When Sufjan Stevens contributed music to Make, a documentary about self-taught artists, he found himself inspired by the story of Royal Robertson—a schizophrenic Louisianan sign maker, folk artist, and self-proclaimed prophet. Stevens’ discovery of Robertson’s dreamlike depictions and hallucinogenic combinations of science-fiction, comic-book, biblical, and astrological imagery as well as Robertson’s many other seemingly disparate influences resulted in his 2010 album, The Age Of Adz. For most of his creative life, Robertson worked in near poverty; much of his art was composed with markers and glitter on poster board. But the story of the artist’s manic descent while struggling against his schizophrenia gave Stevens a springboard to a radical musical departure, latching onto the artist’s fantasy world and directly addressing the prophet on “Get Real Get Right.”
