Girls rock your bois
I know, I know, this album leaked already. Great. But, there's times of convergence and this is one of them for me. I had never been to Chicago before this winter, and after spending a day of excellent record shopping, I went back to my friend's apartment to await her coming home from work. It was while waiting there that my former live-in girlfriend of many years called to tell me she was engaged. For good or ill, Chicago is always going to be a town for that memory. Add to that my recent trip to Rome, where, when staring up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, I was able to finally get over the whole Sufjan Stevens as Christian rocker thing. Are Michaelangelo's works any less ass-kicking because they're about God? (Admit it, you're like me, when looking at ancient works of art, you're thinking about indie rock too.) Anyway the point is, if the music is good, and the lyrics aren't preachy, I'm just going to let myself like it.
These two thoughts had been rattling around my brain when Stevens' people sent us this track. I love the way that while I don't always know what Sufjan is doing, or where he's going, I always get the feeling that he does, and I'm willing to go along for the ride. This track is no exception. It's familiarly Sufjan Stevens, but it's also a little different. For me, when it's Sufjan, and it's about Chicago, and he repeats the line "I made a lot of mistakes", it's just going to keep hitting home. I can't wait for this album to come out in July.
So just in case you don't know, this track is from Sufjan Steven's second state album, Illinois. You can find out more about it and his other albums at his label, Asthmatic Kitty and at his own website