Earworm.

I blame Dean, (again.) For introducing me to Sufjan Stevens a couple of weeks ago.

He's been nagging at me to listen to Stevens' newest album entitled "Illinoise". Vocally reminiscent of Paul Simon, from Simon and Garfunkle. (To me at least.) His tenor is soft and sweet, and laden with emotion. I found numerous songs to have subtle Christian overtones, but all in all, it didn't bother me all that much. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, or just more accepting. I dunno anymore... There's the song "Chicago", which I totally dig, The lyrics speak to me so much. And then there's track four, entitled "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."

I think that I've never heard a song that is so hauntingly beautiful and gorgeous, about a serial killer. From what I've interpreted listening to this repeatedly, Stevens is expressing his compassion for someone so mentally disturbed. It's not to say I'm defending John Wayne Gacy, but the story of what he did, and his childhood etc... *sighs* It's just so... Full of sorrow. It's so saddening. When he sings "Oh my God" (and "On the mouth") in falsetto, I honestly get shivers.

John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

His father was a drinker and his mother cried in bed,
Folding John Wayne's t-shirts when the swing set hit his head.

The neighbors they adored him,
For his humor and his conversation.

Look underneath the house there,
Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep;

Oh the dead.

27 people,
Even more, they were boys, with their cars, summer jobs,
Oh my God...

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them,
With his face paint white and red.

And on his best behavior,
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all.

He'd kill ten thousand people,
With a slight of his hand, running far, running fast to the dead.

He took off all their clothes for them,
He put a cloth on their lips, quiet hands, quiet kiss on the mouth.

And in my best behavior,
I am really just like him.

Look beneath the floor boards,
For the secrets I have hid.


Song: "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens, From the album Illinoise.

Song: "John Wayne Gacy Jr." by Sufjan Stevens, from the album Illinoise.