Comparing and contrasting Benji and Carrie & Lowell

[koner1]

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Benji by Sun Kil Moon

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Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens

Hard to deny that these two albums are quite similar to each other but there are some differences between them. So let's do some analysis and stuff on them shall we?

[LevonTostig]

Interesting thread.

For me, the most notable difference as far as mood goes is that, while certainly morose, Carrie and Lowell carries this inherent sense of hope and redemption that Benji lacks. Whereas Benji mopes in its loneliness and devestation (which isn't a criticism, I like the album and Kozelek in general), Carrie and Lowell pairs tragedy with love and light.

"I should have known better
Nothing can be changed
The past is still the past
The bridge to nowhere
...
My brother had a daughter
The beauty that she brings, illumination"

Moments like that make Carrie and Lowell particularly special.

[SquishypuffDave]

Both artists were better with synths.

[HoldenM]

Benji doesn't mope in anything. It's morbid, but it always goes for the silver lining. His cousin dies, but decides to help her live on by sharing her short life with others. A man mercy kills his wife, but still remembers her by her garden. His grandmother dies, but she's also the reason Mark had so many amazing memories of California. He's jealous of his friend Ben, but then gets over it, and keeps making music. His mom's going to die, but only because he had an amazing relationship with her. His dad was a difficult person, but he also taught Mark so much. Mark punches kids, and his classmates die horribly, but then he works hard to become a successful musician, and eventually tells the A&R guy who signed him how much he appreciated what he did. I think that Benji is filled with tremendous humanity and clarity, and to ignore the fact it's an album filled with optimism, even in so many dark places is to misrepresent the album.

That isn't to say Benji is better than Carrie & Lowell–though I do prefer Benji–but I don't think it's as black and white as has been described.
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[FlorianJones]

I agree with Holden on this one. I'd like to add though that both albums can come off as incredibly morose and gloomy if you let them. But there is hope in both if you look for things like Holden listed with Benji, or the line about Sufjan's niece that Levon mentioned from Carrie and Lowell.
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Overall - The 2010's - 2020

[koner1]

For me, there is no poetry in the lyrics of Benji, but there definitely is in Carrie & Lowell.

[Norman Bates]

I prefer Benji by quite a bit (I know this isn't the subject, but it's a necessary introduction to my point), both lyrically and musically. Lyrically it seems to me Kozelek has found some sort of maturity in the almost free-form stream of consciousness manner in which the narratives evolve, giving it this 'oh, well, man; hey, by the way' easy-going feel (that probably took of lot of work to come to btw) that I like so much. Lyrics to Stevens' LP, as heartfelt as they may be, sound more forced and I have the impression I can feel the work behind it. I like it that when I listen to Benji, it sounds as if Kozelek was conversing about how weird/hard shit happens on his porch. Masterful.

[Norman Bates]

[HazeyTwilight]

[sp4cetiger]

I don't think these albums are really all that similar. Whereas Kozelek ruminates, perhaps to the point of obsession, on the subject of mortality, Sufjan is just waxing poetic about his late mother. The relatively unsophisticated poetry of Carrie & Lowell really appeals to me -- it's about nostalgia, bittersweet memories. By contrast, listening to Benji feels like studying the corpse of my best friend's cat after it got hit by a car. I'm sure that's a wildly unfair summary, but I think it does underscore the vast differences in the approach these artists have taken.