Favorite Song of 2020

t e n   m i n u t e s   a n d   t h i r t y  s e c o n d s

click > HERE < to listen 

Below is an insightful excerpt from an analysis/review of the song by Nicole Almeida in Atwood Magazine.

“My Rajneesh” is a light and hopeful awakening. It sounds like Stevens is embodying one of the many orange-clad devotees whose lives revolved around their spiritual leader. There are glittery accents around the chorus, choir-like backing vocals, and a sense of community throughout the song that’s intensified when Stevens’ voice melts into the ones of the background singers. It seems like all is well and good in “My Rajneesh”, and the hole left by the demise of Stevens’ patriotism is filled by devotion to a new, foreign higher entity.

I lit a fire and drank off the breath of his kiss
My tambourine affirmed by the dance of his wrist
Mystical star, burn bright like the tail of a dog
And now we are blessed with the righteousness of the Lord

Illumination, accede my need, my Rajneesh
Hallucination, accede my need, my Rajneesh
Illumination, accede my need, my Rajneesh
Hallucination, accede my need, my Rajneesh

Have you watched Wild, Wild Country on Netflix? If so, you’ll know that illumination, hallucination, and a chosen family in a farm in Oregon aren’t exactly the ingredients that summarise how the story ended. Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh (aka Osho, aka the song’s “My Rajneesh”) ended up inducing his followers to commit the largest bioterrorist attack in US history in 1984. Other allegations against the Rajneeshes include arson, attempted murder, drug smuggling, and voting and immigration fraud. All the hope that resonates through Stevens’ voice in the verses? Useless.

But Stevens doesn’t ignore the tragic outcome of the story of the cult he sings about. Eventually, his voice changes, going from unadulterated to auto-tuned, layered, almost metallic. Innocence and purity makes way to manipulation in his voice, and it’s in this exact moment where the lyrics shift and the community Stevens sings about has its dark underbelly exposed.

Bright as a thunderbird, singing
You stare at the sun to see the sublime
Forgetting the light that makes you go blind

Osho you ask of us singing
If courage is love of the unknown
Consider the powers parading you home
I’m on the path of love saying
You stand in the shade to feel it was blessed
Obscuring from light the seeds you possess

Suddenly Stevens recognises that what he was once told was good actually blinded him, and that the one who promises endless joy and fulfilment actually won’t give his “seeds” the chance to grow and thrive. And then, again, an institution that was so central to one’s own living is destroyed, innocence gives way to harsh reality, and no higher power or institution is safe from questioning. Blind faith is extinguished once again.

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I highly recommend the entire article which covers more about this song as well as Sufjan Stevens’ companion song “America“.

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