Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy Jr.
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Part 5 of Sufjan's Live KCRW Performance.
Other Parts Coming Soon
These KCRW videos all went out of sync after I uploaded them and I don't know what to do about it so, I apologize about that.
Regarding writing this song, Mr. Stevens said: *"I made a concerted effort to scrupulously evoke the series of events which led to his crime, and, considering the circumstances, that was not a pleasant task. In all the crime novels I’d skimmed and in all the news clippings I read, there was a deliberate obsession with finding the source of his depravity. What went wrong, everyone asked. What made him this way? Was it his abusive father? Was it a head injury? A doting mother?"*
Stephens continues: *"I’m less interested in cause and effect, in terms of human iniquity. I believe we all have the capacity for murder. We are ruthless creatures. I felt insurmountable empathy not with his behavior, but with his nature, and there was nothing I could do to get around confessing that, however horrifying it sounds."*
I feel the song itself-musically beautiful yet haunting, lyrically subtle yet grotesque and horrifying-embodies the spectrum that Stephens believes is in all people, and was certainly present in Gacy. And that is *pure genius.*
GorgeousRoddyChrome Thanks for sharing! Where did you find this? I'd like to read/watch more like this, with Sufjan talking about his songs/albums.
Kurt Juergens You're welcome! I don't remember the exact website, but it was a copy of an interview from a magazine, I believe. I found other things by using this search:
www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=ww#hl=en&q=sufjan+stevens+interview
Good luck!
nailed it.
I love how he's wearing his own merch
So proud to be from where he grew up. I met the girl who went to prom with him. Actually knew her sister even better. He is an absolute provocation of all things emotional, raw and real and I'm so grateful Chicago bloomed as it did for me to pay tribute to someone so talented from my hometown? I know it means not much, but your wanderlust and absolute need to awaken emotion in other beings is the fruit of so many before' s labour. Sufjan, you will be carried in my pocket, always. Thank you for changing how people see grief and joy and all of the above. You still move me, and the rest, to this day. You're fantastic. 💜
So haunting, So sad, its great to hear a musician tell a story about something like this without it being exploited like a metal band would do, Sufjan is incredible, everyone seems to be quite confused by the last line "And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid"
To me it is simple, we all have the potential in us to do terrible things, we all have secrets hidden under the "floorboards"
@KrazyPieThief JFC lol
Surely the most beautiful / tragic song ever ?
it’s all relative innit. But I agree
As a resident of rural Illinois, I feel very connected to every single song on this album. It feels like this often overlooked part of the country is being acknowledged by someone who does it complete justice. Thank you, Sufjan.
this song gives me the fucking creeps but in the best ways, fucking love sufjan.
I think that he is telling a terrible story about a true killer however I think that the last line of the song essentially is an acknowledgement that we all have something horrible in us. Sometimes we are not so unlike those whom outwardly express what some of us try hard "on our best behavior" to repress.
"we are but a coalesce of demon and calm"
he was so accurate, I wasn't looking at first and thought it was the studio version for the first half
I have a love/hate relationship with this song. I love so much about it, the way he sounds so emotional when he sings it, the intrumentals, Sufjan's voice (which is always beautiful)... But just the person that this song is about makes me a tad bit upset when I listen to it.
And when he says that line at the end everyone seems to be talking about; I read in an interveiw that Sufjan meant that Gacy was a human as we are and that anyone is capable of being a monster in some form of the word...
Michigan hat, Illinois t-shirt.
The shirt is the name of his Album... Dumbass
I know. It's still funny.
The hat is also the name of his Album... Dumbass
such a beautiful song.
Gosh, he's perfect. What a completely stunning voice. And such beautiful but sobering lyrics... What a wonderful man.
Breaks my heart every time. So hauntingly beautiful.
the dichotomy between the form and the content is what makes this song.
His voice sends chills down my spine.♥
Illinoise is a fantastic album!!!! recommend everyone to get it!!!
Lyrics:
His father was a drinker and his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's t-shirts when the swing set hit his head
The neighbors, they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep
Oh the dead
Twenty-seven people
Even more, they were boys, with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God
Ooh, are you one of them?
He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a slight of his hand, running far, running fast to the dead
He took off all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips, quiet hands, quiet kiss on the mouth
And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid
Som desse cara é simplesmente delicioso, simples, lírico e sofisticado. Não dá para ficar indiferente à sua música. Lovely!
In my best behavior, I am really just like him. Me too lol... Very sad song...
i love this song. Knowing that its about a serial killer just makes it better. (its not good to be a serial killer but you know what i mean)
really nice upload!, can't wait to see Sufjan the 23 of august! wooohooo!
Sufjan's got a voice like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.
On the Asthmatic Kitty in the Shop Section, they are $12.
Silky smooth tone.
I love the Illinois shirt paired with a Michigan hat!
0 dislikes, one of the best vids on youtube XD
I get on here and get blown away by a pretty freaked out song about an evil serial killer and I see comments about Metallica. What a shame
sad, beautiful...
A great memorial to all the innocent ones who have been killed by serial killers. The Wayne Williams, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. and Jeffery Dahmer types, may you be rightfully JUDGED!!!
