Meaning of “Death With Dignity” by Sufjan Stevens

All things considered, it has been concluded that “Death With Dignity” represents Sufjan Stevens’ poetic and emotional reaction to the death of his mother in 2012. It has also been ascertained that the track is named after a law that was passed in Oregon back in the 1990s that legalized assisted suicide for those who are terminally ill.

By the looks of things Sufjan’s mom, Carrie, did live in the Beaver State or at least resided there during his childhood, i.e. the era of his life in which they spent the most time together. But it has also been suggested, since Carrie reportedly had serious mental and drug issues, that perhaps she wound up utilizing that aforementioned law, thus further explaining why Stevens named this song so.

But what really makes it obvious that this song is about Stevens’ deceased mom is the fifth verse, in which he basically addresses her as such directly. 

“I forgive you, mother, I can hear you (I can hear you)
And I long to be near you (And I long to be near you)
But every road leads to an end
Yes, every road leads to an end
Your apparition passes through me in the willows
Five red hens – you’ll never see us again
You’ll never see us again”

As for the rest of the song, i.e. the four previous verses, good luck trying to decipher them in a way that is universally agreeable. They are painfully poetic – so much so that even knowing that this is a song of bereavement, it’s still challenging trying to connect what he’s saying in them to the concept of death and mourning.

Perhaps such incomprehensiveness, if you will, is because Sufjan spent very little time with his mother. Or put more bluntly, you can’t get too in-depth about a parent that you barely know. Yet and still Carrie’s death deeply affected him, to the point of inspiring an entire album even.

So as relayed in the understandable fifth verse, first off, quite interestingly, the vocalist goes about ‘forgiving’ his mother. Or as to be expected from a child whom a parent neglected, it appears that Sufjan held some resentment towards her.

But that said, even after Carrie’s passing he can still sense her presence in his life. And in seemingly addressing the subject of death, Stevens gets philosophical by noting that “every road leads to an end”. 

But that said, he retains some level of animosity against his mom, in a manner of interpretation, in that he also goes about noting, according to some analysts, that she will never have the opportunity to see her children again. In the way he does so doesn’t necessarily just read like a general observation.

In Conclusion

That’s a lot of sentiment to be encapsulated in a single verse, so we can only imagine what’s going on throughout the rest of this piece. But conclusively, it can be argued that Stevens was indeed affected by his mother’s passing, understandably of course, even if their relationship wasn’t an extremely-close one. 

But at the same time, as such stories tend to go, he appears to retain some type of anger due to Carrie obviously not fulfilling her parental responsibilities. And now he regrets her not using the opportunity to actually do so when she had it, in the very least in terms of getting to know her children better.

Release Date of “Death With Dignity”

“Death With Dignity” is the first song on the tracklisting of Stevens’ seventh studio offering “Carrie & Lowell”. The song, which was not issued as a single, shares the same release date with its album. The date in question is March 31 of 2015.

Who are the Writers and Producers of “Death With Dignity”?

The singer wrote this track all by himself. Stevens was also involved in its production, a task he accomplished together with US producer Doveman.

Album

“Carrie & Lowell” was made public via a record company named Asthmatic Kitty. The songs below were released as singles from this album:

• “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”
• “Should Have Known Better”
• “Carrie & Lowell”