Visions of Gideon

"Visions of Gideon" is a song steeped in the themes of memory, heartbreak, and the struggle to distinguish reality from recollection after a profound loss. Written for the final scene of the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name, the song articulates the inner emotional state of the character Elio as he reflects on his summer romance with Oliver. The repeated question, "Is it a video?" poignantly captures the way memories of a powerful love can play on a loop in one's mind, so vividly that they feel both real and unreal, like a recorded image. This line explores whether love's authenticity is diminished when it exists only as a replayed mental clip.

The title itself, "Visions of Gideon," is a significant biblical allusion. In the Old Testament, Gideon was a hesitant judge who needed repeated signs, or visions, from God to believe in his mission to lead the Israelites. In the context of the song, this reference serves as a metaphor for Elio's own doubt and searching. Having experienced a love that felt transcendent (with Oliver being a god-like figure in his life), Elio is now left alone, questioning the reality of it all, much like Gideon questioned his divine encounters. The "visions" are the haunting remnants of the past, a test for the heart wondering if the love was truly reciprocated or merely an illusion.

Ultimately, the song is an expression of heartbreak and resignation. The opening and closing lines, "I have loved you for the last time" and "I have kissed you for the last time," provide a stark and sorrowful framework, signifying the definitive end of the relationship. The song encapsulates the aftermath of a love so intense that its absence creates a confusing void, blurring the lines between a vivid dream and a vanquished reality.

The song unfolds from the perspective of someone grappling with the finality of a deeply profound love. It opens with the stark acknowledgments, "I have loved you for the last time" and "I have kissed you for the last time," establishing a tone of poignant farewell. This isn't a love that faded, but one that has reached a definitive, painful conclusion. Throughout the song, the narrator is lost in a state of reflection, questioning the very reality of the memories that now consume them. The recurring question, "Is it a video?" serves as the central pillar of this internal struggle. It suggests that the memories are so vivid and play on such a continuous loop in their mind that they feel both hyper-real and simultaneously artificial, like a film being replayed. This questioning blurs the line between tangible experience and the preserved, perhaps idealized, images left behind in the aftermath of loss.

The narrator recounts moments of intimacy and connection—"I have touched you for the last time," "For the love, for the laughter, I flew up to your arms." These lines are tinged with a deep sense of nostalgia and the sorrow of knowing these moments are irrecoverable. The act of flying into the lover's arms suggests a complete and joyful surrender, a moment of pure bliss that now only exists in memory's flickering projection. The repetition of these finalities underscores the weight of the loss. It's a methodical processing of grief, acknowledging each facet of the relationship that is now gone forever.

Interspersed with the questioning of memory is the equally repetitive and haunting phrase, "Visions of Gideon." This reference introduces a layer of complex symbolism. Like the biblical Gideon who required signs from God to believe in his mission, the narrator seems to be searching for a sign, for some confirmation that the love they experienced was real and true. However, unlike Gideon who received divine reassurance, the narrator is left in a state of doubt, with only their own internal "visions" to cling to. These visions are not of divine victory but of a personal, emotional landscape filled with the ghost of a past love. The song closes by endlessly cycling through these two core phrases—"Is it a video?" and "Visions of Gideon"—leaving the listener suspended in the narrator's state of unresolved grief, forever caught between the vividness of memory and the painful uncertainty of what was real.

"Visions of Gideon" was written and performed by Sufjan Stevens specifically for the 2017 film Call Me by Your Name, directed by Luca Guadagnino. Guadagnino initially approached Stevens to be the narrator of the film, but Stevens was uncomfortable with the idea and proposed writing a song instead. This led to him contributing three songs to the soundtrack: a remix of his 2010 track "Futile Devices," and two new original pieces, "Mystery of Love" and "Visions of Gideon."

The creation was guided by the film's script and the novel by André Aciman. Guadagnino expressed that he wanted Stevens's lyrical voice to act as a narrator, providing an internal commentary on the characters' emotions. "Visions of Gideon" was specifically chosen by the director and film editor for the poignant final scene. During the filming of this iconic closing shot, actor Timothée Chalamet, who portrays Elio, wore a hidden earpiece playing "Visions of Gideon" to help him channel the precise emotions required for the scene. This allowed his performance to be perfectly in sync with the song's melancholic and reflective tone, creating a powerful fusion of acting and music. Though "Mystery of Love" received the Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, many involved with the film and fans consider "Visions of Gideon" to be the emotional centerpiece of the movie's conclusion.

"Visions of Gideon" utilizes a very loose and subtle rhyme scheme, bordering on free verse, which prioritizes emotional expression over strict structure. The most notable rhyme is the slant rhyme between "video" and "Gideon," a clever and understated connection that links the song's two central, recurring motifs. This subtle phonetic pairing reinforces the thematic connection between the looping, film-like nature of memory and the search for a sign or meaning in those memories.

The song's rhythm is gentle, flowing, and unhurried. It has a slow tempo that contributes to its dreamlike, contemplative, and melancholic atmosphere. The rhythmic structure is driven by the consistent, arpeggiated keyboard pattern, which provides a steady, almost hypnotic pulse. This creates a feeling of stasis, as if the narrator is suspended in a single moment of reflection. The lyrical rhythm is conversational and follows the natural cadence of speech, delivered in Stevens' characteristically soft and intimate style. There is no strong metrical pattern, which enhances the song's feeling of organic, internal monologue. The interplay between the steady musical rhythm and the free-flowing lyrical rhythm creates a poignant sense of someone trying to find their footing while lost in a continuous loop of thought.

