I listened to 'Illinois' the whole way through the very first time I heard any of the songs, and I don't remember paying much attention to this one. But then one night I had this strange dream, and the only thing I could remember from it was this weird piano melody playing over and over and over. I spent so much time after that trying to figure out what the song was-- I could even play it on piano, but I couldn't remember any words or anything about the song besides that tune, so I had no luck finding it, and eventually forgot about it. And then one day my iPod was on shuffle, and I got a shiver down my spine as I heard those fateful notes ringing out again. It took a minute for me to realise why they seemed so familiar, because I'd forgotten all about the dream; it was almost like musical deja vu. So all lyrics and meanings aside, this song has one of the most haunting piano lines I've ever heard, even without being able to put a name to it.
@lemons41 couldn’t agree more. It’s so mesmerizing, and it has a strange cross-rhythm that I couldn’t scan (musician here), so I did some research and found that it’s very deliberate. Sufjan wrote it in cycles of three bars of 9/8+1/16, 8/8+1/16 and 6/8+1/16. And repeat. That 1/16 is like a hiccup, and changing the length of each bar means the hiccup is irregular and unpredictable. So the album m opens with an intentionally unsettling feeling about the unknown… His writing often reaches the highest levels of art. \r\n
@lemons41 couldn’t agree more. It’s so mesmerizing, and it has a strange cross-rhythm that I couldn’t scan (musician here), so I did some research and found that it’s very deliberate. Sufjan wrote it in cycles of three bars of 9/8+1/16, 8/8+1/16 and 6/8+1/16. And repeat. That 1/16 is like a hiccup, and changing the length of each bar means the hiccup is irregular and unpredictable. So the album m opens with an intentionally unsettling feeling about the unknown… His writing often reaches the highest levels of art. \r\n
I listened to 'Illinois' the whole way through the very first time I heard any of the songs, and I don't remember paying much attention to this one. But then one night I had this strange dream, and the only thing I could remember from it was this weird piano melody playing over and over and over. I spent so much time after that trying to figure out what the song was-- I could even play it on piano, but I couldn't remember any words or anything about the song besides that tune, so I had no luck finding it, and eventually forgot about it. And then one day my iPod was on shuffle, and I got a shiver down my spine as I heard those fateful notes ringing out again. It took a minute for me to realise why they seemed so familiar, because I'd forgotten all about the dream; it was almost like musical deja vu. So all lyrics and meanings aside, this song has one of the most haunting piano lines I've ever heard, even without being able to put a name to it.
I got a chill reading your comment. Those fateful notes are quite haunting.
I got a chill reading your comment. Those fateful notes are quite haunting.
@lemons41 couldn’t agree more. It’s so mesmerizing, and it has a strange cross-rhythm that I couldn’t scan (musician here), so I did some research and found that it’s very deliberate. Sufjan wrote it in cycles of three bars of 9/8+1/16, 8/8+1/16 and 6/8+1/16. And repeat. That 1/16 is like a hiccup, and changing the length of each bar means the hiccup is irregular and unpredictable. So the album m opens with an intentionally unsettling feeling about the unknown… His writing often reaches the highest levels of art. \r\n
@lemons41 couldn’t agree more. It’s so mesmerizing, and it has a strange cross-rhythm that I couldn’t scan (musician here), so I did some research and found that it’s very deliberate. Sufjan wrote it in cycles of three bars of 9/8+1/16, 8/8+1/16 and 6/8+1/16. And repeat. That 1/16 is like a hiccup, and changing the length of each bar means the hiccup is irregular and unpredictable. So the album m opens with an intentionally unsettling feeling about the unknown… His writing often reaches the highest levels of art. \r\n