I love Sufjan... but for real when I listen to this I get sick to my stomach. I don't know why, but it hit some sort of nerve.
*Goosebumps*
Same here, roni.
Cheers!
this is going to haunt my dreams
where can i get those shirts theyre all wearing?
+Bull Mentality
store.asthmatickitty.com/collections/apparel/products/sufjan-stevens-illinois-tshirt-green?variant=254962596
One of the greatest storytellers in music Harry Chapin wrote the song Sniper, which isn't an "accurate account" of the Texas A&M shooter, but it's not far from it either. Literal, abstract, whatever, it's all about the poetry and wordsmithing that makes a song lasting and endearing.
@TheBoss2332 Hahahah it means that his voice just melts your insides.
I get the chills listening to this song, a clown serial killer *shudder*
Amazing... O.O
When was this recorded? Where is KCRW broadcast? Why doesn't the past tense of broadcast have an -ed at the end of it?
BOO Michigan go MSU! Other than that good stuff Sufjan!
FUCKING AMAZING
I WAS THE 1000TH LIKE WOOHOO!!
@jordanmyers487 So... the point of the song is not simply the retelling of the story, but the artist's connection to the story. Did you listen to the last two lines? Abstract doesn't equal good.
@brainmachine04 Yeah, and perfect voice, too.
@stockman214 agree just like butter man!
@MrFerezu I interpret that line as strict conformity leads one to a terrible backlash when passions are finally set free.
Who's the lady singing back up vocals, and the rest of the Sufjanalikes?
What album is it? Illinoise?
NORWAY land of the fjords!, sorry dude, doubt u live in Norway, unless u get a flight ticket, i doubt u'll be able to see him.
WOOOHOOO SUFJAN can't wait!
why are all his tabs etc gone from UltimateGuitar and 911? ):
vocals on this song are v. evocative of simon/garfunkel
This comment made me wish I had milk to shoot out my nose.
Physical appearance comes first! The performance is just an afterthought! Brilliant.
can someone tell me what time signature this is in? i dont know why i cant figure it out
+Dylan Fritz 4/4
conor mccornack why the fuck does it sound so tricky
+Dylan Fritz It's a sixteenth note pattern with awkwardly placed accents
audio/video not synced
Where is he playing?
Go Blue!
July, 2005
@MrFerezu Yeah, probably. Just like most true creeps went unnoticed for years because they behaved properly in public. It's what we do when no-one is watching that makes us who we are.
@TheBoss2332 its smoothe
cant watch the music video so sad
Is that Shure SM7B or Shure SM7?
Sm7b i suppose
@TheBoss2332
I think smooooooth? lol if so I agree!
@jordanmyers987 your the one not looking at the song abstractly. Song to me is about the singers own demons. Listen to the last verse. Abstract enough for you?
is he his grand kid
MissWooHoo11 - BSL for American Pit Bull Terriers! no
@TheBoss2332
I know exactly what it means, i just can't believe it's not butter!
butter?!? What exactly does that mean?
@TheBoss2332 smooth?
Well, turns out the past tense of broadcast is broadcasted. For some reason my built-in spell checker underlines broadcasted as a misspelled word. Not that this has anything to do with Sufjan, but oh well.
Yes but why does he look like fox mulder
"and on my best behaviour I am really just like him,, Maybe sufjan means he is just like John Wayne on his best behaviour when hes on his?, thats my intepretation atleast
@curlybluequeen i think you're reading into that line of lyric waaaay too much. i think its simply that he's no better than john wayne gacy jr even when he's doing his best to be good.
@jordanmyers487 haha, i dunno maybe not surfjans best lyricd, i can agree to that, but at his best he can compete with metallica lyrically. he doesn't even touch them musically, though.
i lold at ur inaneness
Is that girl St Vincent?
Not even close.
That would be Shara Worden.
Lol
Who is John Wayne Gacy Jr???
uzasne citlive...
bahaha
You do realize he's trolling you, don't you? Successfully, I might add.
Seriously?
because he's from michigan, who wouldn't start from their homestate?, i know i wouldn't mind even if it is a dick move.
btw. if he did a alphabetical order washington could just forget their turn.
@muahahaha101 a murderer. Buried people under his house.
gacey killed three of my close friends..
+Lucas Brown Really? I'm sorry for your loss :(
+Glowlog He killed my sons uncle and my daughters uncle.. Randall reffett.... he was only fifteen... he killed my sisters boyfriend Frank lanigan..
+Lucas Brown Wouldn't your son and daughters uncle be your brother?
+NE Sports not necessarily
It could be his wife's brother
"and on my best behaviour I am really just like him. Look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hid". Eerie to compare himself to such a horrific murderer.
ugh
I think what’s he’s trying to imply is that we all have the capacity to be like Wanye Gacy Jr.
We all have some things we hide even from ourselves.
People like Gacy didn’t.
some people can really say absolute nothing while trying to say something... what are you babbling about? do you have a fetisj for order? why is not moving alphabetically a dick move? what does it matter? look it's fine with me... I just really don't understand your comment...
@brainmachine04 Yeah, and perfect voice, too.