album #24

illinois (sufjan stevens)

Last night I felt angry with this album, an album I loved as a younger man- it felt bloated, too flowery, too cutesy, quavery and ornate. I deleted the superfluous tracks, and now listening in the morning, there's still about an hour of music- and I really, really like what's left. (Also I read a review of the album this morning, as part of my friend's 'everybody emails me your favorite album' project- this helped shift my perception.)

This is a winter album for me, a bright winter- there's one moment listening to one song that covers this all for me; "Casimir Pulaski Day" on 620, with Brandon, cold and sunny afternoon. That's one of the most beautiful songs ever, and it's a contender for my favorite song. I listen to it fairly rarely, but it's such a heartbreakingly perfect jewel ("and I almost touched your blouse"- a perfect lyric; the wordless denouement, amazing.)

"Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois"- a beautiful opener. That piano is legend. "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" and "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders" have always evoked a similar feeling in me, this state fair sensation, high school bands, the scope of history, the scope of heroes. Likewise, "Jacksonville" and "Decatur" are a pair of Mark Twain beauties.

"Chicago"- oh my god. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last listened to this song. (I wonder what the better city anthem is, between this and "Empire State of Mind." One is magnificent bombast, the other tenderly, insightfully midwestern.) This is a beautiful epic, the iconic sweep of the strings, it gives me chills. "All things go, all things go," a beautiful beautiful lyric- Lots of good lyrics in this song. And the trumpet! God damn. How could I have doubted this album?

"The Man From Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" is a song I loved more a few years ago; I still like the slam of the guitar, but the juxtaposition with the kids' choir just seems strange. I still like the sing-song melody and the vague sense of empathy to it, the sense of love that comes through. It's the view of a superhero through the loving hope that he inspires in the children. "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades" was my favorite for a while, there's an operatic, dramatic flair to it, in a really lovely way.

I can't say honestly that I love the album, because there were a lot of tracks that I deleted- too uncomfortable, too obnoxious, etc. But man, so so much gold remains. It's really a lovely work. It's not quite the music I'll listen to again and again and again, but it's undeniably beautiful- warm, a "sweet yellow," as my friend called it, perfectly.