Illinois (Sufjan Stevens album)

Untitled

Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty, beginning with the 2003 album Michigan. Although the cover reads "Sufjan Stevens invites you to: Come on feel the Illinoise", the official album title is simply "Illinois". The phrase on the cover echoes the song "Cum on Feel the Noize", a hit for Slade and Quiet Riot.

The album was included on many "Best of 2005" lists. The website Metacritic, which compiles reviews, ranks Illinois as the best album of the year. It was ranked "Album of the Year" by Pitchfork, Amazon.com's Editors, Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman, and Los Angeles Times' Richard Cromelin, among others.

Several tracks from the album have bene featured in other media. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." can be heard on an episode of FX's Nip/Tuck entitled "Frankenlaura," which originally aired October 25, 2005. "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" was used on an episode of NBC's Conviction entitled "The Wall," which originally aired April 28, 2006. The song "Chicago" can be heard in the second trailer for the film Little Miss Sunshine.

Track listing

1. "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" - 2:09
2. "The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are off Our Lands!'" - 2:14
3. "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" - 6:45
   1. "The World's Columbian Exposition"
   2. "Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream"
4. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." - 3:19
5. "Jacksonville" - 5:24
6. "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons" - 0:47
7. "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step Mother!" - 3:03
8. "One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman" - 0:06
9. "Chicago" - 6:04
10. "Casimir Pulaski Day" - 5:54
11. "To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament" - 1:40
12. "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" - 6:17
13. "Prairie Fire that Wanders About" - 2:11
14. "A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze" - 0:19
15. "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!" - 5:23
16. "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!" - 5:09
17. "Let's Hear that String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way out in Bushnell" - 0:40
18. "In this Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth" - 0:35
19. "The Seer's Tower" - 3:54
20. "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" - 7:03
    1. "The Great Frontier"
    2. "Come to Me Only with Playthings Now"
21. "Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few" - 0:46
22. "Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run" - 4:21

In addition, listeners who purchased the album on iTunes received two bonus tracks: "The Avalanche" (the title track from Stevens' following album of outtakes), and "Chicago (To Strings Remix)."

Thematic elements

Lyrically, the album is dense with allusions and references. Among the towns and places mentioned on the album are Highland, Lebanon, Columbia, Jacksonville, Decatur, Chicago, Metropolis, Peoria, Bushnell, the Sears Tower, the Great Godfrey Maze, and the Rock River Valley. Among the historical figures named are Frank Lloyd Wright, Carl Sandburg, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., Andrew Jackson, Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, Kazimierz Pułaski, and a number of influential jazz musicians. Some of the songs and titles contain specific historically accurate content, so Illinois could also be associated with the historical album category. Other Illinois figures are referenced more obliquely, like the 8'11" Robert Wadlow in "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders". Many of the songs use real locations and historical events as settings for fictional accounts or jumping-off points for ruminations on more universal subjects such as family and faith.

While ostensibly a record about the people and places of the eponymous state, Illinois has also been noted for its religious overtones, which occur in greater frequency and explicitness than is typical for the indie rock genre. Nearly all of the songs address Biblical imagery or themes in one way or another. For instance, the first song, in which a 2000 UFO sighting is related in terms that echo the Incarnation, to the final song, whose title evokes the Biblical Flight into Egypt, "Out of Egypt I called my son." Other examples include the refrains of "Decatur" ("it's the great I Am") and "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" ("the Spirit / the Carpenter"); the explicit references to "the glory that the Lord has made" in "Casimir Pulaski Day"; the Scriptural allegory informing "The Seer's Tower"; and the apparent absolution Stevens finds in the final verse of "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."

Illinois alludes to many things, events, people and places (notably Illinois itself), some of which can be further explored in this encyclopedia or on the Internet. Here is a list of references from each song. Note that this is surely not a complete list, as many references are very subtle. Also, subsequently, some references could be incorrect, as many lyrics are not entirely specific.

