seven swans

• 2004 tarihli sufjan stevens güzelliği. elliott smith'i, özellikle de sanatçının either/or, xo gibi klasiklerini sevenlerin mutlaka dinlemesi gereken bir albüm. şu şarkılardan oluşuyor:
  
  1. all the trees of the field will clap their hands
  2. the dress looks nice on you
  3. in the devils territory
  4. to be alone with you
  5. abraham
  6. sister
  7. size too small
  8. we won't need legs to stand
  9. a good man is hard to find
  10. he woke me up again
  11. seven swans
  12. the transfiguration
• sozleri de soyledir.
  
  we didn't sleep too late.
  there was a fire in the yard.
  all of the tress were in light.
  they had no faces to show.
  i saw a sign in the sky:
  seven swans, seven swans, seven swans.
  i heard a voice in my mind:
  i will try, i will try, i will try.
  i will try, i will try, i will try.
  
  we saw the dragon move down.
  my father burned into coal.
  my mother saw it from far.
  she took her purse to the bed.
  i saw a sign in the sky:
  seven horns, seven horns, seven horns.
  i heard a voice in my mind:
  i am lord, i am lord, i am lord.
  he said: i am lord, i am lord, i am lord.
  he said: i am lord, i am lord, i am lord.
  
  he will take you. if you run,
  he will chase you.
  he will take you. if you run,
  he will chase you
  'cause he is the lord.
  
  'cause he is the lord...
  seven swans, seven swans, seven swans,
  seven swans, seven swans...
• bu albümdeki şarkıların birçoğunun doğrudan incile gönderme olduğunu wikipedia'dan öğrenebiliyoruz. doğruluğu wikipedia'nın güvenilirliğiyle doğru orantılı olmakla birlikte bir ara oturup çevireceğimi de buraya not edeyim.
  
  "all the trees of the field will clap their hands" is a reference to isaiah 55:12, where isaiah says, "you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."
  
  "in the devil's territory" is probably a reference to matthew 4:1, where jesus spends forty days and forty nights fasting in the desert in order to face the temptation of the devil. the first line of the song references psalm 46 and possibly the brian wilson song 'be still'.
  
  "to be alone with you" discusses christ's atonement and how it has made him intimately connected with humanity ("you gave your body to the lonely, they took your clothes. you gave up a wife and a family, you gave your ghost; to be alone with me...to be alone with me you went up on a tree.") the beginning could also be a lament of judas iscariot; "i'd give my body to be back again, in the rest of the room [upper chamber where the last supper was held]," or sufjan himself lamenting past sins, comparing himself to judas.
  
  "abraham" references genesis 22:1-19, wherein abraham is tested by god and told to sacrifice his only son isaac. abraham is, at the last moment and with knife in hand, stopped by an angel and instead sacrifices a ram to god.
  
  "we won't need legs to stand" is most likely speaking of the new, perfect bodies to be received upon entering heaven. ("when we are dead, and we all have wings, we won't need legs to stand.")
  
  "he woke me up again" may reference 1 samuel 3, in which god keeps calling samuel from his sleep.
  
  "seven swans" references the book of revelation, though cloaked as a strange personal account. though there are not seven swans in the book of revelation, there are seven angels (revelations 8:2), and there is certainly a mention of seven horns, either the seven trumpets of the angels (revelation 8:2) or the seven horns of the lamb of god (revelation 5:6). there is also revelation 19:17: "...to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great god". the fire in the yard may refer to the "hail and fire mixed with blood" cast upon the earth (revelation 8:7). also mentioned is a dragon (satan) who tries to attack a woman who flees (revelation 12:3-6)
  
  "the transfiguration" references the transfiguration of jesus witnessed by the disciples peter, james, and john found in matthew 17:1-12. the song tells this story in a straightforward manner.