hahaha, I just got mine.
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Sufjan Stevens Invites You to Come On Feel the Illinoise
CONCERNING THE UFO SIGHTING NEAR HIGHLAND, ILLINOIS
When the revenant came down
We couldn't imagine what it was
In the spirit of three stars
The alien thing that took its form
Then to Lebanon, oh God!
The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow
(oooohhh history involved itself)
Mysterious shade that took its form (or what it was!)
Incarnation, three stars
delivering signs and dusting from their eyes
COME ON! FEEL THE ILLINOISE!
Part I: "The World's Columbian Exposition"
Oh great intentions
I've got the best of interventions
But when the ads come
I think about it now
In my infliction
Entrepreneurial conditions
Take us to glory
I think about it now
Cannot conversations cull United Nations?
If you got the patience, celebrate the ancients
Cannot all creation call it celebration?
Or united nation. Put it to your head.
Oh great White City
I've got the adequate committee
Where have your walls gone
I think about it now
Chicago, in fashion, the soft drinks,
expansion, oh Columbia!
From Paris, incentive,
like Cream of Wheat invented, the Ferris Wheel!
Oh Great Intentions
Covenant with the Imitation
Have you no conscience
I think about it now
Oh God of Progress
Have you degraded or forgot us?
Where have your walls gone
I think about it now
Ancient hieroglyphic, or the South Pacific
Typically terrific, busy and prolific
Classical devotion, architect promotion
Lacking an emotion. Think about it now.
Chicago, the New Age,
but what would Frank Lloyd Wright say?
Oh Columbia!
Amusement, or treasure,
these optimistic pleasures,
like the Ferris Wheel!
Cannot conversations cull United Nations?
If you got the patience, celebrate the ancients
C o l u m b i a !
Part II: "Carl Sandburg Visits Me in A Dream"
I cried myself to sleep last night
And the ghost of Carl, he approached my window
I was hypnotized, I was asked to improvise
On the attitude, the regret of a thousand centuries of death
Even with the heart of terror and the superstituous wearer
I am writing all alone, I am writing all alone
Even in my best condition, counting all the superstition
I am riding all alone, I am running all alone
And we laughed the beattitudes of a thousand lines
We were asked, at the attitudes, they reminded us of death
Even with the rest belated, everything is antiquated
Are you writing from the heart?
Are you writing from the heart?
Even in his heart the Devil has to know the water level
Are you writing from the heart?
Are you writing from the heart?
And I cried myself to sleep last night
For the earth, and materials, they may sound just right to me
Even with the rest belated, everything is antiquated
Are you writing from the heart? Are you writing from the heart?
Even in his heart the Devil has to know the water level
Are you writing from the heart? Are you writing from the heart?
JOHN WAYNE GACY, JR.
His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's T-shirts
When the swing set hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there,
Find the few living things rotting fast
in their sleep, oh the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys, with their cars,
summer jobs, oh me God
Are you one of them?
He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room, on the bed, he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With the slight of his hand, running far,
running fast to the dead
He took off all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips, quiet hands,
quiet kiss on the mouth
And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid
JACKSONVILLE
I'm not afraid of the black man running
He's got it right, he's got a better life coming
I don't care what the Captain said
I fold it right at the top of my head
I lost my sight and the state packs in
I follow my heart and it leads me right to Jackson
Oh Keller Oh Oh Oh Oh
She gave us a medal, she gave us a map
Oh Canner Row Oh Oh Oh
If seeing is right, then look where you're at
I'm not afraid of Nichols Park
I ride the train and I ride it after dark
I'm not afraid to get it right
I turn around and I give it one more try
I said things I meant to say
The bandstand chairs and the Dewey Day Parade
I go out to the Golden Age
The spirit is right and the spirit doesn't change
Oh Keller Oh Oh Oh Oh
She gave us a mirror, she gave us a map
Oh Canner Row Oh Oh Oh
If seeing is right, then look where you're at
Andrew Jackson! All I'm asking
Show us the wheel, and give us then wine
Raise the Banner, Jackson Hammer!
Everyone goes the the capital line
Colored Preacher, nice to meet you!
The spirit is here, and the spirit is fine
Education! Ask the nation!
