Sufjan Stevens-- Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois

This post will be covering a song near and dear to my heart. Allow me for a moment to wipe a digital tear away from the screen as I reminisce on the first time I heard this album, and how it changed my life forever. Sufjan Steven’s groundbreaking album Come on, Feel the Illinoise (or Illinois for short), is considered by many to be one of the best albums of the decade. And this first track was what set into motion a series of unalterable events that has brought me to writing this blog post, right now.

Phew!

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get on to the song itself.

Note: this recording is uploaded in the spirit of educational advancement, as found in Title 17, Section 107, United States Code. If found in violation of creative rights, please email me at jharms.music@gmail.com

Music can be bought on the Asthmatic Kitty site, here.

Text

When the revenant came down

We couldn’t imagine what it was

In the spirit of three stars

The alien thing that took its form

Then to Lebanon, Oh God

The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow

History involved itself

Mysterious shape that took its form

Oh what it was

Incarnation

Three stars

Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes

There are several layers to this poem, so let’s start with the title. On the surface, it has something to do with UFO sightings. In a live concert, Stevens talks about finding quite a few police reports about UFO sightings around Highland when he was doing research for Illinois. He also tells a fun story about aliens visiting his father.

However, there’s a lot going on in this text beneath the surface. For those of you who need to look it up (like myself), a revenant is defined by Merriam-Webster to be “one that returns after death or a long absence.” This, along with a lot of cryptic imagery, is dropping huge clues to the true meaning of the text.

Stevens is making an allusion to the second coming of Christ. Imagery of the trinity, cries to God, miraculous signs and a reference to the Middle East all point to the Incarnation of Christ. Now whether he literally thinks that Jesus will come to Earth in a flying saucer is up for debate, but it certainly opens the imagination about what the second coming might look like.

Harmonic Analysis

Special thanks to atownes at tabnabber.com for help with the voicings.

I started by making a transcription of the recording, which was rathe awkward to do in western notation. In the end, I used a combination of accented bass notes and textual accents to determine the bar lengths. I originally put out the full transcription on this, but have since decided it's probably not fair to Sufjan to give it out freely without his permission. Send me an email at jharms.music [at] gmail.com if you want it, and I'll talk to Sufjan about it.

Trying to analyze this piece using Roman Numeral Analysis presents some interesting issues. The first is trying to find what key we’re in. One possibility is G major. Pros for Team-G include: the beginning chord is a G, the prevailing accidentals are F#, and the melodic line is centered on G. This is why I’ve notated the pitch collection to have one sharp. However, I’m convinced that the first chord is more of a pickup into A minor, where the phrase begins. And why does the piece end on the fifth scale degree of A major? You can probably argue the piece is in A Dorian, with some modal mixture to top off the end, but the argument is weaker. Neither option really presents us with strong cadences, either.

Because of this confusion of tonal center, and because of the way the accompaniment “dwells” on each chord separately, I think Neo-Riemannian Analysis works best in this situation. (If you think I’m speaking flippity-foop-fambandingo, check out my analysis of DM Stith’s “Isaac’s Song.”)

Unfortunately, NRT doesn’t fit as neatly into this example as it did into DM Stith’s. At measure 7, we get a rather complicated Gmaj7 chord. NRT doesn’t specify how to handle seventh chords, as this brings in a new layer of complication that muddies the structure of the theory. Therefore, I’m going to treat it as a quick G major hit followed by B minor.

The only other interesting thing to mention is the closing. After finishing seven complete cycles, Stevens does a little flourish and fades out on an A major. Is this a Piccardy third? Perhaps in some twisted sense, but my ear doesn’t hear a Piccardy third without a V - I cadence to go with it. However, I do still hear it as modal mixture—which argues away from my analysis using NRT. What do you hear?

