Impossible Soul by Sufjan Stevens Lyrics Meaning – The Odyssey of an Artist’s Heart
Lyrics
And I’ll calm down without bleeding out
With a broken heart that you stabbed for an hour
Woman, I was freaking out because I want you to know
My beloved, you are the lover of my impossible soul
Woman, too, promise me you’ll stay and put off all your woes
I was wigging out, too much worry
I could not get you at all
And you said what you want, you would laugh it off
But I know you won’t go, not for it at last
Must you write it off for the impossible soul?
And I was in a dream, I was gone away without you, but not too slow
Lest I put it off, for I put it right for the impossible soul
And all I couldn’t sing, I would say it all, my life, to you
If I could get you at all
Don’t be a wreck, trying to be something that I wasn’t at all
Seems I got it wrong, I was chasing after something that was gone
To the black of night, now I know it’s not what I wanted at all
And you said something like, “All you want is all the world for yourself”
But all I want is the perfect love
Though I know it’s small, I want love for us all
And all I couldn’t sing, I would say it all, my life, to you
If I could get you at all
Trying to be something that I wasn’t at all
Do you want to be afraid?
Do you want to be afraid?
For life in the cage where courage’s mate runs deep in the wake
For the scariest things are not half as enslaved
Don’t be distracted, don’t be distracted
Do you want to be alone?
Do you want to be alone?
For life isn’t stained of righteousness pain
The seed and the hail, all impossible flights for an interesting light
Don’t be distracted, don’t be distracted
Do you want to love me more?
Do you want to love me more?
For love is the breath
If water and wave is cursed by the same thing that nurtured its shame
Is it worth all the work?
Don’t be distracted, don’t be distracted
Have you failed to feel delight? (NO, I DON’T WANT TO FEEL PAIN)
Have you failed to feel delight? (NO, I DON’T WANT TO FEEL PAIN)
Instead of the life, lived tired and lost, have you left it at last
Where it floundered its death with the language of ghosts
Don’t be distracted, don’t be distracted
Do you want to be afraid? (NO, I DON’T WANT TO FEEL PAIN)
Do you want to be afraid? (NO, I DON’T WANT TO FEEL PAIN)
For life in the cage where where courage’s mate runs deep in the wake
For the scariest things are not half as enslaved
Don’t be distracted, don’t be distracted
No… Don’t be distracted
Stupid man in the window, I couldn’t be at rest
All my delight, all that mattered, I couldn’t be at rest
From what I liked, from what I gathered, I couldn’t be at rest
Stupid man in the window, I couldn’t be at rest
And don’t be shy in the window
Come down and give your best
Oh, delight in the window I couldn’t be at rest
Stupid man in the window, I couldn’t be at rest
From what I liked, from what I gathered, I couldn’t give my best
Oh, I know it wasn’t safe, it wasn’t safe to breathe at all
Oh, I know it wasn’t safe, it wasn’t safe to breathe at all
Oh, I know it wasn’t safe, it wasn’t safe to breathe at all
Oh, I know it wasn’t safe, it wasn’t safe to speak at all
1, 2 3, 4!
It’s a long life, better pinch yourself,
Put your face together, better get it right
It’s a long life, better hit yourself
Put your face together, better stand up straight
It’s a long life, only one last chance
Couldn’t get much better, do you wanna dance?
It’s a long life, better pinch yourself
Get your face together, better stand up straight
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get it right, get it right, get it right, get it right)
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better give love, give love, give love, give love)
Boy, we can do much more together,
(better get it right, get it right get it right, get it right)
Boy, we can do much more together it’s not so impossible
It’s not so impossible
It’s a long life, better pinch yourself
Get your face together, better roll along
It’s a long life, better pinch yourself
Put your face together, better stand up straight
It’s a long life only one last chance
Couldn’t get much better, do you wanna dance?
It’s a good life, better pinch yourself
Is it impossible? Is it impossible?
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get it right, get it right, get it right, get it right)
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get a life, get a life, get a life, get a life)
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get it right, get it right, get it right, get it right)
Boy we can do much more together, it’s not so impossible
It’s not so impossible
It’s a long life, better pinch yourself
Put your face together, better get it right
It’s a long life, better hit yourself
Put your face together, better stand up straight
In the wrong life, everything is chance
Does it register? Do you wanna dance?
In the right life, it’s a miracle
Possibility, do you wanna dance?