1. "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois"
   • Unidentified flying objects
   • Highland, Illinois
2. "The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are off Our Lands!'"
   • Black Hawk War
   • Chief Black Hawk, who said "I have fought the Big Knives..." after being read the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812.[1] The ninth article of the Treaty states "Tribes or Nations [of Indians] shall agree to desist from all hostilities against His Britannic Majesty and His Subjects". [2]
3. "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!"
   • World's Columbian Exposition
   • Columbia and Historical Columbia
   • Paris
   • Ferris wheel
   • New Age
   • Frank Lloyd Wright
   • Carl Sandburg
4. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."
   • John Wayne Gacy
5. "Jacksonville"
   • Jacksonville, Illinois
   • Underground Railroad
   • Andrew Jackson
   • Harold Washington
6. "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons"
   • Mary Todd Lincoln
7. "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step Mother!"
   • Decatur, Illinois
   • Sangamon River
   • Stephen A. Douglas
   • Abraham Lincoln
   • Tetragrammaton or I am that I am, also Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"
8. "One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman"
   • Pullman Palace Car Company
9. "Chicago"
   • Chicago, Illinois
   • New York City, New York
10. "Casimir Pulaski Day"
    • Casimir Pulaski Day (see Kazimierz Pułaski for the general after whom this holiday is named)
11. "To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament"
    • The Rock River (which has tributaries in Illinois)
12. "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts"
    • Metropolis, Illinois (and/or Metropolis (comics))
    • Superman
13. "Prairie Fire that Wanders About"
    • Peoria, Illinois
    • Lydia Moss Bradley
    • Chicago Cubs
    • Emma Abbott
    • Santa Claus (and Santa Claus parade)
14. "A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze"
    • Existentialism (and Existential crisis)
    • The Great Godfrey Maze
15. "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!"
    • Savanna, Illinois
    • Trail of Tears
    • Horseshoe Lake State Park
    • Palisades Park "North of Savanna"
16. "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!"
    • John A. Logan
    • Ulysses S. Grant
    • Ronald Reagan
    • Xylophagan
    • Night of the Living Dead
    • Buda, Illinois
    • Caledonia, Illinois
    • Secor, Illinois
    • Magnolia, Illinois
    • Kankakee, Illinois
    • Evansville, Indiana
    • Parker City, Indiana
    • Green Ridge, Missouri
    • Sailor Springs, Illinois
    • Centreville, Illinois
17. "Let's Hear that String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way out in Bushnell"
    • Bushnell, Illinois
18. "In this Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth" - 0:35
19. "The Seer's Tower"
    • Sears Tower
    • Emmanuel
    • The word seer may refer to leader Joseph Smith, Jr., who was driven out of Illinois and used "seeing stones."
20. "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders"
    • Robert Wadlow
    • American frontier
    • Great Chicago Fire
    • Curse of the Billy Goat
    • Chicago River
    • Jane Addams
    • Benny Goodman
    • Chicago Bears
    • Chicago Bulls
    • Shoeless Joe Jackson
    • American imperialism
21. "Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few"
    • Jelly Roll Morton
    • Earl Hines
    • Louis Armstrong
    • Baby Dodds
    • Artie Shaw, the "King of Swing"
22. "Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run"
    • Flight into Egypt
    • Little Egypt (region)

The two-disc vinyl edition of 'Illinois' contains inscriptions within the run-off groove which read: "Land of Lincoln" (which is the state slogan), "Tribe of superior men" (the English meaning of the Algonquin word "Illinois"), "By the rivers gently flowing, oe'r the prairies verdant growing" (a line from the state song "Illinois"), and "Hog butchers for the world, toolmaker, stacker of wheat, player with railroads" (a line from the poem Chicago by Carl Sandburg).

Artwork

Due to legal issues regarding the artwork, Asthmatic Kitty Records had stopped sales of the album and asked retailers to do the same. Though not stated explicitly in the label's notice, the image of Superman, a DC Comics character, on the album cover is assumed to have been the source of the legal problems. On the vinyl edition released in November, Superman's image is covered by a balloon sticker. The image of the balloon sticker was also used on the cover to the compact disc. Asthmatic Kitty were allowed to sell the first print featuring the character.

However, because big-box retailers such as Best Buy did not comply with the order, Asthmatic Kitty allowed continued sales of the album. The label distributed new versions of the album, with updated artwork. The version currently on sale lacks the picture of Superman in the artwork, but is otherwise unchanged. Despite, or perhaps because of the issue, the album sold briskly on iTunes in its first week, ranking among the top five albums sold.

Related music

• An album of outtakes and alternate versions, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras From the Illinois Album, was released July 11, 2006.
• A mash-up song entitled "Zombies Walk!!" and attributed to "Two Faced John McCartney" mixes together Sufjan Stevens's "They Are Night Zombies...!!" and Kanye West's rap song "Jesus Walks". Download.
• Snow Patrol references the song "Chicago" in "Hands Open" from their 2006 album "Eyes Open": "Put Sufjan Stevens on / and we'll play your favorite song / "Chicago" bursts to life and your / sweet smile remembers you, my / Hands open, and my eyes open / I just keep hoping / That your heart opens."

See also

• List of songs with particularly long titles

External links

• Asthmatic Kitty Records' page for Illinois
• Pitchfork news item on release delay
• Billboard - Stevens Album Soars Despite 'Superman' Flap