Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CI--Sufjan Stevens: Casimir Pulaski Day

For those not familiar, every year on March 1st, school children in Illinois are the only ones in the nation to get the school day off--for Casimir Pulaski Day.  Also for those not familiar, Casimir Pulaski was a Polish born Revolutionary War hero (he's known as one of the fathers of the American cavalry) who died in battle in 1779.  And finally for those not familiar, Casimir Pulaski Day was basically a sop to Chicago's large Polish population.  Nothing wrong with that--my two oldest children had twelve March 1st's off from school each and, surprisingly enough, I never once heard either of them complain about it.

And on to Sufjan Stevens...sort of.  Near as I can tell, Stevens's career has been nothing if not eclectic and esoteric (add in ethereal and you have my three favorite words beginning with the letter "E"), and not terribly interesting (truth be told I only made it about halfway through his Wikipedia entry--it was truly that boring).  Suffice it to say, he's been around since 1999, has released 7 studio albums, tours fairly regularly, and if he had never released Come on Feel the Illinoise (which is actually called Illinois with the subtitle Sufjan Stevens Invites You to Come on Feel the Illinoise  but I call it Come on Feel the Illinoise because I like the play on words with the Slade/Quiet Riot song "Cum on Feel the Noize" even if it isn't a particularly good song) there's about zero chance he would have ended up on Friday Night Jukebox.

As can be said for several other artists who have appeared in the first 100 posts.

Having lived in Illinois for nineteen years, Illinois (released in 2005) hits home in ways that it might not for many who never lived there--I think the only two people I know who have ever heard of Stevens or the album are my two oldest kids, who spent the majority of those nineteen years with me in the Land of Lincoln.  The album is by far and away Stevens's biggest hit, and it sold a whopping 300,000 copies, which in fairness, is 300,000 more copies sold than any album I ever released.  Still, it is a very fine album and would probably make my top ten of the 2000's.  Despite being largely about the state of Illinois (Stevens also released an album with the theme of the state of Michigan and at one time claimed he was going to write one for each state but later admitted it was nothing more than a publicity gimmick), I think each song could stand alone quite nicely.  And none more so than "Casimir Pulaski Day."

"Casimir Pulaski Day" is told through the eyes of a religious boy, who has a religious girlfriend from a religious family, their sexual awakening, her father's disapproval, and ultimately her death from bone cancer on "the first of March, on the holiday," which leads to his questioning his faith.  It may well be the most poignant song I've ever heard--Stevens vocals are almost matter-of-fact, hardly above a whisper, and yet they convey the protagonist's pain and sorrow all too clearly.  The instrumentation, to me, is almost miraculous--Stevens starts with, as you might expect, an acoustic guitar, but about a minute and a half in he adds a banjo which is not an instrument one normally associates with poignancy and sadness but after listening you will--it adds another layer of texture to the song's mournful underpinnings .  He also throws in some of the most sorrowful trumpets you will ever hear, and closes the last minute or so of the song with some choirlike "da da dadas."  Add in some wise and heartfelt lyrics and you have a song that is, appropriately enough considering the subject matter, funereal.  And unlike all too many songs focusing on a loved one's dying too soon, the song never gets maudlin.  It's a paean to love:  all its excitement, all its fears, and most of all, its biggest heartbreak.

Lyric sheet:  "All the glory when he took our place/But he took my shoulders and he shook my face/And he takes and he takes and he takes..."

Enjoy:

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emaycee