Rhythmic Complexity

Possibly one of the most interesting things Stevens does with this piece is how he plays with the listener’s expectation. Your ear is constantly battling between two styles—a strong backbeat, being strengthened at the beginning of each chord, and a feeling of unmetered, lengthy chord enforcements. The odd lengths of bars throws off the ear, creating a feeling of uneasiness. And to make sure your ear doesn’t catch on to the pattern, he interjects 2/4 bars at the ends of sections, to keep the backbeat rocking in your ear, clashing with odd metrics.

What’s even more interesting is how the piece doesn’t leave it at that—the length of bars change throughout the piece. Below is a chart of how long (in eighth notes) each chord is sustained through the piece.

One question that might come to mind is, did Stevens purposefully plan out how long each chord was to be held? Or did he just wing it on the fly? There are arguments on both sides. Most live performances of this song reveal him to be a passionate, but technically lacking pianist; he forgoes the complex rhythms in live settings to play the chords out of time. But looking at this chart, you can’t help but notice a few patterns, especially how the Gmaj7 chord always uses 17 eighth notes (excepting section F, which is the only time in the piece the pianist plays a dotted quarter rhythm).

Closing Thoughts

Sufjan did a lot in this little 2’15” piece to challenge the idea of a pop song. As an introduction to what is thus far one of his most significant works, he 1) uses odd instrumentation for rock, pop, and folk idioms, 2) sings about aliens, zombies and Jesus at the same time, 3) Defies normal progressions and avoids anything that sounds like a cadence through the entire piece, and 4) creates a confusing sense of rhythm that inspires both pop sensibilities and minimalistic drones, and leaves us guessing at his original intent.

And, of course, all of this is past simply listening to the beautiful way he presents all of these things. If you haven’t ever heard of Sufjan Stevens, I highly recommend you buy the album! Again, you can find it here.

Sufjan Stevens is one of the heavyweights out there right now, forging a middle ground between many different styles. As Bryce Dessner is fond of saying, the music “takes risks, and doesn’t fit neatly into any category.”

DM Stith-- Issac's Song

Next up is a short but sweet song from the master puppeteer DM Stith. Brought into Asthmatic Kitty via artist Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), he just finished summer tours through Europe, the United States, AND Canada. When he toured through the Midwest, I had the pleasure of seeing his live show in Lawrence, Kansas.

“Isaac’s Song” is the first track to his first full length album, Heavy Ghost.

Music can be purchased off the Asthmatic Kitty site, here.

Process Composition

Amidst the dark lighting and shady benches surrounding a small stage in Lawrence, I got the exquisite opportunity to talk to Stith himself. On my mind was a burning question: how did he write what he did, and what was going through his head as he did it? I found out from my interview that 1) he is an extremely nice person, 2) he comes from a classically trained family, and 3) he is self-taught in music. This was a big revelation. The clencher to my analysis is that he described his writing as a process—building itself from small improvisations on the piano or guitar.

Quick History Lesson: This “process” philosophy of composition is featured most emphatically with the minimalists, who would take small cells of music (maybe a bar) and repeat them for hours, slowly changing a note here, a rhythm there. To them, the focus of music isn’t in the melody, or the key, or anything directly related to the music itself. It’s the way that patterns change and shift that's important. And on a less cosmic scale, DM Stith is grooving on the same thing.

Mediant Relationships in Neo-Riemannian Analysis

Now if you recall standard music theory, Roman Numeral analysis of a piece will show you how the chords of the progression fit into the key, and provide you with a way of mapping out the flow of the piece. Generally speaking, most of the time it's a journey from tonic to dominant, ending with a cadence on tonic. However, this ideology of process composition no longer yearns for perfect authentic cadences. The focus is now on the relationships between each chord. Who cares what key they’re in! This will require a new way of looking at music theory: Neo-Riemannian Analysis.

