Sufjan Stevens - A Good Man Is Hard To Find Lyrics

Sufjan Stevens' music holds the mysticism and lyrics of Neil Young, the emotion/soul/heart of Cat Stevens (NO relation), and the artistic sensibility of most 4AD artists, such as HIS NAME IS ALIVE!!!

mirion harris and nessie smith brought me here

Sooooo GREAT!!!!!!!!! WOW, I feel blessed to have heard this👍

Same! XD

on repeat. Thanx Sufjan!

love the song and the story so much! both beautiful art :)

God, sufjan stevens is so good (when is not jerking of to his craziest electronic gear hahahaha), unbelievable. Very clever song, i love it :)

Praise Sufjan's insane guitar shit. Blessed be. Hail Age of Adz.

the song's about finding redemption, even if you have the darkest and the most fake soul. both the misfit and grandma were sinners, but grandma realised, in her agony, that we're all the same intelligences and said farewell to her life in peace. and her sudden transformation shocked the misfit so much that he shot her (which he was going to do anyway) but was deeply moved and devastated. 

Honestly? I don't think that's it. The entire moment before that was the misfit bringing the grandmother into a crisis of faith. In that moment, the grandmother realized that her conflict over the uncertainty over the truth of faith (is god real or not), mirrored the misfit's own strong conflict. The difference was, his life and his actions lead him to take a completely opposite interpretation of the situation, that there is no god or anything worth living for. When she realizes this shared conflict, it becomes a point of empathy and as she reaches out to him and accepts him, which is what truly startles him.
The misfit doesn't expect this act of empathy, and to some degree may be scared that this was the religious miracle which the grandmother was praying for. This is why he shoots her.
O'Connor's point, or what I took from it, was the true power of faith is not in physical miracles but in empathy and how it can change people. O'Connor was a religious person, and the realism in the story is intended to contrast this point, and initially show the fact that realism and faith cannot co-exist. The ending of the story provides a counterpoint which attempts to illustrate the true power, and limitations, of religious faith.

'She would have been a good woman...' Ah it's just brilliant!

this is my song right now..loving the sad vibes

pussy.. jkjk

Like if Flannery O'Connor brought you here.

Flannery did bring me here ;)

this guy is so fucking talented. Not necessarily his voice, but many of his melodies remind me of Neil Young. He's like Neil and Dave Matthews put together, and someone else...maybe Dispatch

Andrew BIrd, maybe? Chirp chirp

its so weird we read this story in my English class, and id always wondered why the title of this song had nothing to do with what the lyrics were saying. That day i finally understood

Listening to this while writing a thesis on O'Connor! <3

Except...Lil Wayne isn't good...you can like him and whatnot but he really isn't talented. He's just somebody working with a fad trying to make moneydoing exactly what people want, which happens to be easily accesible hip hop, instead of making music with any sort of value that he makes as an artist.

@DuchessAliana You picked the most beautiful line from that story. And the most moving.

LIFE SAVER!!! I have this AP Lit. project on the story this song was written after and I needed a song to fit the story for a video preoject! This is Perfect!!!

woah woah woah wayne is good too; I love both artists; music comes in different forms and you might not like all of them but that doesn't make one type of music better than another.

Oh I really love artists making a song about some literary works.

She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery O'Connor

I remember reading this in class and laughing aloud when I read that. So true about the human experience

@iYEMTheGreatest although crying to music isn't gay, you seem to have problems. consider that Sufjan wouldn't approve of such comments on his videos.

@kimberthegiver can you explain it for me ! cause i didn't really understand what this about . =)

@RussellWallaceReagle lol gay

Once in the backyard
She was once like me
She was once like me
Twice when I killed them
They were once at peace
They were once like me

Hold to your gun, man
And put off all your peace
Put off all the beast
Paid a full of these, I wait for it
But someone's once like me
She was once like me

I once was better
I put off all my grief
I put off all my grief
So I go to hell, I wait for it
But someone's left me creased
Someone's left me creased

Love this song!
I've been listening it for about a year and can´t stop!

@PDeepIn fuckin hipsters did that shit

@RussellWallaceReagle Yeah he's amazing. Can't say I cry to every Sufjan Stevens' song, but I have cried to many. That's what's amazing about Sufjan---his lyrical ability, the versatility in instrumentation and the way he just makes you feel when you listen to music.

@pooscifer He's not comparing, he's just saying that it's a farce to think that Lil Wayne is famous and not this guy. Meaning that Sufjan is leaps and bounds better and it's a shame that he's going largely unnoticed.

Reminds me of Elliot Smith a little... Love it. Just heard this for the first time tonight, and I'm sold.

@PDeepIn LOL@comparing sufjan to lil wayne. This is like comparing the dalai lama to Mr.T

@MrBadgerking leo kottke and mike gordon

@COWLICKPATTIES neither do i

@PDeepIn I dont wanna live on this planet anymore :(

Why he's not so famous and the f*cking Lil wayne is famous...F*ck...what a world

Thank you for posting! :)