Lyrics for Chicago as interpreted by beastiefreak00

Chicago Lyrics
I fell in love again
All things go, all things go
Drove to Chicago
All things know, all things know
We sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go

I drove to New York
In the van, with my friend
We slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with the place
In my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go

If I was crying
In the van, with my friend
It was for freedom
From myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
(I made a lot of mistakes)
All things know, all things know
(I made a lot of mistakes)
You had to find it
(I made a lot of mistakes)
All things go, all things go
(I made a lot of mistakes)

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sabertoothedbliss
02-16-2006

Rated 0 
I simply took this song to mean that the narrator was coming to Chicago to escape from the things haunting his past. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my mind" makes me think he's done something wrong, but he's making it out to be a lot worse than it is. He's crying for freedom because he can start over in a new city without people judging him.

This song and John Wayne Gacy create a theme of regret and remorse throughout the album. Anyone else agree?

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fsfwannabe
02-19-2006

Rated 0 
I get that same regret vibe that you're picking up on sabertooth.

I actually sense that he's picked up and moved on again in the attempt to recreate himself in a new place. He wants to think that he's learned from his failures in New York, but I think he senses that he's going to end up doomed to repeat them.

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robdharma
03-02-2006

Rated 0 
"I fell in love again, all things go". Obviously the song is about falling in love again and the regret of a past relationship. It's often difficult to subjectively look at a situation you are in while you are in it. However, when it ends, and you reflect, you see the bigger picture. And yes, God is a big part of his journey. Even if you screw up, you can always start fresh. This IS a "song of hope"-- to quote Robert Plant.

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ANOTHERLAITGIRL
03-10-2006

Rated 0 
this song is truly amazing.
it just envokes something inside of you that wishes every song could make you feel like this.

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searchingforaband
03-28-2006

Rated 0 
this is straight from an interview, when he was 19 he took a trip to chicago to get away from school with a couple of friends, they had to make it the whole weekend on 20 dollars each, they ended up staying with a group of homeless guys around the same age as them in a run down abandoned school, the new york part is obviously about his move to new york, he says the song is about running away from things

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geoffk
05-08-2006

Rated 0 
well, since apparently myopinionisafact\'s opinion is indeed a fact, i guess it\'s like i\'m arguing against Galileo in his scientific discoveries, which he claimed that all of his statements were the sole, right argument. however, first of all, i have looked hard and long to try to defend his stance on this song being about abortion, but that is so far-fetched it\'s like saying since man starts with m, and so does makeup, that all men are made from makeup. sure, you could argue that, but it\'s far-fetched and miniscule. personally, i see this song about getting away from the hubbub and nonsense of society and taking an introspective journey a la road trips. seeing things as an objective observer, you notice what you\'ve done wrong, as sufjan repeats over and over, as well as recognizing the beauty in things most often taken for granted by all of us. but hey, the letter A appears a couple times, so it could be about Abortion.

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wowitshana
05-08-2006

Rated 0 
This song is so gorgeous.

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Senella
05-08-2006

Rated 0 
I always imagined this song being about a man who lost it all and became homeless. He sold all of his possessions for money ("we sold our clothes to the state") and left for New York, thinking things will get better, but probably won't ("I was in love with the place in my mind, in my mind")

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somedevil1387
05-14-2006

Rated 0 
I think jda77 hit this one on the nose. Sufjan is deeply religious, and the whole album refers to God in different perspectives. The difference between Sufjan and other preachy Christian rock bands, is Sufjan explores Christianity through the various sides of HIS OWN devotion to God and what God means to him, instead of telling other people what God is.

Chicago, in my opinion, alludes to submission to God. He realizes that the material world is one of unimportance, but he struggles to break from it, as anyone would. Songs like "Casimir Pulaski Day" and "The Seer's Tower" explore his faith as well. Greetings From Michigan does the same thing, possibly even more. So does Seven Swans.

No matter what spin you wanna put on this song, it is incredibly beautiful. Sufjan is a lyrical genius and just the fact that we're all writing or reading about his multiple interpretations atests to that.

Take it easy.

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Bluepags03
06-15-2006

Rated 0 
Some of the posters have hit on some interesting ideas in terms of meaning. Abortion? Not sure. Religious? Perhaps. Certainly Stevens' work has touched on religious themes, and a song on this album, "Casimir Pulaski Day", finds a man searching for meaning from God after a close friend's death. But I'm not sure Stevens meant the album to be another "Seven Swans" though.

I think the song "Chicago" relates to the feelings and expectations many of us bring towards certain places in our lives or in this country. The speaker says he drove to New York and had a "mindset" about what it might do for him or that it might provide an answer to all his problems. As a result, many of us find that it isn't the place itself at all but rather what we make of it. The speaker moves to Chicago in hopes of finding something there too. The repeated chorus of "You came to take us/All things go/all things go" is meant to underscore this almost religious meaning we bring to certain places, as if New York or Chicago or Hollywood will somehow transform us.