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get it right, get it right, get it right, get it right)
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get a life, get a life, get a life, get a life)
Boy, we can do much more together
(Better get it right, get it right, get it right, get it right)
Boy, we can do much more together
It’s not so impossible
Do you wanna dance?
Boy, we can do much more together
It’s not so impossible
I never meant to cause you pain
My burden is the weight of a feather
I never meant to lead you on
I only meant to please me, however
And then you tell me, boy, we can do much more
Boy, we can do much more
Boy, we can do much more together
Boy, we can do much more together
I’m nothing but a selfish man
I’m nothing but a privileged brother
And did you think I’d stay the night?
And did you think I’d love you forever?
And then you tell me, boy, we can do much more
I gotta tell you, girl, I want nothing less
Girl, I want nothing less
Girl, I want nothing less than pleasure
Girl, I want nothing less than pleasure
I gotta tell you, boy, we made such a mess
Boy, we made such a mess
Boy, we made such a mess together
Boy we made such a mess together
In the pantheon of modern music, few songs dare to transcend the traditional boundaries of structure, emotion, and meditative introspection quite like Sufjan Stevens’s ‘Impossible Soul’. This sprawling, 25-minute opus serves as the closing track of his 2010 album ‘The Age of Adz’ and is less a song and more an existential journey into the heart of human vulnerability.
Peeling back the layers of ‘Impossible Soul’ is akin to a session of deep therapy; it requires patience, suspension of judgment, and a readiness to traverse the peaks and troughs of Stevens’s psyche. It’s a piece that dances on the precipice between despair and hope, isolation and connection, the ephemeral and the eternal.
A Love Affair with the ‘Impossible Soul’
‘Impossible Soul’ opens with a poignant declaration of longing and the pain of desire unrequited. Stevens’s plea to a lover is twined with the acceptance of his own flaws and emotional bleeding. The heart he speaks of, ‘stabbed for an hour’, embodies the sorrow of love’s labors lost.
Yet, within these first verses resides a paradoxical hope, a hope that stretches itself through the unbearable to grasp that which it finds most dear: the ‘impossible soul’. Stevens’s love is not merely for an individual, but for an unattainable wholeness, for the essence of what it means to connect profoundly with another being.
Dancing with Shadows – The Exploration of Self
Moving through the second act of the song, Stevens turns his gaze inward, confronting his own illusions. He digests how his ‘chasing after something that was gone’ led him into darkness, perhaps suggesting that this pursuit of perfection, whether in love or life, was misguided.
These illuminating realizations do not diminish his yearning but rather sharpen it into a more mature understanding of love’s complexity. When Stevens mentions ‘all I want is the perfect love’, he acknowledges a universal desire while also indicating its inherent futility due to the imperfections that make us human.
The Anthem of Release – Embracing the Pain
Stevens refuses to shy away from emotion, posing repeated questions about existence, fear, and distraction. There is a rhythmic urgency to his inquiries—a call to face our innermost anxieties and to not lose focus on what truly matters in the struggle of life.
He cleverly juxtaposes fear with the idea of captivity, urging listeners to find courage even as it intertwines with the very fright that binds us. It’s a primal scream into the void, recognizing the chains we forge for ourselves, but also the keys within reach to unlock them.
The Hidden Meaning – The Search for Authentic Existence
Stevens isn’t content with superficial explorations; in ‘Impossible Soul’, he seeks authenticity, probing the layers of reality to discern what truly sparks illumination. When he mentions ‘interesting light’, it’s a metaphor for a life lived with meaning beyond the mundane—a call to realize the ceaseless potential within.
This theme of authentic existence is the song’s hidden meaning, a central thread that transforms ‘Impossible Soul’ from a mere melody into an anthem for anyone seeking to reconcile their place in the universe and the pursuit of genuine being.
Memorable Lines – The Echoes of ‘Impossible Soul’
‘It’s a long life, better pinch yourself / Put your face together, better stand up straight’. These lines encapsulate the resilience required to navigate existence. Stevens doesn’t just want us to endure life; he wants us to engage with it actively, to ‘pinch ourselves’ as a reminder that the rawness of being alive comes with a responsibility to fully awaken to its possibilities.
Stevens’s haunting conclusion, ‘Boy, we can do much more together / It’s not so impossible’, delivers a vital, resonating message: despite the overwhelming sense of solitude and the quixotic quests we undertake, there remains a communal hope. It’s a beautiful contradiction, a sacred acknowledgment that perhaps the soul isn’t quite as impossible as it seems.
