| Sufjan Stevens — They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh! |
 Illinois (2005) [ larger cover art ] |
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I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Logan, Grant, and Ronald Reagan
In the grave with Xylophagan
Do you know the ghost community?
Sound the horn, address the city
(Who will save it? Dedicate it?
Who will praise it? Commemorate it for you?)
We are awakened with the axe
Night of the Living Dead at last
They have begun to shake the dirt
Wiping their shoulders from the earth
I know, I know the nations past
I know, I know they rust at last
They tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
B-U-D-A! Caledonia!
S-E-C-O-R! Magnolia!
B-I-R-D-S! And Kankakee!
Evansville and Parker City
Speaking their names, they shake the flag
Waking the earth, it lifts and lags
We see a thousand rooms to rest
Helping us taste the bite of death
I know, I know my time has passed
I'm not so young, I'm not so fast
I tremble with the nervous thought
Of having been, at last, forgot
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Ring the bell and call or write us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Can you call the Captain Clitus?
Comer and Potato Peelers!
G-R-E-E-N Ridge! Reeders
M-C-V-E-Y! And Horace!
E-N-O-S! Start the chorus
Corn and farms and tombs in Lemmon
Sailor Springs and all things feminine
Centerville and Old Metropolis
Shawneetown, you trade and topple us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Hold your tongue and don't divide us
I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S!
Land of God, you hold and guide us
| JiffyPark | Posted: Mar 25, 2011 - 10:47 Let's hear some off his "The Age of Adz".  |
| bhallmark (The Administrative Zone of the District of Columbia) | Posted: Jan 21, 2011 - 17:28 It's so rare for me to have to switch to another station, but this one did it. Sorry Bill, I can't back you up on this. |
| ick (S.E. La Jolla) | Posted: Dec 21, 2010 - 08:18 Not necessarily my cuppa but I'll give it a "creative and interesting". |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Nov 19, 2010 - 14:48  |
| muzikbrazil (Cascavel, Pr BRAZIL) | Posted: Nov 19, 2010 - 14:47 Som LEGAL!!!!!! |
| jadewahoo (Beautiful Earth) | Posted: Apr 10, 2010 - 22:16 That distinctive voice in the background is Annie Clark of St Vincent. |
| RadioDoc (Chicagoland) | Posted: Feb 06, 2010 - 19:24 copymonkey wrote: Another artist that brings out the whining haters I'll remind you of that next time Metric or Poe is played. |
| diegotz (Buenos Aires, Argentina) | Posted: Jan 06, 2010 - 08:41 best song name ever |
| Stave (San Francisco) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 14:57 Laptopdog wrote: Not. Me. I. Am. Not Digging. This. No. Not. Me. I. Am. Not. Digging. This. What The Hell Is This Crap? Can You Im-ag-ine Some-one Pay-ing Good Mon-ey To Lis-ten To This? |
| gandalfbmg (3 mi from Paradise (Missouri)) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 14:54 copymonkey wrote: Ahhh Sufjan! Another artist that brings out the whining haters—but Bill continues to play anyway. I LOVE when he does that!  |
| peter_james_bond (Lunenburg, NS) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 14:53 scraig wrote: Oh, I have to add this to next year's Halloween playlist! I requested it but Bill didn't play it,  but in fairness I requested about 20 songs and Bill did play a few. Still, I was a little disappointed on the brevity of the Halloween play list. |
| MinMan (Bay Area, CA) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 14:52 That's a very walkable bass line... |
| scraig (Santa Barbara, CA) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 14:51 Oh, I have to add this to next year's Halloween playlist! |
| crockydile (I miss Excelsior!) | Posted: Sep 02, 2009 - 13:25 What's with the popularity of guys with weak, tremulous voices??  |
| RadioDoc (Chicagoland) | Posted: Aug 02, 2009 - 00:36 ercasul wrote: love sufjan's voice. it's wistful. When was the last time you could associate the word 'wistful' with Illinois? Right after you could associate it with Michigan. I live in Illinois...but Sufjan seems to have not bothered to actually visit before he wrote this tedious, pretentious droning mush. |
| ercasul (New Zealand) | Posted: Feb 24, 2009 - 18:21 love sufjan's voice. it's wistful. When was the last time you could associate the word 'wistful' with Illinois? |
| mybaldbird | Posted: Dec 23, 2008 - 13:27 First verse: I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Ring the bell and call or write us I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S! Can you call the Captain Clitus? Logan, Grant, and Ronald Reagan In the grave with Xylophagan Do you know the ghost community? Sound the horn, address the city Dunno what the hell is goin on here, I like it though :). |
| copymonkey (in the northeast, but not near anywhere cool) | Posted: Dec 23, 2008 - 13:25 Ahhh Sufjan! Another artist that brings out the whining haters—but Bill continues to play anyway. I LOVE when he does that! |
| holborne (New York) | Posted: Oct 21, 2008 - 11:02 Four for the song; ten for the title. |
