The Listomania I make the lists, you shoot them down. Quid Pro Quo.

68. Sufjan Stevens – To Be Alone With You

I have a strong emotional connection to this song. In fact, everyone I know who even KNOWS this song has a strong emotional connection to it. It's just one of those pieces of art that's universally specific - a wide group of people understand it on a miniscule, DNA level. I feel like I know exactly what Sufjan is saying. I've felt these exact stirrings before. The 19-year-old girl knows what it's like to sheepishly want to have someone to herself. The 39-year-old woman knows what it's like to give up everything to just be with one person. The 15-year-old boy knows what it's like to think he's in love, but not know what that feels like yet. Everyone is drawn into this song because they know what it's about, and they feel it too. And the best part of the song? They are ALL WRONG.

The songs about Jesus. Yup, listen to it again. It's about Jesus giving up a normal life for faith, and Sufjan is singing a sad song of appreciation to his savior. The first time I heard the song, when I got to the last line where Sufjan says "And I never knew the man who loved me" I just kind of though, oh, ok, he's gay. Turns out, nope. He's signing directly to Jebus H. Christo. But the solemnity and devotion of the song only seems more appropriate when you listen to it with the correct mindset. That's really what the song is about - devotion. Whether it's a private, aching yearning to just be with someone, or a stringent faith in the sins of the father (full disclosure: I don't know what that means) this song has a universal appeal, an insular quality that brings everyone listening into its sweet, silent, gorgeous folds. What would you do to be with the person you love? Would you swim across a great lake? These are the kind of questions that great unconventional love songs force upon us. And Sufjan's most touching and personal song is one of a handful that express religious devotion in a way that doesn't just not alienate, but it pulls literally everyone in.