In 1903, Hugo Riemann introduced the concept of purely mediant related harmonies. If you have access to JSTOR, check this out. His theories have only recently been revived in the 1990’s and 2000’s, and Modern Neo-Riemannian analysis is connected to the work of many other modern day theorists. One recent development has been applying these forms to pop music, which is what we're about to explore. For more information. I am indebted to my professor, Dr. David Castro, for the consolidation of quite a bit of this subject matter.

In Neo-Riemannian Theory (NRT), Progressions are classified by how many common tones are held between two chords. For instance, the transition from C major to E minor is a stable one, because two common tones are held between the two chords. C major to B minor, on the other hand, is a doubly chromatic transition, and is therefore much less stable.

Any complex relationship is made up of a combination of three simple functions:

P—Parallel motion. Moves C major to C minor. (major to its parallel minor)

R—Relative motion, Moves C major to A minor (major to its relative minor)

L—Leittonwechsel, Moves C major to E minor (major to the mediant relationship in the opposite direction of relative motion. Make sense?).

Back to “Isaac’s Song”

Here's a transcription of the basic elements of the piece (the song is an improvisation over these measures, with some repeats added). Most of the relations are parallel or relative, with the occasional chromatically related motion. Their stable relationships are cemented by the voicings—deep chords, many times in root position, squished together in the lower register of the piano.

The weirdness really comes in at measure 9—that chord was a tricky one to notate. From the recording, it sounds more like the percussive slam of a fist on the keys than actual notes. In the analysis, I treated it as an Eb minor chord, making it quite unrelated to the C that proceeds it and the Bb that follows. However, due to the fact that no real triad exists cleanly in that setting, it may relate closer (or less close) to the adjacent chords. Let me know what you think!

Closing Thoughts

You may or may not have noticed that this progression can be simplified down. The voicings are a little funky, but if you can attribute the extra chords to modal mixture, or flourishes, or something, then you can shrink the score down to four chords-- F, Am, C, and Bb. These chords make a beautiful I – iii – V – IV progression in F major. Is this piece tonal in disguise?

I would argue a 'no.' Do you hear Plagal cadences? Does the C sound like a V chord to you? No. The wash of majors and minors, back and forth, have thrown your ear away from the tonal system. We can only base chords on what they’re next to.

You may be thinking, “You know, this new analysis thingy doesn’t really seem all that weird. I mean, it looks weird on the page, but in the pop world who really thinks about key when they’re writing?” And you’d be right! There’s a large percentage of writers these days who aren’t trained classically. In many pop songs, progressions will make all sorts of nonsense in Roman Numeral analysis. Does that make it less valuable music? No, it just needs to be interpreted on a different plane than classical music. This piece demonstrates just a bit of the complexity (and beauty) that can come from improvisation and innovation. Take that to the bank the next time someone tries to tell you Chuck Berry is less complex than Beethoven.

My Brightest Diamond-- Like a Sieve

To continue with another My Brightest Diamond composition, we have "Like a Sieve," Track 10 from her album A Thousand Shark's Teeth.

Note: this recording is uploaded in the spirit of educational advancement, as found in Title 17, Section 107, United States Code.

Music can be bought on the Asthmatic Kitty site, here.

Some terms to look at if you're unfamiliar:

1. Mode: A mode is a collection of pitches, with a single pitch assigned a root function, and all the other pitches based around that pitch. Major and minor are both examples of modes, though we'll be working mostly with church modes. If you need a refresher on your church modes, you can find them here.
2. Mode Mixture: Combining and synthesizing various parts of modes together.
3. Musical Quotation: The acknowledged use of a previous work to augment the meaning or value of the current work.
4. Text Painting: An effort to make the music reflect (on a metaphorical level) what is happening in the text.
5. Agogic Accent: An accent based on the duration of time, rather than the volume or dynamic of the note accented.

Text

I rest my head on water
I slip under

I descend into the deep
Past the rushes, past the shipwrecks
Into my tears I float

And like a sieve I’m catching leaves and sticks
I’m catching planks and fishes
So it washes through me clean
I’m run clean through
Ah!

