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Information AboutIllinois (album) |
''Illinois'' ( Pronounced or "ill-i-NOY"), also known as ''Come on Feel the Illinoise'', is a 2005 Concept Album by American Songwriter Sufjan Stevens , with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. State of Illinois . It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album '' Michigan ''. Critics have widely acclaimed ''Illinois'', and the album was included on many "Best of 2005" lists in the Internet and print media. Acclaimed Music - Illinois The website Metacritic The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year 2005 , which compiles reviews, ranks ''Illinois'' as the best-reviewed album of 2005. That year, it was ranked "Album of the Year" by '' Pitchfork '', Amazon.com 's editors, '' Entertainment Weekly ''’s Chris Willman, and '' The Los Angeles Times ''’ Richard Cromelin, among others. TRACK LISTING #"Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" – 2:09 #"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 #"Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" – 6:45 ##"The World's Columbian Exposition" ##"Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream" #"John Wayne Gacy Jr." – 3:19 #"Jacksonville" – 5:24 #"A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons" – 0:47 #" Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Step Mother! " – 3:03 #"One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman" – 0:06 #"Chicago" – 6:04 #"Casimir Pulaski Day" – 5:54 #"To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament" – 1:40 #"The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" – 6:17 #"Prairie Fire That Wanders About" – 2:11 #"A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze" – 0:19 #"The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!" – 5:23 #"They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!" – 5:09 #"Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell" – 0:40 #"In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth" – 0:35 #"The Seer's Tower" – 3:54 #"The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" – 7:03 ##"The Great Frontier" ##"Come to Me Only with Playthings Now" #"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 #"Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run" – 4:21 OTHER EDITIONS "The Avalanche" (which would be the title track on Stevens' next album '' The Avalanche '') is an additional song on the vinyl edition of the album. On the vinyl record, some of the track titles are different from those on the CD:
The two-disc vinyl edition of ''Illinois'' contains several inscriptions within the run-off groove:
There are two bonus tracks on the ITunes version: "The Avalanche," and "Chicago (To Strings Remix)." In addition, track 11 is entitled "To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament, and It Involves an Inner Tube, Bath Mats, and 21 Able-bodied Men." THEMATIC ELEMENTS Lyrically, the album is dense with allusions and references. Among the towns and places mentioned on the album are Highland , Lebanon , Columbia , Jacksonville , Decatur , Chicago , Metropolis , Peoria , Bushnell , the Sears Tower , the Great Godfrey Maze, and the Rock River Valley . Among the historical figures named are Frank Lloyd Wright , Carl Sandburg , John Wayne Gacy, Jr. , Andrew Jackson , Stephen A. Douglas , Abraham Lincoln , Mary Todd Lincoln , Kazimierz Pułaski , and a number of influential Jazz musicians. Some of the songs and titles contain specific historically accurate content, so ''Illinois'' could also be associated with the Historical Album category. Other Illinois figures are referenced more obliquely, like the 8'11" Robert Wadlow in "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders." Many of the songs use real locations and historical events as settings for fictional accounts or jumping-off points for ruminations on more universal subjects such as family and faith. ''Illinois'' has also been noted for its religious overtones, which occur in greater frequency and explicitness than is typical for the Indie Rock genre. Nearly all of the songs address Biblical imagery or themes in one way or another. For instance, the first song, in which a 2000 UFO Sighting is related in terms that echo the Incarnation , to the final song, whose title evokes the Biblical Flight Into Egypt , "Out of Egypt I called my son." Other examples include the refrains of "Decatur" ("it's the great I Am ") and "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" ("the Spirit / the Carpenter "); the explicit references to "the glory that the Lord has made" in " Casimir Pulaski Day "; the Scriptural allegory informing "The Seer's Tower"; and the apparent absolution Stevens finds in the final verse of "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." ''Illinois'' alludes to many things, events, people and places (notably Illinois itself); This may not be a complete list, as many references are very subtle. Also, some references may be incorrect, as many lyrics are not entirely specific. #"Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois"
#"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!'"
''"All hostilities both by sea and land shall cease..."'' at Wikisource .. Black Hawk, chief of the Sauk (or oθaakiiwaki) nation, fought on the side of the British in the war, but he had not been invited to sign the treaty (nor had any other representatives from Native American allies at Wikisource . ). He first heard the text on May 10 , 1815 , at Fort McKay in Alberta , Canada , whereupon he immediately declared his vow to continue his fight to keep the Americans (the "Big Knives") from his lands, located roughly where Missouri and Illinois are today. |
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