**slaps roof of Shit Talk** This baby can fit so many lines that make me cry in it

You made me cry when I was 13, and here I am at 32 crying again. I love you so much, Sufjan. Thank you for your beautiful existence.

The last time I ever saw my Dad, we we're driving back to the airport and this album had just come out. I listened to this song most of the way there and feel in love with it. My dad passed a month later back, in November. This song means so much more to me now.

listening to this after finding out he dedicated the album to his partner who passed away recently has shattered my heart

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” ― Jamie Anderson a beautiful and touching album, brought me to tears

The outro f---ing breaks my heart. When he just writes the words without saying them.

On a whim I decided to listen to Javelin in one sitting after being a casual Sufjan fan over the years. Up until now I enjoyed Sufjan from the lens of the gorgeousness of the melodies and arrangements without paying close attention to the lyrics. After listening to Shit Talk a couple of nights ago, something has unlocked within me. I have broken down in tears repeatedly after many listens. The way this song is constructed perfectly captures the cadence of a loving - and yet real - relationship that is winding down for the sole reason of sickness and death. The incessant "I don't want to fight at all" after the standard verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure captures how easy it is as a choice to cast aside any negative emotions you bore during the relationship and instead choose pure connection during those last weeks, days, hours, minutes ... you are clinging to what you can and it's all you can focus on. The following instrumental stunningly captures the moment of passing, and the purity (and profoundness) of release that comes when a loved one who has been sick passes. They are at rest. I never thought feelings I had buried would ever be presented to me so truthfully in a song. For such a sad song to end on such an airy high really does make me want to choose to cherish life while it is here. Sufjan's official coming out and the dedication to his late partner sends the song over the edge for me. As a gay man there's always a layer of suppression that you feel, whether you've come out or not. It's a force of habit even if you are proud of who you are. I'm not sure Sufjan's reasons for not addressing his sexuality up until the release of this album. In making the announcement of his partner's passing at point of release this song becomes the penultimate love song, where he never needed to parade his partner to the world during life, but in his passing is honouring him in such a sacred way.

This is not music. This is prayer.

This beautiful song is the culmination of not only his entire discography, but all the grief Sufjan's accumulated in his life. To take such pain and transmute it into something so beautiful is the highest form and function of art. We are all very lucky to be alive for Sufjan Stevens.

wow, I don't think a lyric video itself has ever made me cry before -- the ending where it fades into those beautiful cinematic chords, with the words "i will always love you" repeating without sound 😢

"i will always love you, but i cannot live with you" hits so close to home

Knowing that the album is dedicated to his ex-partner, the "I will always love you" at the end of the video hurts even more.

The way that lyrics 'I will always love you' still apears in the ambinet part and knowing the fact that this album is dedicated to his late partner who passed away this April just anihilates me. Never thought that lyrical video can struck me so hard.

Just gorgeous. I love that the song is called "Shit Talk" but it's a beautiful meditation on loneliness and separation and love.

RIP Evans Richardson 💔

3:41 this fucking moment is unbelievable

Just listened to this song for the first time...one of the best songs of 2023, and an instant classic! Thank you, Sufjan!

when he sings "hold me tightly lest I fall", right before the chorus, there's this heartbreaking vulnerability to it. Almost like a desperate cry out for divine comfort

This track is eight minutes but feels like eight seconds. Eight thousands more listens and an ocean full of tears. Thank you Suf.

This song feels like it's physically killing me with heartbreak but I still come back and listen to it every day.

I felt sad listening to the album. I thought this song was the resolution to my sadness. Then I saw his instagram post about him dedicating the album to his late partner. That felt like a javelin stabbed through my heart 😭 I just want to give Sufjan a good long hug 😢

Can’t explain how healing this song is for me.

oh my gosh this might be one of the most beautiful sufjan songs ever

I am in tears. This resonates.

This might be best song of the year. Whole album makes me cry

Sufjan is a transcender. He lives his art. Lives to expand the limits of art itself.

the gradual, haunting degradation of the "i will always love you" written at the end hasn't left my mind since i first saw it. reminds me of a breakdown-one moment everything is ok and you think that you're doing well but it only takes one second to realise you're not and suddenly everything hurts. sufjan, oh how much you mean to me. wishing you a swift recovery and an abundance of strength, now and forever. we love you more than you may ever know ❤

Oh please Sufjan keep fighting

I lost my dog, my best friend, the only one in this world who knew my true tears, the one who's been part of my life for 12 years, on the last Saturday. He stayed with me until he couldn't anymore. He did his best to stay for as long as he could, but his time... just came. And I feel like a piece of my heart went with him. A piece of who I am. My days feel empty without him, his presence, the reassurance of having him here, of thinking he'd always be here bc he's always been. This album is helping me with the grief. Especially ending with There's A World. A more positive and optimistic note after the pain of loss, as if things could somehow be better. Once again, your music brings solace and comfort to my soul. Can't thank you enough, Sufjan

this whole song is a masterpiece but 5:50 is where it hits me the most, like after all of that build up it just breaks down like that? i don’t know, it just feels like the loss of love but also feels like it’s never ending and it’s devastating

It's a hell of a thing, to turn all that heartache and pain into such beauty. Thanks SS. x

'i don't want to fight at all' blends into 'i don't want to fight it off' the more you sing it and it hits me so hard

I decided to listen to this album for the first time while taking my dog for a walk on a beautiful autumn evening and by the time I got about halfway through this song I was full on crying lol. The entire album is a masterpiece but this song especially hits so hard.

Cuts deep. Thank you for your music Sufjan!

