Sufjan Stevens: A legend in the making

By Charles Young
George Washington High School

Sufjan Stevens has undertaken what can be viewed as either the most brilliantly ambitious or the most outlandishly bizarre project in music history. He has decided to make 50 concept albums in 50 years - one for each state.

Currently, he’s on number two: “Illinois” (aka “Sufjan Stevens Invites You To Come On Feel The Illinoise!”), his homage to the people, places and history of Illinois. (Number one was “Michigan,” his home state.)

Stevens songs are part history lesson, part orchestra and part sonnet. He manages to seamlessly combine all theses elements in a range of musical styles from bluegrass to heavy metal. In some of the songs, which can last for six minutes or more, he switches styles mid-verse without ever seeming jerky or forced.

Mixed among the sweeping extended suites, Stevens has added short instrumental songs with long, whimsical and wildly descriptive titles like “A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons.”

Stevens — with his angelic, boy next door voice — has a true gift for coalescing beautiful melodies with outré subject matter. During “John Wayne Gacy Jr.,” you almost forget you’re listening to a song about an executed serial killer because of the airy, drifting vocals and string accompaniments.

The exhaustingly long 22-song set boasts subject matter ranging from UFOs and zombies to steel mills and the Civil War. Stevens manages to cram in such historical figures as Abraham Lincoln, Steven Douglas, Frank Lloyd Wright and Carl Sandburg, as well as adding trivia and facts about everything from the invention of Cream of Wheat to the ferris wheel.

The album’s highlight is “Chicago,” the expansive epic in which Stevens goes from a bleak acoustic sound to a full choir helping sing the chorus. Stevens’ prepossessing voice illuminates the haunting refrain “In my mind, I made a lot of mistakes.”

Two albums into his soon-to-be legendary Fifty States Project, Sufjan Stevens has already proved his erratic brilliance. The world waits for the next chapter in his great American songbook.

Key Tracks: “Come On Feel The Illinoise!,” “John Wayne Gacy Jr.,” “Chicago,” “Decatur, or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!”