You gave us our sight and the hearing is fine
Andrew Jackson! All I'm asking
Give us the wheel, and give us the wine
DECATUR, or, ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR YOUR STEP MOTHER
Our step mom we did everything to hate her
She took us down to the edge of Decatur
We saw the lion and the kangaroo take her
Down to the river where they caught a wild alligator
Sang-a-man River it overflowed
it caused a mudslide on the banks of the Operator
Civil War skeletons in their graves
They came up clapping in the spirit of the Aviator
The sound of the engines and the smell of the grain
We go riding on the abolition grain train
Stephen A. Douglas was a great debater but
Abraham Lincoln was the Great Emancipator
Chickenmobile with your rooster tail
I had my fill and I know how bad it feels
Stay awake and watch for the data
No small caterpillar, go congratulate her!
Denominate her! Go Decatur!
Go Decatur! It's the great I Am.
Abominator! Why did we hate her?
Go Decatur! It's the great I Am.
Denominate her! Anticipate Her!
Go Decatur! It's the great I Am.
Appreciate her! Stand up and thank her!
Stand up and thank her! It's the great I am.
CHICAGO
I fell in love again
All things go, all things go
Drove to Chicago
All things know, all things know
We sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind
You came to take us.
All things go. All things go.
To re-create us.
All things grow. All things grow.
We had our minds set.
All things know. All things know.
You had to find it.
All things go. All things go.
I drove to New York
In a van with my friend.
We slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with a place
In my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind
If I was crying
In the van with my friend
It was for freedom
from myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
CASIMIR PULASKI DAY
Goldenrod and the 4-H stone
The things I brought you
when I found out you had cancer of the bone
Your father cried on the telephone
And he drove his car into the Navy Yard
Just to prove that he was sorry
In the morning, through the window shade
when the light pressed up
against your shoulder blade
I could see what you were reading
All the glory that the Lord has made
And the complications your could do without
When I kissed you on the mouth
Tuesday night at the Bible study
We lift our hands and pray over your body
But nothing ever happens
I remember at Michael's house
In the living room, when you kissed my neck
And I almost touched your blouse
In the morning at the top of the stairs
When your father found out what we did that night
And you told me your were scared
All the glory when you ran outside
With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied
And you told me not to follow you
Sunday night when I clean the house
I find the card where you wrote it out
with the pictures of your mother
On the floor, at the great divide
With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied
I am crying in the bathroom
In the morning when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window
In the morning, in the winter shade,
On the first of March, on the holiday,
I thought I saw you breathing
All the glory that the Lord has made
And the complications when I see His face
In the morning in the window
All the glory when He took our place
But He took my shoulders, and He shook my face,
and He takes and He takes and He takes
THE MAN OF METROPOLIS STEALS OUR HEARTS
Trouble falls in my home
Troubled man, troubled stone
turn a mountain of lies
turn a card for my life
Man of Steel, Man of Heart
Tame our ways, if we start
To devise something more
Something half ways
Only a steel man came to recover
If he had run from gold, carry over
We celebrate our sense of each other
We have a lot to give one another
I took a bus to the lake
Saw the monument face
Yellow tides, golden eyes
Red and white, red and wise
Raise the flag, summer home
Parted hair, part unknown
If I knew what I read
I'll send it half ways
Only a real man can be a lover
If he had hands to lend us all over
We celebrate our sense of each other
We have a lot to give one another
Took my bags, Illinois
Dreamt the lake took my boy
Man of Steel, Man of Heart
Turn your ear to my part
There are things you have said
Raise the boat, and raise the dead
If you take us away
Still can we say:
Only a steel man can be a lover
If he had hands to tremble all over
We celebrate our sense of each other
We have a lot to give one another
PRAIRIE FIRE THAT WANDERS ABOUT
Peoria! Destroyia!
Infinity! Divinity!
For Lydia!Octavia!
And Jack-of-Trades!
The Cubs! Hooray!
The Opera House
Where Emma sang!
America! Oh will it play?
And Santa Clause!
The Great Parade!
Peoria!
You have it made!
Into the crossfire
faithfully run
Middle America,
one on one
Peoria!
we saddle the fun times
THE PREDATORY WASP OF THE PALISADES IS OUT TO GET US!
