Death with Dignity
The opening of Carrie & Lowell: fingerpicked guitar, an apparition passing through him, and the start of a reckoning with his mother.
Sufjan Stevens, from Carrie & Lowell (2015)
- Written by
- Sufjan Stevens
- Released
- 2015
- Length
- 3:59
- Album
- Carrie & Lowell
Death with Dignity opens Carrie & Lowell with fingerpicked guitar and a soft voice addressing the spirit of his silence and an apparition passing through him. Its title is that of Oregon's assisted-dying law, a connection critics drew in an album full of Oregon references, though Stevens has not explained it. He has said that after his mother's death he felt her ghost was inhabiting him, and that he was in pursuit of meaning, justice and reconciliation.
It was usually second in the Carrie & Lowell tour set and opens Carrie & Lowell Live. Its use in the games Life Is Strange 2 and The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit helped spread the album. A demo was released in 2025 ahead of the anniversary edition.
More songs by Sufjan Stevens
Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day, The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!, Futile Devices
Sources
- Carrie & Lowell, Wikipedia
- Carrie & Lowell turns 10, Stereogum (2025-03-31)
- Every Oregon reference on Carrie & Lowell, Daily Emerald (2015-04-13)