically, it wasn't until Seven Swans that Stevens started getting more and more attention from the media and his peers, most of whom have hailed it as one of the albums of the year. A delicate, well-constructed folk album anchored by nimble banjo treatments, hushed guitars, and just the right amount of percussion and quirky sonics, it was produced by Daniel Smith of Danielson Famile fame, another indie group known for its ties to Christian tradition. It's the instrumental subtleties inherent to Seven Swans that allow Stevens' Nick Drake-meets-Joseph Arthur introspections to jump to the fore. Or as Spin aptly put it when it called him an "Elliott Smith after ten years of Sunday school."

The description seems fitting, seeing how Stevens recounts two Bible stories almost by-the-book. "Abraham" is a minimalist, poetic ode to the patriarch and his odyssey of faith, with references to a "raised arm," "[wood] on your son," and instructions from God to "take instead the ram." "The Transfiguration" is self-evident about its subject matter, and Stevens goes to great lengths to describe it as fully as possible; from Jesus' trip up the mount with his disciples and his glorious appearance alongside Moses and Elijah, to Peter's impetuous reaction and God's response from above, he leaves no detail out.

Other instances of Christian imagery are more obscure, yet still highly fascinating. In "We Won't Need Legs to Stand," the poet briefly describes the celestial destiny of the faithful: "So faithful, so few, so pardoned and done …/When we are dead, we all have wings/We won't need legs to stand/When we receive/To see a change at last." A crescendoing symphony of banjo and voices is the bed for "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands," a song about joining creation in worship to the Creator: "I heard from the trees a great parade/And I heard from the hills a band was made/Will I be invited to the sound?/Will I be a part of what You've done?"

Stevens gets personal with Christ in "To Be Alone With You" (excerpted above), heroically confessing how he'd "swim across Lake Michigan" and sell his possessions to be alone with his Savior. This bold declaration stands in stark contrast to the fragility of Stevens' voice and the even greater sacrifice that Jesus made, prompting him to point out the most soul-baring line in the song: "I've never met a man who loved me." And yet there is the strange line about Jesus "giving up a wife and family." Obviously, Jesus never married—despite what anyone may have read in The DaVinci Code. If the line is a metaphor for the Incarnation—giving up the comfort of heaven and the presence of his Father to become a mere man—then it works. But one can only guess what Stevens meant by that lyric.

In light of these Christian overtones, some will likely find it convenient to peg Sufjan Stevens with other more evangelical folk singers and count him as "one of us." However, doing so would be a disservice to the artist, as he doesn't consider himself a Christian artist. Rather, he's someone who makes music from his heart and doesn't want perceived religious affiliation to get in the way of those who have ears to hear. In a recent interview with indie megasite Pitchfork Media, he said it best when he shared, "I do have to reckon with the material I'm singing about.And I want to be responsible for what I'm singing about. But I can't be responsible for an entire culture, or an entire church. I can't be responsible for Christendom. I think that when people react reflexively to material that is religious, they're reacting to the culture of religion. And I think an enlightened person is capable, on some level, of making the distinction between the institution of the culture and the culture itself."

Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author's. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here.

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