Thinking outrageously I write in cursive
I hide in my bed with the lights on the floor
Wearing three layers of coats and leg warmers
I see my own breath on the face of the door
Oh, I am not quite sleeping. Oh I am fast in bed
There on the wall in the bedroom, creeping
I see a wasp with her wings outstreteched
North of Savanna, we swim in the Palisades
I come out wearing my brother's red hat
There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times
he runs washing his face in his hands
Oh, how I meant to tease him. Oh, how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand, I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm
Oh great sights upon this state! Hallelu–
Wonders bright, and rivers, lake. Hallelu–
Trail of Tears and Horseshoe Lake. Hallelu–
trusting things beyond mistake. Hallelu–
We were in love. We were in love.
Palisades! Palisades! I can wait. I can wait.
Lamb of God, we sound the horn.
Hallelujah!
To us your ghost is born.
Hallelu–
I can't explain the state that I'm in
The state of my heart
he was my best friend
Into the car, from
the back seat
Oh admiration,
in falling asleep
All of my powers,
day after day; I can tell you,
we swaggered and swayed
Deep in the Tower,
the Prairies below
I can tell you,
but telling gets old.
Terrible sting, terrible storm
I can tell you, the day we
were born. My friend is gone,
he ran away. I can tell you,
I love him each day
Though we have sparred
wrestled and raged
I can tell you,
I love him each day.
Terrible sting, terrible storm
I can tell you.
THEY ARE NIGHT ZOMBIES!!
THEY ARE NEIGHBORS!!
THEY HAVE COME BACK FROM THE DEAT!!
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! AHHHHHH!
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Logan, Grant, and Ronald Regan
In the grave with Xylophagen
Do you know the ghost community?
Sound the horn, address the city
(Who will save it? Dedicate it?
Who will praise it? Commemorate it for you?)
We are awaken with the ax
Night of the Living Dead at last
They have begun to shake the dirt
Wiping their shoulders from the earth
I know, I know the nations past
I know, I know they rust at last
They tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Can you call the Captain Clitus?
B-U-D-A! Caledonia! S-E-C-O-R! Magnolia!
B-I-R-D-S! And Kankakee! Evansville and Parker City
Speaking their names, they shake the flag
waking the earth, it lifts and lags
we see a thousand rooms to rest
helping us taste the bite of death
I know, I know my time has passed
I'm not so young, I'm no so fast
I tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Comer and Potato Peelers! G-R-E-E-N ridge! Reeders
M-C-V-E-Y! and Horace! E-N-O-S! Start the chorus
Corn and Farms and Tombs in Lemmon
Sailor Springs and all things feminine
Centerville and Old Metropolis
Shawneetown, you trade and topple us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Hold your tongue and don't divide us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Land of God, you hold and guide us
THE SEER'S TOWER
In the Tower above the earth
There is a view that reaches far
Where we cede the universe
I see the fire, I see the end
Seven miles above the earth
There is Emanuel of Mothers
With His sword, with His robe
He comes dividing man from brothers
In the Tower above the earth,
We built it for Emanuel
In the Powers of the earth,
we wait until it rails and rails
In the Tower above the earth
we built it for Emanuel
Oh my Mother, she betrayed us
but my Father loved and bathed us
THE TALLEST MAN, THE BROADEST SHOULDERS
Part I: "The Great Frontier"
I count the days the Great Frontier
Forgiving, faced the seventh year
I stand in awe of gratefulness
I can and call forgetfullness
And when I, and When I call
The Patient, the Patient fall
The Spirit, the Carpenter
Invites us to be with her
What have we become America?
Soldiers on the Great Frontier!
Carpenter and Soldier, one on one
It's the battle, volunteer!
Run from yourself,
from your friends, from ya–
Run for you life,
for your friends, for ya–
America, merica, meri–
Oh Illinois, Illinois, Illi–
The prairie, the frontier,
the perfect farm, it's from here
The fortress, the faker, the cornerstone, the baker
The dancer, the fisher, audition and the disher
The boxer, the fetcher,
the chewing gum, dream catcher
I count the days the Great Frontier
Forgiving, faced the seventh year
I stand and strain to make ends meet
Five Spirits on the Grand Marquee
And when I, and when I call
The Patient, the Patient fall
The Spirit, the Carpenter
Invites us to be with her
There was a man at the wall
He was grateful for us all
I saw the Wise Woman sing
She wasn't asking anything
She wasn't asking anything
How she made the nations sing!
What have we become America?
Soldiers on the Great Frontier!
