On the 13th edition of LGBTQ Bopz ๐๐ถ (2022), we highlight the song, โVenusโ performed by Sufjan Stevens.ย
B
ring on the B-O-P-Z, like #SLAYYY! LGBTQ Bopz ๐๐ถ is a column t that embraces, highlights, and celebrates singles and tracks by LGBTQIA musicians.ย On LGBTQ Bopz ๐๐ถwe provide background info and insight into the respective musician(s), as well as analyze + go gaga over the bops being served up.ย Furthermore, when the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is articulated to the fullest.ย All styles of music are welcome and the BOPZ can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, on the 13th edition of LGBTQ Bopz ๐๐ถ (2022), we highlight ๐ต โVenusโ performed by ๐ Sufjan Stevens, ๐ Bryce Dessner, ๐ Nico Muhly, and ๐ James McAlister.ยTheme & Lyrics โย
โMethodist summer camp: you show me yours, show you mine / Sensitive thunderclap, slip beneath sleeping bag spine.โ Um, excuse me ๐ Sufjan Stevens? ย Did he just sing (and pen) what I thought you he did? Apparently, so! The gifted indie singer/songwriter references a same-sex experience that occurred at Methodist summer camp as a teen. Interestingly, in a 2015 Pitchfork interview by Ryan Dombal, Steven asserts, โsome of my most profound spiritual and sexual experiences were at a Methodist summer camp.โ Woo! Furthermore, of the sexual reference from ๐ต โVenus,โ Stevens clarifies via Salon, โ[Methodist summer camp is] when I had my first sexual experience.โ Damnโฆ I mean, amen???
Sex is a fitting topic for โVenus,โ which appears on the 2017 collaborative album, ๐ฟ Planetarium, featuring Stevens, ๐ Bryce Dessner, ๐ Nico Muhly, and ๐ James McAlister. ย โVenusโ not only references the planet but also the Greek goddess of loveโฆ and sex. โRun radiator, run: red-headed horny-eyed friend,โ Stevens later sings on this titillating number, not to mention the likes of โHalf shell, half undressed lover of mine,โ or โCrazed nymphomania, touch me if touchingโs no sin.โ ย โTouch me if touchingโs no sinโ is quite thought-provoking, questioning sex as a sin (between those unmarried) and perhaps more sinful between the same sex.
Of โVenus,โ Thea Ballard writes in her review of Planetarium for Pitchfork that it โtwists lore out of summer-camp lustโ. ย โVenusโ is lustful indeed, though worth noting, the lyrics are poetic.ย Still, if Stevens had become associated with being an innocent, Christian musician, heโs clearly NOT without sin here. Perhaps heโs most sinful when he asserts, โI never meant to do harm, to you, to love.โ Interestingly, these lyrics can be traced back to another male-male love song, ๐ต โThe Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!โ (โTouching his back with my hand I kiss him / I see the wasp on the length of my armโ).
Final Thoughts ๐ญย
Question: is Sufjan Stevens a member of the LGBTQ+ community? Maybe, but heโs never claimed to be and thatโs his business.ย Furthermore, just because youโve participated in a same-sex experience or experimentation, it doesnโt necessarily make you gay. All of this considered, Stevens has released songs that have a clear, deserving place in the LGBTQ+ ๐ณ๏ธโ๐ catalog, including โVenus.โ
๐ Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister โข ๐ฟ Planetarium โข ๐ท 4AD Ltd โข ๐ 2017
Sufjan Stevens, โVenusโ: LGBTQ Bopz ๐๐ถ No. 13 (2022) [๐ท: 4AD Ltd, Anna Shvets, Brent Faulkner, Kurious, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay]