Available on digital and translucent yellow vinyl and tape November 24th, 2017
Preorder here http://smarturl.it/greatest-gift
Carrie & Lowell version: https://soundcloud.com/asthmatickitty/sufjan-stevens-john-my-beloved

Lyrics:
Are we to speak, first day of the week
Stumbling words at the bar
Beauty blue eyes, my order of fries
Long island kindness and wine
Beloved of John, I get it all wrong
I read you for some kind of poem
Covered in lines, the fossils I find
Have they no life of their own?

So can we pretend sweetly
Before the mystery ends?
I am a man with a heart that offends
With its lonely and greedy demands
There’s only a shadow of me; in a manner of speaking I'm dead

Such a waste, your beautiful face
Stumbling carpet arise
But you and your ring, your life giving string
Come to my now as a friend
If history speaks, the kiss on my cheek
I’m painting the hills blue and red
They said beware, Lord hear my prayer
I’ve wasted my throes on your head

So can we be friends sweetly
Before the mystery ends?
I love you more than the world can contain
In its loneliest ramshackle head
There’s only a shadow of me; in a manner of speaking I'm dead

I’m holding my breath
My signature death
What can be said of my heart?
If history speaks, the kiss on my cheek
Where there remains but a mark
Beloved my John, so I’ll carry on
Counting my cards down to one
And when I am dead, come visit my bed
My fossil is bright in the sun

The Greatest Gift Mixtape

Sufjan Stevens, "John My Beloved — iPhone Demo"

Asthmatic Kitty Records is an independent record label that was co-founded by Lowell Brams and his stepson, singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, in 1999. Since its founding, AKR has released albums by a variety of artists, including Lily & Madeleine, My Brightest Diamond and Helado Negro, and is currently home to Sufjan Stevens, Angelo De Augustine, Denison Witmer and The Welcome Wagon. 

Asthmatic Kitty was named after Sara, an orange and white tabby who wandered out of the woods pregnant and starving near Holland, Michigan in 1994. For fourteen years she brought joy as a beloved friend to Lowell, enjoying a happy life despite her initial hardships. Her asthma improved after moving west to New Mexico and Wyoming, where she lived out her days as an asthmatic kitty in name only.