Run from yourself,
from your friends, from ya–
Run for you life,
for your friends, for ya–
America, merica, meri–
Oh Illinois, Illinois, Illi–
The mattress, the floozies,
the actress at the movies
The lantern, the lotion,
the wind that wakes the ocean
The Standard Edition,
the architect's rendition
The fashion, the fevers,
the house we got at Sears
Part II: "Come to Me Only With Playthings Now"
Oh Great Fire of Great Disaster
Oh Great Heaven, oh Great Master
Oh Great Goat, the curse you gave us
Oh Great Ghost, protect and save us
Oh Great River, green with envy
Oh Jane Addams, spirit send thee
Oh Great Trumpet and the singers
Oh Great Goodman, King of Swingers
Oh Great Bears and Bulls, Joe Jackson
Oh Great Illinois
Given what you lost, are you better off?
Given what you had, has it made you mad?
Celebrate the few. Celebrate the new.
It can only start with you.
CONTRIBUTORS, MUSICAL BENEFACTORS, CREDITS, ETC.:
JAMES McALISTER plays all the sophisticated drum parts. Man, he's good!
CRAIG MONTORO plays all the trumpet parts (muted and non-muted) and he sings on "They Are Night Zombies." Wow!
KATRINA KERNS sings back-up on "Concerning the UFO Sighting," "Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Parts I & II)," "Jacksonville," "Prairie Fire
That Wanders About," "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades," "The Seer's Tower," and "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders (Parts I
& II)."
SHARA WORDEN sings back-up on "Concerning the UFO Sighting," "Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Parts I & II)," "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.,"
"Casimir Pulaski Day," "Prairie Fire That Wanders About," "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades," "The Seer's Tower," and "The Tallest
Man, The Broadest Shoulders (Part I)."
MATT MORGAN sings back-up on "Decatur."
DANIEL & ELIN SMITH sing back-up (and clap) at the end of "Decatur."
THE ILLINOISEMAKER CHOIR sings, hoots, hollers, and/or offers hand-claps on "The Black Hawk War," "Chicago," "Metropolis," "They Are
Night Zombies," "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders (Parts I & II)," and "Decatur."
THE STRING QUARTET plays on "Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part II)," "Jacksonville," "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd," "Chicago," "They
Are Night Zombies," "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders (Parts I & II)."
The Illinoisemaker Choir is: JENNIFER HOOVER, TARA McDONNELL, BECCY LOCK, KATRINA KERNS, AND TOM EATON.
The string quartet is: ROB MOOSE, violin; JULIANNE CARNEY, violin; MARLA HANSEN, viola; MARIA BELLA JEFFERS, cello
SUFJAN STEVENS plays the following instruments: acoustic guitar, piano, wurlitzer, electric bass, drum kit, electric guitar, oboe, Miriam's
alto saxophone, Sunmin's flute, Daniel's banjo and/or Matt's banjo (depending on which one was in tune), Shara's glockenspiel, Laura's
rickety accordion, a rented vibraphone, various recorders (Sufjan owns the tenor, soprano, and sopranino, but he borrowed Monique's
alto), a Casiotone MT-70, sleigh bells, shakers, tambourine, triangle, and a Baldwin electric church organ. Oh Lord, help us!
All songs by Sufjan Stevens © 2005 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP. All songs recorded/engineered/produced by Sufjan Stevens (Fall
2004 – Winter 2005). James McAlister had a lot to do with the way the drums sound because he set up the microphones. All arrangments
(painstakingly composed) by Sufjan Stevens. Most of the songs were recorded at The Buddy Project (Astoria, Queens) with gratefulness to
Kieren Kelly. Many of the quiet parts were recorded at Sufjan's apartment in Brooklyn. The piano was recorded in the dead of night at St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklynn, with gratefulness to Father Peter. The string quartet was recorded at Marla's
apartment in Washington Heights, with gratefulness to Marla. Matt Morgan's vocals were recorded in Redhook, Brooklynn, minutes before
the firemen arrived, wielding their axes, in order to address the problem of the gas leak. The electric organ was recorded at The New
Jerusalem Recreational Room in Clarksboro, NJ, with gratefulness to Daniel Smith. The vibraphone was recorded at Carroll Music Studios,
New York City. Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, Tenafly, NJ.
ALL ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY DIVYA SRINIVASAN
Asthmatic Kitty is distributed by arrangement with Sounds Familyre
ASTHMATIC KITTY RECORDS P.O. Box 1282 Lander, WY 82520
www.asthmatickitty.com www.sufjan.commw.g.
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