Sufjan is a music genius. I can’t imagine my life without his music

reminds me of blue bucket of gold. The way the sounds just take over at the end. the phrase “I will always love you” levitating to the sky, bit by bit, almost like a prayer. love this video, song, and sufjan. this whole album is what I needed after a pretty lousy year 😅

Cried so hard to this, as usual when listening to Sufjan. Amazing album.

Sufjan cuts me to the core with so many songs, but this one really takes the cake. Fucking devastating and beautiful, viscerally kind of hurts to listen to. Amazing.

Death Teaches us what Love should: Acceptance All the outro reminds me of is how acceptance is an inherent part of grief...

3:12 - 4:06 just incredible. The best song I’ve heard in a long time

My little niece, my only niece is 4 months old today. She is the most precious .my sister had a really tough time ,worked very hard to conceive her. I wanted to adore her,watch her grow , cherish every bit of her. In stead I'm just leaving the country far,far away to continue my study to become a pulmonologist.these things bug me of course but all on a sudden the thought of loving and missing her and not being able to be with her brought tears to my eyes as I was listening to this. Beautifully sad 🙂

This song just broke my heart and then put it back together.

Heaven is a place on Earth listening to Sufjan records

I have not heard a song in a very long time that gives me goosebumps and want to cry my eyes out at the same time.

Thank you for being the soundtrack to my trials of life and love. You make this world a better place through your music.

Sufjan is truly a genius

Jesus, this has made me full-on cry more times than not while listening to it. That last crescendo and the ambient ending… fuck, that hits _hard._ Just shreds any last remnants of the shield you put up for most of your life. You’d think a song called “Shit Talk” wouldn’t be the most devastating song of the year, but here we are. How many artists are putting out some of their best material on their _tenth_ album?

this is the best thing hes ever made

For fans of Sufjan, Polyenso might be your vibe too. They both give off bittersweet vibes. Not to take away from Sufjan tho, dude is the goat at such genuine emotive lyrics.

Thank you so much for the music you bring to the world!

How he went from ''I love you but I can't live with you'' and then ''I love you but I dont wanna see you'' to ''Hold me tightly lest I fall'' to ''I don't wanna fight at all'' is what hit me the hardest bc coming to terms with how you truly feel and dealing with reality amidst confusion and loss is damn near paralyzing. A true definition of careful song progression and perfect song structure. Vocal performance was perfect as well as they multi-vocal layering's mixing. This is the best song of the year.

this is my favourite track in javelin. it just makes me FEEL. thank you sufjan.

I'm only here to comment. This hit me like a truck, like few songs ever have. I'm not sure I ever want to listen to that again

I can’t believe he pulled off another masterpiece

The beginning reminds me of The Dress Looks Nice on You and then absolutely flourishes. Beautiful!

Absolute masterpiece.

this has been my favourite so far, didn't even notice it was 8 minutes long!

This album, man. This album.

If this song doesn't move you.... probably to tears, you might be dead.

Absolutely incredible, this instantly became one of my favorite songs!

this is my favorite song on the album. So goooood.

Absolutely incredible! Best song on the album.

Wat een prachtige song. Tekst, melodie , raakt tot diep in mijn vezels. Song van het jaar en nu al een klassieker.

It's a bright sunny day with the cool ocean breeze blowing my ruffled baggy clothes on the bow of a great ship 🚢. Bravo Suffy J. Love you.

Sufjan, this love letter is pure ART. From beginning to the end. This track had me shedding so many tears. Your music is a gift to the world. Thank You for allowing the music to simmer on the outro and allowing us to connect without lyrics. Such a pure heart. Again, Thank You!!

Idk why I listen to this album while I'm working, it always brings me to tears

All these years, still meaningful & beautiful. Thank you 🌻🤍✌️

Sublime.... King of the intro/outro slays again! Love, love, love. xxx

you, sir, are magic. your music sounds like it’s from another realm entirely. pure magic ❤️

This one is up there. Just something magical in this song.

This is one of the most beautiful and painful and loving songs I have ever heard. Truly, I am grateful to have listened to it and to have it in my life. Absolutely gorgeous.

Describing my feelings at now. Sad and beautiful..

The scale of divinity was destroyed. The beauty I can't measure.

Holy shit... shit talk is so amazing! Sufjan, sounds trite but pain gives us gifts we never knew we needed. Love 2 ALL

See why couldn’t I say it the way he said it?

Thank you for once again sharing the beauty of your heart with us, Sufjan. I'm sorry for your loss.

pain through strings.... Strings to heart ..... Tears .... SS❤...

Been listening for 20 years, I member.

This song breaks my heart in so many ways

Straight up masterpiece. Staggering beauty. Thank you Sufjan Stevens xox

Two Genious Stevens Dessner = Masterpiece

This song is simply incredible! love it

Okeyy this is my fav song😭❤️👍🏾

Thank u for this sufjan. I love you so much from argentina ❤ your music is one of the most beautiful things i've heard in my life

This is a whole heckin' vibe. I foresee many beautiful covers of this from various artists in the future.

New Sufjan Stevens album let's go!!

Totally not crying my god damn eyes out. Nope. Definitely not. Amazing, thank you!

amazing

The art on these lyric videos is so beautiful

Ah yes quality music. Thank you Sufjan.

This is pain, grief, regret, and love at the same volume and time and it is perfect.

Bu şarkı çok farklı vurdu beni. kalbinde cayır cayır yanan ateşi o kadar iyi biliyorum ki ayrı üzülüyorum senin için sufjan.

AAaaaaaaah I love this song!!!

I LOVE THIS SONG!!

Always perfect

Beautiful song, peace on earth

I loved ❤

This is lovely. Thank you Sufjan

c'est de la bombe !!!! j'adoooore

absolutely beautiful song ❤