| netstv (Martinez, CA) | Posted: Oct 21, 2008 - 11:01 vandal wrote: as a mat- -ter of fact this sick- -ens me I feel like purg- -ing my guts kill kill kill me now i can't stand this song any- more jumping off of bridge bye mean cruel world  |
| smilestoomuch (Mad City, WI) | Posted: Oct 21, 2008 - 11:00 mrrmt wrote: best title ever. hands down. I second that! Even if I don't like all his songs, I always find them interesting in content. |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Oct 21, 2008 - 10:58 Laptopdog wrote: Not. Me. I. Am. Not Digging. This. No. Not. Me. I. Am. Not. Digging. This. as a mat- -ter of fact this sick- -ens me I feel like purg- -ing my guts |
| Laptopdog (Overcrowded, Overpriced & Overrated L.A.) | Posted: Sep 19, 2008 - 19:22 gandalfbmg wrote: dig the background chanting chicks...... Not. Me. I. Am. Not Digging. This. No. Not. Me. I. Am. Not. Digging. This. |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Aug 19, 2008 - 14:32 tclodes wrote: Know what I do when I hear something I don't like on RP? I rate it accordingly and move on. dude you are just way too mature for this board. . .  |
| tclodes (Oklahoma City) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 14:47 Know what I do when I hear something I don't like on RP? I rate it accordingly and move on. |
| RcF (East of Portland, OR) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 14:45 Thanks for keeping this one around Bill.  |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 14:43  |
| coolpeople_rule | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 14:38 Awesome! |
| gandalfbmg (3 mi from Paradise (Missouri)) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 14:37 dig the background chanting chicks, but somebody ditch Sufjan's verses... |
| jlind (Chicago, IL) | Posted: May 16, 2008 - 15:30 Just when I thought this was pulled from the rotation. :( |
| prickelpit96 (Hannover, Germany) | Posted: Apr 15, 2008 - 03:09 1wolfy wrote: Nice vocal work..good style
...and a nice 'overall-groove', if you know what I mean... |
| 1wolfy (Mission Viejo California) | Posted: Mar 14, 2008 - 15:30 Nice vocal work..good style |
| mandolin (...drifting...) | Posted: Dec 11, 2007 - 07:04 ...wowsa - this is the first time i've heard sufjan on radio paradise in ages... |
| ekalvi (Waterloo, ON, Canada) | Posted: Dec 11, 2007 - 07:02 Sufjan Stevens - They Are Night Zombies!! They ... Nada Surf - Your Legs Grow Let's settle this dispute. The Nada Surf song is great, but Sufjan Stevens is better. |
| mrrmt (Baltimore, MD) | Posted: Oct 09, 2007 - 12:16 best title ever. hands down. |
| fingerpin (OhiO) | Posted: Oct 09, 2007 - 11:11 6  7 |
| UltraNurd (Boston, MA) | Posted: Oct 09, 2007 - 11:10 Nice to hear Sufjan back in the rotation - has the statute of limitations passed, after the heavy play when the album came out? |
| alanthecowboy (Lakefield) | Posted: Aug 07, 2007 - 15:22 UltraNurd wrote: Sufjan is growing on me, in general. It's hard not to laugh at a song title this long :oD.
Check out the rest of the song titles on the album. This is neither the longest nor the funniest. It is, however, my favorite song from the album. |
| GChevy410 (Seattle, WA) | Posted: Aug 07, 2007 - 15:09 Hey Bill, thanks for playing some of the good old stuff I started listening to RP for. I have been hearing a lot of Sufjan, Flaming Lips, Neko Case, etc... recently. After taking a little bit of a break, it is good to hear these again. |
| folkalta (Santa Clara CA) | Posted: Aug 07, 2007 - 15:07 Well that's new to me. Folk singer versus Dahleks. |
| themotion (rehab is the new black) | Posted: Aug 07, 2007 - 15:05 silverrain wrote: fine song, give it another year and you
will understand exactly ... "should i like this? ... will others not like me if i do? ..." |
| UltraNurd (Boston, MA) | Posted: Aug 07, 2007 - 15:04 Sufjan is growing on me, in general. It's hard not to laugh at a song title this long :oD. |
| silverrain | Posted: Jun 05, 2007 - 18:44 fine song, give it another year and you will understand |
| ekeyte (Bangor, ME) | Posted: Jun 05, 2007 - 18:40 You guys are all crazy. This is a great song! |
| TimeWaster | Posted: Jun 05, 2007 - 18:39 The album cover is so crappy yet so awesome! |
| aquadonia (Green Bay, WI) | Posted: May 21, 2007 - 01:28 shakitten wrote: Ya know, the more I hear from this kid, the more I'm convinced that he's just #@$%^ in the head. And not in a good way.
PLEASE throw this album out! :puke: The cheezy title should have been clue enough. The title rules!  |
| shakitten | Posted: May 21, 2007 - 01:28 Ya know, the more I hear from this kid, the more I'm convinced that he's just #@$%^ in the head. And not in a good way. PLEASE throw this album out! :puke: The cheezy title should have been clue enough. |
| aquadonia (Green Bay, WI) | Posted: May 21, 2007 - 01:28 I give it a 7 |
| mutepoint (The wall) | Posted: Apr 19, 2007 - 13:34 A brilliant album by a very talented artist - a combination rarely found these days, IMO. Major kudos to RP for introducing us to Sufjan. |
| netstv (Martinez, CA) | Posted: Apr 19, 2007 - 13:22 UGHGHGHGHGHGH!!! No MORE PLEASE!!!!  |