Musical Techniques:

• Minimalist Instrumentation: The song is built on a sparse arrangement, primarily featuring a gentle, arpeggiated synthesizer or electric piano melody. This creates an atmospheric, dreamlike, and spacious soundscape that mirrors the feeling of being lost in thought and memory. The simplicity of the music allows the emotional weight to be carried by the vocals and lyrics.
• Ethereal Vocal Delivery: Sufjan Stevens employs his signature breathy, delicate, and almost whispered vocal style. This technique creates a sense of intimacy and vulnerability, as if the listener is hearing the narrator's innermost thoughts. The gentle, forlorn quality of his voice enhances the song's melancholic and contemplative mood.
• Repetition and Looping: The musical arrangement is highly repetitive, with the main melodic phrase looping throughout the song. This musical repetition mirrors the lyrical repetition of "Is it a video?" and "Visions of Gideon," reinforcing the theme of being caught in a cycle of memory and obsessive thought.

Literary Techniques:

• Rhetorical Question: The central lyrical device is the repeated rhetorical question, "Is it a video?" This question is not meant to be answered but rather to express a state of deep uncertainty and the blurring line between reality and memory.
• Allusion: The title and recurring phrase "Visions of Gideon" is a significant biblical allusion that adds layers of meaning related to faith, doubt, and the need for reassurance in the face of an overwhelming experience.
• Anaphora and Repetition: The song's structure is built on repetition. Phrases like "I have loved you for the last time," "I have touched you for the last time," and "I have kissed you for the last time" are repeated, creating a litany of loss that emphasizes the finality of the relationship. This repetition gives the lyrics a hypnotic, incantatory quality.

The primary cultural impact of "Visions of Gideon" is inextricably linked to its use in the critically acclaimed 2017 film Call Me by Your Name. The song scores the film's final, iconic scene, a single long take of the character Elio (played by Timothée Chalamet) staring into a fireplace and silently processing the news of his former lover Oliver's engagement. This powerful cinematic moment, underscored by the song's haunting melancholy, is widely regarded as one of the most memorable and emotionally devastating film endings of its decade.

While its companion song from the film, "Mystery of Love," received the Academy Award and Grammy nominations, "Visions of Gideon" is often cited by fans and critics as the emotional anchor of the soundtrack. The song's perfect synergy with Chalamet's performance (who famously listened to the track in an earpiece while filming the scene) solidified its place in popular culture as an anthem of love and loss.

The song brought Sufjan Stevens, a celebrated indie-folk artist, to a wider mainstream audience and has been praised for its lyrical depth and emotional resonance. Though Stevens himself described his experience performing at the Oscars as "traumatising," the inclusion of his music in the film cemented his status as a masterful songwriter capable of capturing complex emotional narratives.

The song's primary symbolism revolves around two central, recurring phrases:

• "Is it a video?": This metaphor represents the nature of memory after a significant emotional experience. It questions the authenticity and tangibility of past events, suggesting they have become like a film that can be replayed endlessly in the mind. This imagery highlights the struggle to differentiate between a lived experience and the idealized, perhaps distorted, recording of it that remains. It reflects Elio's state of mind, where the memories of his time with Oliver are so vivid they almost seem artificial.
• "Visions of Gideon": This is a direct biblical allusion with deep metaphorical meaning. Gideon was a figure from the Old Testament who was insecure and required divine signs from God to believe in his own capabilities and mission. In the song, this symbolizes the narrator's (Elio's) profound doubt and search for meaning in the aftermath of his relationship. Oliver can be seen as the divine or transcendent figure whose presence felt like a miracle. Now that he is gone, Elio is left with only the "visions"—the memories—and questions whether this powerful experience was truly real, much like Gideon questioning God. It's a metaphor for testing the reality of a love that has vanished, leaving behind only haunting impressions.

The lyrics "For love, for laughter, I flew up to your arms" contain the metaphor of flight, symbolizing a complete, weightless, and joyful surrender to love. This contrasts sharply with the song's grounded feeling of loss, emphasizing the height from which the narrator has fallen.

The song is structured around the insistent repetition of two key phrases that function as its central motifs:

1. "Is it a video?": This question is repeated extensively throughout the song, particularly in the latter half. Its recurrence signifies the narrator's obsessive questioning of his own memories. It highlights the central theme of the song: the struggle to discern the reality of a past love that now feels as distant and artificial as a replayed recording. The constant repetition creates a hypnotic, almost desperate feeling, as if the narrator is trapped in a loop of his own thoughts and unable to find a definitive answer.

2. "Visions of Gideon": This phrase, also repeated multiple times, serves as the song's other core motif and its title. It acts as a symbolic counterpoint to "Is it a video?". Where the "video" questions reality, the "visions" allude to a search for faith and confirmation. The back-and-forth switching between these two phrases in the song's outro illustrates the narrator's internal conflict—vacillating between viewing his memories as a mere recording and searching for some deeper, almost spiritual, significance within them.

A secondary recurring motif is the declaration of finality: "I have loved you for the last time", "I have touched you for the last time", and "I have kissed you for the last time". The repetition of this structure firmly establishes the theme of loss and the irreversible end of the relationship, grounding the more abstract questioning in a concrete sense of grief.