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If anything, they’re a reference to the specific kind of musical subgenre that Sufjan represents in our collective consciousness, the moody, self-reflective, here’s-a-woven-nest-of-twigs-I-made-earlier, inaudibly guitar-strumming, beanie-wearing indie white kid. The Breakdown: On the one hand, Donald Glover’s lyrics aren’t so much a reference to Sufjan at all. The Lyrics In Question: No live shows ‘cause I can’t find sponsors / For the only black kid at a Sufjan concert The Artist: Childish Gambino (yes, that Childish Gambino, as in Donald Glover of unwittingly-acted-out-one-of-the-most-joyous-dynamic-and-tenderly-homosexual-relationships-of-modern-sitcom-television-on-NBC’s-Community-but-still-says-homophobic-slurs-in-his-songs fame) It seems at points a little hastily placed, as though Gary Lightbody was just jumping at the chance to namedrop his current interest and it just so happened to work. ‘Hands Open’ describes, on the whole, a distinctly non-Sufjanian love, one where people actually voice their discord and dissent (‘It’s hard to argue when / You won’t stop making sense / But my tongue still misbehaves and it / Keeps digging my own grave’) rather than, y’know, softly resigning oneself to the fact that ‘words are futile devices’. Still, I hesitate to suggest that the Sufjan Stevens reference works seamlessly.
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There’s something glorious about the thought of a person whose favourite song is Chicago by Sufjan Stevens, so much so that it is entwined with their personhood, and, in the throes of a complicated interpersonal fight, their loved one implores the song to burst to life, prompting a “sweet smile” which “remembers” their very selfhood. I’m no music journalist, and I’m not even going to try to name the triumphant coalescence of instruments which begin the song (is there a violin? I feel like there’s a violin in there somewhere), but they really do burst to life. Patrol’s description “ Chicago bursts to life”, while technically a tired cliche, is gloriously apt for the opening bars of ‘Chicago’.
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(See: “I fell in love again”, “I made a lot of mistakes / I made a lot of mistakes”, and “All things go, all things go / To recreate us / All things grow, all things grow” for more.) ‘Chicago’ is, amongst a plethora of readings much better-thought-out than mine, confidently about reconciliation and the place-based rediscovery of the fundamental goodness of the relationships you have held for a terribly long time. Am I glad that the songwriter(s) chose to put some respect on the name and reference the specific song they did? Absolutely. So am I glad that Sufjan is being namedropped on a song so simultaneously catchy and interpersonally heartwrenching? Absolutely.
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