"Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie" as written by and Sufjan Stevens....
Oh Sleeping Bear!
Ran to the top and got scared
Of what I could see.
Oh Lamb of God!
Tell us your prefect design
And give us the rod.
Oh Sturgeon Bay!
Covered completely in sand
Completely in sun.
Oh Saint Marie!
Give up, the rocking boats drowned,
The captain is done.
Ran to the top and got scared
Of what I could see.
Oh Lamb of God!
Tell us your prefect design
And give us the rod.
Oh Sturgeon Bay!
Covered completely in sand
Completely in sun.
Oh Saint Marie!
Give up, the rocking boats drowned,
The captain is done.
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According to the legend, an enormous forest fire on the western shore of Lake Michigan (now Wisconsin) drove a mother bear and her two cubs into the lake for shelter, determined to reach the opposite shore. After many miles of swimming, the two cubs lagged behind. When the mother bear reached the shore, she waited on the top of a high bluff. The cubs, exhausted, drowned in the lake, but the mother bear stayed and waited in hopes that her cubs would finally appear. Impressed by the mother bear's determination and faith, the Great Spirit created two islands (North and South Manitou Island) to commemorate the cubs, and the winds buried the sleeping bear under the sands of the dunes where she waits to this day. The location of the "bear" is a patch of dark sand, which once covered the entire bluff top and was visible from the lake. Wind and erosion have caused the "bear" to be greatly reduced in size over the years.
Sweet.
According to the legend, an enormous forest fire on the western shore of Lake Michigan (now Wisconsin) drove a mother bear and her two cubs into the lake for shelter, determined to reach the opposite shore. After many miles of swimming, the two cubs lagged behind. When the mother bear reached the shore, she waited on the top of a high bluff. The cubs, exhausted, drowned in the lake, but the mother bear stayed and waited in hopes that her cubs would finally appear. Impressed by the mother bear's determination and faith, the Great Spirit created two islands (North and South Manitou Island) to commemorate the cubs, and the winds buried the sleeping bear under the sands of the dunes where she waits to this day. The location of the "bear" is a patch of dark sand, which once covered the entire bluff top and was visible from the lake. Wind and erosion have caused the "bear" to be greatly reduced in size over the years.
Sweet.
I'll bet there is so much more story behind this than we'll ever know.
Also of note, I just (an hour ago) got to see him play a free show at the Kennedy Center Opera House in downtown DC. He played this song for the first time ever live.