Storyteller Series / Sufjan Stevens "Casimir Pulaski Day"

Some songs tell stories just as vivid and intricate as any film or TV show. The Storyteller Series highlights those special pieces of music with lyrics that captivate the audience from beginning to end.

Really it's hard to pick just one of Sufjan Stevens's songs to identify as an example of brilliant songwriting.  This is the guy who made a name for himself through his intricate concept albums.  The music world is waiting with bated breath to see what The Age of Adz will bring (check out "I Walked" on Listen Before You Buy).  Because of this though, so many of the songs on his albums weave together and its often hard to separate out individual tracks.  Off of Illinois, "Chicago" gained prominence largely because of it's use in Little Miss Sunshine.  I also always recall "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" due to it's morbid subject matter.  But for today's Storyteller Series I thought I would highlight a particularly touching track for me - "Casimir Pulaski Day."Since Casimir Pulaski was a Polish born cavalry officer most known for his contributions to the U.S. Military during the American Revolution, the song is clearly not a folk tale praising his achievements.  Instead it is about an event that happened on the holiday, which is celebrated on the first Monday of every March in Chicago.  As I perceive it, it's a story of a boy reflecting on love lost on this day.  He remembers special moments between them, when he found out she had cancer, the day she died, and resulting disillusionment and struggle with his faith.  Between the bird imagery and his ode to the fleeting nature of life, the song reminds me of an Emily Dickinson poem; it's sensitive, melancholy, and innocent.    And like Emily Dickinson if you try to really analyze every verse you'll miss the impression of the big picture, so instead I thought I'd highlight a couple of the verses that touch me the most...Oh the glory when you ran outsideWith your shirt tucked in and your shoes untiedAnd you told me not to follow youIt's such a pure image and the way the it comes back in a later verse with a much more tragic meaning is so poetic and heartwrenching.  She is in a place where he cannot go and the distance is killing him.In the morning when you finally goAnd the nurse runs in with her head hung lowAnd the cardinal hits the windowThe bird hitting the window is such a visceral visual it forces you to feel the abrupt pain of death, demonstrating that no matter how slowly and carefully one's life ends - it still hurts like a bitch.But boy, does Sufjan do a good job at convincing us otherwise.

Listen:

Sufjan Stevens "Casimir Pulaski Day"

Watch:

Lyrics:

Golden rod and the 4-H stoneThe things I brought youWhen I found out you had cancer of the boneYour father cried on the telephoneAnd he drove his car to the Navy yardJust to prove that he was sorryIn the morning through the window shadeWhen the light pressed up against your shoulder bladeI could see what you were readingOh the glory that the lord has madeAnd the complications you could do withoutWhen I kissed you on the mouthTuesday night at the bible studyWe lift our hands and pray over your bodyBut nothing ever happensI remember at Michael's houseIn the living room when you kissed my neckAnd I almost touched your blouseIn the morning at the top of the stairsWhen your father found out what we did that nightAnd you told me you were scaredOh the glory when you ran outsideWith your shirt tucked in and your shoes untiedAnd you told me not to follow youSunday night when I cleaned the houseI find the card where you wrote it outWith the pictures of your motherOn the floor at the great divideWith my shirt tucked in and my shoes untiedI am crying in the bathroomIn the morning when you finally goAnd the nurse runs in with her head hung lowAnd the cardinal hits the windowIn the morning in the winter shadeOn the first of March on the holidayI thought I saw you breathingOh the glory that the lord has madeAnd the complications when I see his faceIn the morning in the windowOh the glory when he took our placeBut he took my shoulders and he shook my faceAnd he takes and he takes and he takesBuy Illinois here, and get excited for The Age of Adz out on October 12th on Asthmatic Kitty Records.