♫ 州 歌 _ ʃtates ʃongs

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當出生於美國 底特律 的唱作歌手 Sufjan Stevens, 言道構想為美國每一州 書寫一張專輯, 言下之意 是有五十張專輯將等在那!
至今他"偉大"的構想已有兩張成真, 一是 2003 年的 Michigan, 另一是 2005 年的 Illinois。

Sufjan 的說法, 多少僅為陳述所思； 而他的音樂, 不為歌頌國家的地大物博 或英雄主義, 在蘊含歷史背景故事的陳述裡, 反而多唱道 升斗小民 心聲的百態。 Michigan 一開始他為 unemployed 和 underpaid 而歌, 接著唱到 widows in paradise； Illinois 以 UFO 發想, 唱到七O 年代, 以同性青少年為對象的芝加哥連環殺手 John Wayne Gacy ( Mar. 17 1942– May 10 1994 ) 借他悲慘童年的背景心聲自擬； 他的代表曲 Chicago 也在這張專輯。

Sufjan 在他的彈唱中, 相伴 Banjo 琴明亮古樸的音色, 輔以喇叭淒迷的吹奏、絃樂襯底, 穿插音樂劇式的熱鬧編制, 他的每一首歌, 都是一紙滋味雜陳的短篇。 Illinois 在 N M E「近十年來一百張最棒專輯」榜, 難得的見到高踞 1 7 的名次。















The BEQ 2009 [ Brooklyn-Queens Expressway ]

_ Sufjan Stevens _( 1 Jul. 1975- Detroit, Michigan )

Illinois , 2005
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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! (Part 1: The World's Columbian Exposition, Part 2: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream) 6:45
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 Stepmother! 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 (Part 1: The Great Frontier, Part 2: Come to Me Only with Playthings Now) 7:03
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

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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
Oh, history involved itself
Mysterious shade that took its form
Or what it was, incarnation
Three stars
Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes

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John Wayne Gacy, Jr

His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's t-shirts
When the swingset 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 my 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 a sleight 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

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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 recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

I drove to New York
in the van, with my friend
we slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with the 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
I made a lot of mistakes



Michigan, 2003. Songs for Christmas, 2006.
Enjoy Your Rabbit, an electronic music album, 2001.

_ ʃ m i t h . 朱 __