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r/Sufjan

▲ 30 r/Sufjan

The song Chicago is about a dystopian hellscape where the narrator of the song and his friend get detained on the way to New York and sent to a detainment and brainwashing camp in Chicago

[Verse 1]
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

>The narrator has been captured and is being driven in a transport vehicle to the detainment camp located in Chicago. The State has taken all his possessions, including his clothes. He convinces himself he is okay with this because he has no choice. He also tries to reconcile that he was the one in the wrong for wanting freedom when that desire is strictly forbidden by The State.

[Chorus]
You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mind set
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go

>The State intercepted the narrator and his friend on the way to New York to take them to the detainment camp located in Chicago. They are going to strip them of their identity and brainwash them into letting go of their desires for freedom.

[Verse 2]
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 the place
In my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind

>The narrator and his friend were on the run in a van escaping The State for a shot at a new life and for a shot a freedom. He was in love with the idea of getting a fresh start but now after being caught he is seeing it as a mistake because of the hopelessness of their situation.

[Bridge]
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
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes

>The narrator was crying in the van when caught by The State when the feelings of helplessness washed over them. All he wanted was to be free and live freely but knows that it can never be achieved. He sees it ultimately as a mistake.

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u/HoldenH — 2 days ago
▲ 58 r/Sufjan

AKR Warehouse Sale - 8/19

Hi everyone! Wanted to give you all a heads up that AKR will be hosting a warehouse sale staring tomorrow at 12PM ET in the AKR shop. It will include (amongst other things) a VERY limited quantity of Sufjan's Seven Swans 20th Anniversary Zoetrope vinyl. We get asked a lot if we'll repress this, and we don't have plans to - but we found a box so we're putting it up tomorrow! Link will go out on socials and via the AKR newsletter tomorrow at 12PM ET, so be sure to sign up for the list: https://Asthmatickitty.lnk.to/newsletter before then to get alerted.

u/asthmatickitty — 3 days ago
▲ 82 r/Sufjan

Hey 👋 For Any Pianists out here I made a complete Piano Arrangement of Impossible Soul & Will Anybody Ever Love Me! I hope you Enjoy ✌️

u/Deutsche-Bratwurst — 3 days ago
▲ 59 r/Sufjan

Look what I found at JB Hi-Fi in Australia!

The 10th anniversary edition of Carrie and Lowell! Even though I don't have a vinyl player, I would definitely buy this one in the future to put in my room.

u/Agreeable-Chef857 — 4 days ago
▲ 570 r/Sufjan

Fanart of the holy scripture

This dudes likeness is hard to capture💔

u/Salleidk — 11 days ago
▲ 52 r/Sufjan

The Definitive Tiered Ranking of Illinois Tracks | Day 21: Our Journey Has Come to an End

With our final track "Out of Egypt..." landing in B-tier, our journey has come to an end. Here's the final chart and a graph to see how the album's tracks ebb and flow.

Thank you all for playing along. If you enjoyed the ride, I'll be back before long to take on another Sufjan album!

u/daCatburgla — 10 days ago
▲ 719 r/Sufjan

My Mother in Law in Sufjan’s child hood crush/best friend.

So it came out in a concert that the songs “The dress looks nice on you” and “Size too small” were about his childhood crush Robin. Turns out that Robin is my mother in law. There’s a photo of her wedding where Sufjan is in it. I’ll have to take a picture of it the next time I’m at her house. Also she is on one of his album covers! The funny thing is, she had no idea he has written these songs about her cause they stopped being friends when she married my Father in Law! Size too small is about attending their wedding! I am trying to find a video of where he tells the story before the song if anyone happens to have it!

u/Only-Outcome-6636 — 13 days ago
▲ 21 r/Sufjan

I built an alt social media for sharing the music you love, like Sufjan. Today “Should Have Known Better” is a top trending song!

Hey everyone. Wanted to share a cool thing with you all.

I decided I wanted a social media that wasn’t about images/selfies/reels and instead only about sharing the music/art that you love. So I built it and it’s called Corus.

Today I saw a user posted “Should Have Known Better” with a hilarious caption and now it’s one of the top trending tracks! It made me go back and listen to all of Carrie and Lowell. It’s just so so so good.

On the app there’s actually 56 others who have also posted Sufjan, which is really cool. If you’re interested, come join, follow all the other Sufjan fans, and share your favorites. Hopefully you’ll find something new in the process. <3

u/LowerFrequencies — 9 days ago
▲ 46 r/Sufjan

Break it down

Can’t figure out how to get the audio to work

u/AtHalcyon — 9 days ago
▲ 14 r/Sufjan

Vesuvius question

I’m not usually one to wade into people’s song/album rankings. So much subjectivity, and we each bring our unique selves to this art. However…

I’ve noticed a song I’ve never rated — Vesuvius — consistently being rated very high. So, I want to expand my appreciation for this song.

Why do you all rate it so high? What do you love about it?

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u/jhuff24 — 10 days ago
▲ 8 r/Sufjan

Rough Trade interview with Sufjan (RT50: Illinois) - anyone have a copy?

Know each of the RT50 pressings have a print with it, and believe the Illinois one is an interview with Sufjan talking about the Illinois era (or that's what I gather from the site's images). Wondered if anyone received a copy and is willing to post it online 😄

https://www.roughtrade.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.shopify.com%2Fs%2Ffiles%2F1%2F0867%2F1120%2F6219%2Ffiles%2FSufjanStevens_RT50.png%3Fv%3D1780066704&w=1080&q=75

u/Plebings — 10 days ago
▲ 0 r/Sufjan

Any Suf history of public political candidate interest?

I'm a long time Sufjan fan, he's one of my favorite musicians. There is currently a lot of attention on Michigan due a certain candidate from Detroit so this had me curious. Has Sufjan ever spoken publicly about a political candidate? I would think Abdul would be right up his alley in political ideology, but that's just a speculative guess. They're both from Detroit, so I would think he'd be interested in his home city/state. Thanks for any responses! And mods feel free to remove this post if it violates any sub rules.

reddit.com
u/wesgtp — 10 days ago
▲ 6 r/Sufjan

The Definitive Tiered Ranking of Illinois Tracks | Day 13: "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!"

Some great discussion yesterday, and "Prairie Fire that Wanders About" lands in B-tier.

Now on to Day 13: "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!"

Comment with where you feel this track deserves to be tiered. Feel free to include your thoughts on why. Collective upvotes will decide its place.

Each track will be up for discussion for approximately 24 hours. I'll aim to have a new updated post each day at 10:00 AM MDT.

u/daCatburgla — 11 days ago
▲ 21 r/Sufjan

My favorite Sufjan songs ranked

the first category says “secrets of the universe” sorry the application I used was not very good

u/Random-Stranger42 — 10 days ago