Go Nightly Cares
I once heard someone describe Sufjan’s Christmas music with a sentence along the lines of “not all the songs are good, but not all the songs are meant to be good.” It made perfect sense to me at the time, but I was later met with visible confusion as I explained that to someone else. The thing is, they might not all be good, but they do all have a purpose.
To me, Sufjan’s Christmas albums are special because they don’t try to present a perfect picture of Christmas. They portray themes like loneliness (“The Lonely Man of Winter”), unrequited love (“Happy Karma Christmas”), or seasonal depression (“Did I Make You Cry On Christmas?”). Sometimes the songs are lonely, bitter, or melancholic, but those feelings are often part of Christmas, just as they are a part of life. Some of the songs are brief and barely noteworthy, but so are many moments of the holiday season. Several songs are just brief instrumental interludes, their purpose seemingly to portray another little slice of Christmas. They’re little songs that only really make sense within the album. It’s like a huge Christmas collage that you can only see properly if you take a step back.
Now, this isn’t to say “Go Nightly Cares” is a bad track. It’s a beautiful arrangement, and it has some of the most gorgeous instrumentation on the album (with, if the liner notes are correct, Aaron Dessner of The National on the mandolin). It forms a part of Sufjan’s exploration of more traditional themes of Christmas, especially in contrast to some of the later songs on Silver & Gold. The track is based on a piece of music of the same name first published in 1612 by John Dowland. “Go Nightly Cares” is an unusual inclusion on a Christmas album; it doesn’t appear to be specifically a Christmas piece, and it’s a secular piece of music. Yet to me, with its Renaissance-period roots, and unequivocally antiquated sound, it evokes thoughts of winter and feelings of warmth, like a hearth in an old cottage. Despite its secular origin, I can imagine it being performed at a quiet church on a cold winter evening, late in December. I admit, my first thought is that it would not sound out of place on the soundtrack for Skyrim or The Witcher.
To me, “Go Nightly Cares” represents many different pieces of Christmas that have almost become lost. Distant memories of watching old Christmas specials of The Wiggles on VHS tape, of reading Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol for the first time, and of delicious roast dinners and numerous presents under the tree at my grandmother’s house. All memories and experiences that have faded as I’ve grown older and the circumstances in my life have changed. This song is a brief reminder of the depth, substance, and history of this tradition we share. It’s a reminder that Christmas is made up of countless moments and experiences, good and bad, all unique in their own way. It’s a reminder that Christmas is a complex enough topic that you could barely scratch the surface if you wrote a hundred songs on it.
Christmas is a completely different thing for each and every person. I hope that whatever it means to you, and however you celebrate it, that it is nothing short of beautiful this year.
Let this song be a reminder to take some time to appreciate the smaller things this season. Take the time and enjoy the little moments with family – whoever that is to you.
Connor Maeson currently lives in the small town of Canberra, Australia. He would like to consider himself a writer, a photographer, and a filmmaker. We’re yet to see how that turns out, but with an ever-growing vinyl collection, an affinity for hardcover books, and a mostly empty bank account, he thinks he has the aesthetic down. He doesn’t say much, but you can find him on Twitter @ConnorMaeson.