Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part 1: The World's Columbian Exposition; Part 2: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream)

Sorry for this lengthy attempt at some meaning.

The two parts of this song for me seem to explore the tension between art and commerce. The first, by examining the 1893 World's Fair, questions whether we have progressed through our creations or actually taken steps back due to our obsessions with consumption. The second part becomes more introspective, as previous posters have mentioned, by looking at artists themselves and how they fit.

For a little background, the World's Fair of 1893 was very influential on American consumerism. The fair was a look back at the 400 years since Columbus's voyage to the New World, and it attempted to show just how far we've come. By imitating the architectural style in Europe, it created the White City, which tried to show Americans that the U.S. could compete with Europe on a cultural level while at the same time celebrate us as a leader in technology and education. It literally was a grand imitation of high style European cities that was meant to be a contrast to the slowly declining American cities with their crime, poverty and violence. The Fair offered scholarly exhibits with great thinkers and educators of the time (Dewey, for instance), but Americans who visited (over 27 million) were more impressed with the Midway, an amusement park with Ferris Wheels, international singers and performers and new products such as Cream of Wheat, Pabst beer, Aunt Jemima syrup and soft drinks. In a sense, the fair ushered in the idea that enjoying oneself was done through the consumption of material goods. Everything in today's culture, from the power of advertising to Disney to amusement parks, can easily be traced back to the World's Columbian Exposition.

In the song, Sufjan mentions in the first line having some motivation to comment on society but when he spots the advertising, he is taken over by it. In the next line, the speaker is calling for, in the midst of great confusion and anxiety, entrepreneurs to lead us to the promised line.

In the next set of lines, to me, he seems to be asking, "Can't our dialogue with each other better connect us rather than advertising and products?" It emphasizes the question by urging us to think on our own ("put it to your head")

In the next set of lines, he specifically refers to products introduced at the fair but then points out in the lines beginning with "Oh Great Intentions.." that these advertisers seem to have no conscience about the ramifications of the kinds of images they create. "Have you degraded us" the speaker asks. Again, the speaker is thinking hard about what image is presented and what consumerism has done.

The reference to Frank Lloyd Wright drives home the point, because his creations were independent of the mainstream architects of his time, that we've forgotten that the true sign of progress is our ability to think on our own and we should constantly work to advance our current thinking not imitate what's already been done.

In Part II, the speaker moves to his own art, mainly his writing, and through his visit with Sandburg, begins to think about how his art should come from his heart, not from what's already been done.

I also agree with previous posters that Sandburg is saying that even if you're intentions depict a dark and terrible world, are you staying true to what's inside of you?

The two parts try to show how all of us need to look within ourselves and think on our own, rather than try to be taken by the loads of advertising and products that come our way.

I love this song.

It's about the 1893 Worlds Fair (also called the World Columbian Exposition) held in Chicago. Cream of Wheat and the ferris wheel were first introduced there. As for the "what would Frank Lloyd Wright say?" line, he was an architect whose style was a depart from European influences. The exposition consisted of Romanesque, Greek, and Renaissance architecture.

I'm not quite sure of the 2nd part of the song yet. Any ideas?

I just love the line:

Even in his heart the Devil has to know the water level.

While Carl is asking Sufjan if he's writing from the heart, which Sandburg (as a poet) I believe must have valued, he throws that line in as if to say, "I don't even care if you're the Devil... is it from the heart?" Considering that the next song on the album is John Wayne Gacy, Jr., the question becomes even more poignant as it seems to inspire Sufjan to explore whether he is the Devil or not... beautiful sequencing on the album. I love artists who can work on such a large scale like this.

I adore this song. I absolutely love how he connected the two parts of the song. The instrumental between the songs connects them so smoothly, and adds in such a natural-sounding climax leading to a slower melody. I love the trumpets and violins, not to mention the lyrics. I think i like the second part more because it's more personal. Carl Sandburg was a fabulous poet, and i really like his poem about Chicago.

this is an amazing song. its like an essay but in wonderous musical form.

the only part of this song that has not been anazlyed, as far as I can see, is the "I was hypnotized, I was asked, to improvise, on the attitude and regret of a thousand centuries of death." Which I think is the most important line in the song. I think it is talking about how man first started using agriculture 10,000 years ago, and as a result, the earth has been dying ever since.

I agree strongly with the first poster. I can't believe there aren't more comments on this song, because I think it's the most important song on the album. I can't do nearly as good a job explaining the first part as some of the above posters, but what I would add is that the first half of this song is very reminiscent of the work Sufjan did on Michigan, cataloguing Flint or Detroit. And as Stupid_name put it, he does a good job of describing Chicago with the music and the lyrics. (Even if they're clearly about the World's Fair: much of Chicago still has the World's Fair feeling.)

The second-part of the song is the revelatory part, though, and not just because the switch from the initial 3-3-2 pattern to a straight 4 is the most progressive music on the album. Especially now that Sufjan has released Avalanche, it's possible to glimpse how large this project was when he was compiling it. And the second part of this song is Sufjan's reminder to himself that, in the middle of all this research and all these melodies, it's the personal touches that make the music powerful. On a broader level, it's a call out to the poet in all of us to follow our intuition, and expose our inner selves to truly create great art. And given that the songs that follow clearly embrace this vision ("Casimir Pulaski", "Chicago", "Pittsfield", "McClure", "Predatory Wasp" to name only a few stellar examples) the second part of "Come on Feel the Illinoise" is Sufjan Stevens laying his songwriting method bare for the listener. It's the closest we get on the album to a glimpse into his creative process.

I'm certainly not the first to say this, but many have observed that Stevens' albums aren't quite emo and aren't quite historic. You don't get the sense that Stevens is going to come to your house and lay up sobbing with you, and the history is at best pointillistic and often simply name-dropping. Ultimately, though, Stevens technique is to reflect on his own personal history through the history of the states he is describing. In this song, he as much as admits to the technique, and far from being a drawback I think this technique is what makes his albums so compelling. The history allows him to approach difficult and emotional issues without the navel-gazing that has ruined many an indie emo band. The honest personal emotion makes his music powerful. The two together are much more than the sum of the parts, and in the second section of this song, Sufjan clearly recognizes and celebrates this.

can i just ask, or plead, people not to leave comments that dont shed any new light on the meaning of the song lyrics, i'm not sure if this site is for people to comment on whether they like it or not but its a little annoying when you want to understand a song and you have to read either small commments like ''i love this song it rocks'' cos i mean, if you're commenting on the song then we know you like it, probably, or comments that just repeat what other people have already said

Jsh17...please don't leave comments like yours..thanks!

Sorry if I offend you Jsh17 by not making a comment on the meaning of this song; but about 2:20 into the song there is a really cool trumpet bit which reminds me so much of an old(ish) song and I was wondering if anyone else can pick it, cause I can't. It's been bugging me for ages :p