Genius Lyrics
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Sufjan Stevens – Fourth of July
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This song is a conversation between Sufjan and his mother, Carrie, while she was dying in the hospital. Each stanza alternates between them.
Sufjan spoke of this time in an
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Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition – Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream)
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Sufjan Stevens celebrates two of Illinois' proudest moments: The World’s Fair of 1893, and their native son, Carl Sandburg.
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Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day
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This song details the events that surround the death of the narrator’s female friend, and the crisis of faith that it triggers for the narrator.
Some read this as chronological
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Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine – Olympus
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Olympus is based on Clash of the Titans (the 1981 version), a fantasy adventure film loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus and which includes the final stop-animation work of
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Sufjan Stevens – America
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“America” is the last track and first single from Sufjan Steven’s eighth studio album, The Ascension. The track and album were announced on June 30th, with the digital edition of
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Sufjan Stevens – Futile Devices
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The opener to Sufjan Steven’s beautiful, introspective The Age of Adz concerns itself with the different types of intimate and/or platonic love.
Here, Sufjan (or the Narrator
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Sufjan Stevens – Should Have Known Better
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Sufjan Stevens shared the audio for “Should Have Known Better” on March 11, 2015. The song features his signature acoustic guitar, gently sung vocals and very personal lyrics.
In
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Sufjan Stevens – The Only Thing
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In an interview about this album, Sufjan talks about how he felt connected to his mother after she died by replicating her self-destructive behavior:
In lieu of her death, I felt
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Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
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Just as Chicago is the most important city in Illinois, “Chicago” is the center of Sufjan Stevens' Come on Feel the Illinoise album. More autobiographical than the other songs on
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Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans
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In following with the Christian themes on the album of the same name, “Seven Swans” uses imagery and themes from the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
While the number “seven
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Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension
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“The Ascension” is the eponymous track from Sufjan Stevens' eighth studio album. In the song, Stevens points out his editorial perspective, which runs through the entire album, to
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Sufjan Stevens – Will Anybody Ever Love Me?
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“Will Anybody Ever Love Me?” is the second single from Sufjan Steven’s ninth studio album Javelin.
The song was released with a kaleidoscopic music video directed by Steven’s long-
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Sufjan Stevens – John My Beloved
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In this song, Sufjan is hovering between talking about his relationship with another person and his relationship with Jesus Christ. He uses similar language in To Be Alone With You
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Sufjan Stevens – All of Me Wants All of You
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In the third track of Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan takes advantage of the ambiguous language used to describe love in English in order to write a love song that could be addressed to a
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Sufjan Stevens – Romulus
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Romulus here specifically refers to a suburb outside of Stevens' hometown of Detroit, but thematically it symbolizes abandonment. Romulus is better known as the mythical founder of
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Sufjan Stevens – The Midnight Clear
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[Verse 1] / It came upon the midnight clear: / That glorious sign of old / Enraptured secret sign of fear / In brave disguises / [Bridge 1] / Old shoes and thirty feet / The
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Sufjan Stevens – A Running Start
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“A Running Start” is the third single from Javelin, Sufjan Stevens' ninth solo album.
According to a press release made by Asthmatic Kitty Records, Sufjan defines “A Running Start
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Notelle – Sufjan Stevens
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Ded-de-unh nin-na unh-nin-deh / Mm mm mm mm / [Verse 1] / I want to write like Sufjan Stevens / Make 'em cry with a mandolin / Sing a song in a tongue I don't speak with / Get it
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Sufjan Stevens – Abraham
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This song is about the Biblical figure Abraham. It tells the story of Abraham on Mount Moriah, going to sacrifice his son as commanded by God but being stopped by an angel before
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Sufjan Stevens – Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie
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Like all the tracks on Sufjan Steven’s Michigan, “Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie” is inspired by the Great Lakes State. Sleeping Bear Dunes, the ghost town of Sturgeon Bay, and
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Sufjan Stevens – Goodbye Evergreen
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Written after the passing of his partner Evans Richardson IV, in “Goodbye Evergreen”, Sufjan explores coming to terms with losing the “light of his life”.
This album is dedicated
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Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche
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“The Avalanche” is track 1 on the album “The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album!” and is track 23 on the “Illinois” LP and 24 on the iTunes release of “Illinois
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Sufjan Stevens – Prairie Fire That Wanders About
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Peoria! Destroy-a! / Infinity! Divinity! / For Lydia, Octavia! / And Jack-of-Trades! / The Cubs hooray! / The Opera House / Where Emma sang! / America! Oh will it play? / And Santa
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Sufjan Stevens – Holy, Holy, Holy
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Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! / Early in the morning / Our song shall rise to thee / There is a sign at the sight of thee / Merciful and mighty / God in three Persons / God
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Sufjan Stevens – Death with Dignity
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The first track off of Sufjan’s 2015 album, Carrie & Lowell
The song’s title is an oblique reference to Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act of 1994, a watershed physician-assisted
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Sufjan Stevens – A Winner Needs a Wand
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[Chorus 1] / Like it's killing me / It's kidding me around / This bite, You bit on me / You put on me a gown / [Verse 1] / That fits me like a quarter door / That hits me like a
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Sufjan Stevens – Genuflecting Ghost
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[Verse 1] / Give myself as a sacrifice / Genuflecting ghost I kiss the floor / Rise, my love, show me paradise / Nothing seems so simple anymore / [Chorus] / Rest assured, words
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