Again, we are caressed and buoyed by Worden's poetic, and at the same time thick lyrics. In the first two stanzas, we are set up with a magical and yet terse setting. As though falling through a world with blinders to our peripherials, we are given a conscise yet confusing description of the landscape. The line "Into my tears I float" provides quite a few rather surreal images.

The third stanza switches setting almost automatically, like a strange, food coloring induced dream. The writer is transformed into a sieve, collecting all sorts of debris. The relief of the writer at "I'm run clean through / Ah!" seems almost as palpable as anything else in this poem.

On a metaphorical level, one can see the journey of a character, falling deep into depression or sorrow, passing beyond (into the subconscious, perhaps?) and entering into a period of self reflection and cleansing, and returning feeling refreshed and ready to make a new start. This is my take on it; I'm open to any other suggestions (post a comment!)

Text Painting

Although it may seem a bit elementary, it's important to document the amount of text painting that Worden uses in this piece; it certainly marks a shift in attitudes from the usual pop/rock singer, and from postmodern composition.

From the first line, she's started expressing her ideas through musical phrases. "I rest my head" descends to the octave below, with the perfect fourth neighbor movement of "on water" to smooth out the jump. (A version of this melodic fragment can also be heard in her song "If I Were Queen). "I descend into the deep" is also a descending line, taking its sweet time to sink in her range.

Through range and agogic accent, she also uses word stress to accentuate the most important words. Among them are tears, sieve, and clean.

Mode: 1# Pitch Collection

If you'll remember the last post, where we talked about My Brightest Diamond's "Goodbye Forever," a large portion of the song's intricacy was in her deft use of modal mixture. Well, you guessed it, she's at it again. Only this time, one would be hard pressed to find a root at all. For the most part, a bass drone is absent (or ambiguous), and the melody line never seems to resolve to any recognizable tonic. At a certain point, D Mixolydian sticks out, but soon it blends back into the mix of tones, leaving you to wonder whether that hint of grounding was real, or a ghostly figment of your scrambling mind.

This song purposefully throws away any notion of "do" (solfege). The wandering melodic fragments act as text painting for the lyrics: a sieve carries with it a certain amount of uncertainty and shiftiness, like trying to stand on a pile of sand as it is sifted through. The lyrics reflect this confusion. Worden is noodling around in the one-sharp diatonic pitch collection (think the pitches of a G Major Scale), never settling on a mode or key.

"I Be the Prophet" and Polymeter

As a college student, Shara was heavily influenced by R&B and rap artists, which we can sometimes hear peeking through her compositions. "Like a Sieve" works from a loop by the English artist Tricky, from his second album Nearly God. Tricky may be most well know from his early collaboration with Massive Attack. His lyrics from "I Be the Prophet" has little to do thematically with "Like a Sieve"; however, his unsettling lyrics reflect the tonal ambiguity of Worden's piece.

Tricky's loop is essentially a cello duet, making the two cellos work against each other. After careful listening, one can hear that the loop is actually sixteen beats, which can be represented in a four bar phrase. However, the stresses don't reflect common or normal groupings. I've notated twice to demonstrate this duality; first in 4/4 to demonstrate its ability to conform to a four bar phrase, then with its barlines arranged to more accurately reflect what is happening in the music. There may be other ways to notate the meters in the bottom cello line; this is simply what I heard.

This is a beautiful example of polymeter-- where two meters, many times conflicting, are layered on top of each other.

Now the interesting part is that Worden never actually uses an exact quotation of the loop. She dances around it, and uses many of the gestures from it, but never comes out and states it. The general effect, however, produces something that sounds quite similar to Tricky's loop. A good portion of this can be atrributed to the fact that she uses similar rhythmic figures and intervals.

These are the things that stand out to me most about this song. Hopefully in the future I'll have full score examples for you to look at while you can listen!