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Illinois is a 2005 concept album by Americanmarker songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinoismarker. 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. The album is often referred to as Illinoise, due to the cover's listing of the extended title Sufjan Stevens invites you to: Come on feel the Illinoise.

Illinoise was featured on top album lists for 2005 in various publications. On Metacritic Illinois is listed as the best-reviewed album of 2005. It was also 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

On the iTunes version of the album, the titles are shortened to fit within an MP3 ID3 tag.


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:
  • Track 8 is called "One last 'Whoo-hoo!' for the Pullman!!"
  • Track 9 is called "Go! Chicago! Go! Yeah!"
  • Track 11 is called "To The Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament, and It Involves Tube Socks, a Paper Airplane, and Twenty-Two Able-Bodied Men."
  • Track 17 is called "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way out in Bloomington-Normal."


The two-disc vinyl edition of Illinoise contains several inscriptions within the run-off groove:
  • "Land of Lincoln": The motto of Illinois.
  • "Tribe of superior men": The English meaning of the Algonquian word illiniwek, the origin of the state's name.
  • "By the rivers gently flowing, oe'r the prairies verdant growing": A line from the state song "Illinois")
  • "Hog butcher for the world, toolmaker, stacker of wheat, player with railroads": A line from the poem "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg).


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."

In March 2009, a Montreal producer by the name of Tor remixed songs from Illinois, along with several tracks from Songs for Christmas, A Sun Came and Seven Swans. It was released online for free under the name Illinoize.

As of 2009, there are now four iTunes bonus tracks in the US store, which are 'The Avalanche', 'Chicago (To Strings Remix)' (now renamed to Jon Galaxy's Remix), 'The Transfiguration (Home Demo)' and 'Size Too Small (Live In Brussels)'. The album was also available for a limited time with a bonus CD entitled 'An Album Club Exclusive' which was available if you bought the album directly from Rough Trade records. The track listing for it is as follows:

1) The Avalanche2) Borderline3) The Dress Looks Nice On You4) Sister5) For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti6) The Upper Peninsula

Track 1 is from the Illinoise LP. Track 2 is from The Dress Looks Nice On You (Single). Track 3 and 4 are from Seven Swans and tracks 5 and 6 are from Michigan.

Thematic elements

Lyrically, the album is dense with allusions and references. Among the towns and places mentioned on the album are Highlandmarker, Lebanonmarker, Columbiamarker, Jacksonvillemarker, Decaturmarker, Chicagomarker, Metropolismarker, Peoriamarker, Bushnellmarker, the Sears Towermarker, the Great Godfreymarker 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.

Illinoise 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."

This may not be a complete list of allusions, as many references are very subtle. Also, some references may be incorrect, as many lyrics are not entirely specific.

  1. "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois"
  2. "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..."

Treaty of Ghent, "Article the First" 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). He first heard the text on May 10, 1815, at Fort McKaymarker in Albertamarker, Canadamarker, whereupon he immediately declared his vow to continue his fight to keep the Americans (the "Big Knives") from his lands, located roughly where Missourimarker and Illinois are today. Black Hawk continued to attack American settlements after 1815."Black Hawk went on attacking the Americans even after the war with Britain was over."



Hostilities culminated in the Black Hawk War of 1832.
  1. "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!"
  2. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."
  3. "Jacksonville"
  2. "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons"
  3. "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step Mother!"
  4. "One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman"
  5. "Chicago"
  6. "Casimir Pulaski Day"
  7. "To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament"
  8. "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts"
  9. "Prairie Fire that Wanders About"
  10. "A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze"
  11. "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!"
  12. "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!"
  13. "Let's Hear that String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way out in Bushnell"
  14. "In this Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth"
    • The inscription in the Lincoln Memorialmarker (In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever)
  15. "The Seer's Tower"
  16. "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders"
  17. "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"
  18. "Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run"


Artwork

The album cover reads, in bold print, "Sufjan Stevens invites you to: Come on feel the Illinoise." This plays on the common mispronunciation of the state's name as "ill-i-NOYZ" and is also a reference to the song Cum on Feel the Noize originally by UK band Slade and later covered by both Quiet Riot and Oasis among others.

Because of legal issues regarding the artwork, Asthmatic Kitty Records briefly stopped sales of the album and asked retailers to do the same. Though not stated explicitly in the label's notice, the cover's depiction of Superman, a comic book character which is the property of DC Comics, is assumed to have been the source of the legal problems. On the vinyl edition released in November, Superman's image is covered by a balloon sticker. The image of the balloon sticker was also used on the cover to the compact disc and later printings of the double vinyl release. Asthmatic Kitty were allowed to sell the first print featuring the character.

However, because big-box retailers such as Best Buy did not comply with the order, Asthmatic Kitty allowed continued sales of the album. The label distributed new versions of the album, with updated artwork. The version currently on sale lacks the picture of Superman in the artwork, but is otherwise unchanged.

Samples

Related music



References

  1. Acclaimed Music - Illinois
  2. The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year 2005
  3. Treaty of Ghent, "Article the Eleventh" at Wikisource.


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