The speaker isn't unrealistic by any means. How many people move to big cities in hopes of finding.....? In a more general way, I think Stevens has hit on what having a sense of place means. What is it about where we live or places we dream about that cause us to believe that these cities or towns almost have a force of their own? Or do they?

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Bluepags03
06-15-2006

Rated 0 
Some of the posters have hit on some interesting ideas in terms of meaning. Abortion? Not sure. Religious? Perhaps. Certainly Stevens' work has touched on religious themes, and a song on this album, "Casimir Pulaski Day", finds a man searching for meaning from God after a close friend's death. But I'm not sure Stevens meant the album to be another "Seven Swans" though.

I think the song "Chicago" relates to the feelings and expectations many of us bring towards certain places in our lives or in this country. The speaker says he drove to New York and had a "mindset" about what it might do for him or that it might provide an answer to all his problems. As a result, many of us find that it isn't the place itself at all but rather what we make of it. The speaker moves to Chicago in hopes of finding something there too. The repeated chorus of "You came to take us/All things go/all things go" is meant to underscore this almost religious meaning we bring to certain places, as if New York or Chicago or Hollywood will somehow transform us.

The speaker isn't unrealistic by any means. How many people move to big cities in hopes of finding.....? In a more general way, I think Stevens has hit on what having a sense of place means. What is it about where we live or places we dream about that cause us to believe that these cities or towns almost have a force of their own? Or do they?

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milhouse73
06-17-2006

Rated 0 
morrissey once shared a story in an interview about a fan who told him about her favorite smiths song and how she knew what it meant. naturally, he told her she was absolutely "right on" even though he had something else in mind when he wrote it (sorry, i can't remember the specific song 'cos i read this a long-ass time ago). he explained that he wasn't merely pandering to a consumer of his band's albums. it's just that he believed that whatever moves us, the listeners, is just as valid as what the author wrote. very democratic take on his own tunes, don't you think?

i'm humbled by many of the analyses on this site like that of robdharma and bluepags03. a tip o' the hat to you fine scholars. your sincere, unpretentious comments make visiting forums like this worthwhile. of course, i have my own take on the song.

having been born and raised in chicago, i feel like this speaks to my love (deserved or otherwise) of my home. after all, it is a city of closely-knit neighborhoods. i feel like the chorus is speaking of the city as an entity. "you came to takes us"? the city accepting and nurturing us. "to recreate us"? the opportunities to re-invent ourselves in chicago are many. "all things grow"? that could be us or the city itself.

everything else is universal experience. the whole going-to-new-york thing? well, obviously he's made a lot of mistakes (soof-yon mentions it a few times, i don't know if you noticed) and he's running away AND he wants freedom from the land. i think the narrator of the song means that he wants freedom from his past which he associates with his time in chicago. however, you can never really escape your past or your roots, can you?

i'm sure haters will come out of the woodwork to tell tell me that the only time sufjan came close to chicago was when he went to six flags in grade school and hate that i don't attach any religious signifigance to the song, etc., to them, i say, "it's a beautiful song. can't we share it? "

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Spence189
06-21-2006

Rated 0 
what do you guys think of SNOW PATROL mentioning this song BY NAME in their song "hands open?"

i think it's pretty cool. gives Sufjan props for the influence this songs had on the band.

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TigerlilyGirl
06-28-2006

Rated 0 
Best song out of the Illinois album... the whole thing is great, this is the masterpiece!

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hippie07
06-29-2006

Rated 0 
this song is my anthem. but it's amusing b/c i actually did take a road trip to chicago w/ my friend...and then got straight up busted for it but still this song was there for me. it's aobut learning from past experiences and going on in ur life. and the instrumentals rock

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GMM
07-13-2006

Rated 0 
I dont think there's that much to say about this one. Lyrics are pretty direct and when you remember that Sufjan is a Christian all that "You came to take us, to recreate us" stuff makes sense.

It's an utterly fantastic song, definitely my favourite on Illinoise and I love the three different versions on The Avalanche.

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sexyduck
07-24-2006

Rated 0 
I'm a big sufjan fan, and this was the first song i heard by him. "if i was crying, in the van with my friend, it was for freedom from myself and from the land, I've made a lot of mistakes" this part is especially moving for me, because it's easy to relate to, whenever I think back on what i've done i can almost hear the part "i've made a lot of mistakes" repeating in my head as it does in this song. this song is beautiful.

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polkadottedfame
08-02-2006

Rated 0 
i think its about jesus. wahoo.

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yaywhoowee
08-03-2006

Rated 0 
beautiful

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow

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frothypie
08-06-2006

Rated 0 
Love this song, I think it's about self-purification through love.

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Vocalities
08-19-2006

Rated 0 
hearing him say 'i made a lot of mistakes' makes me feel a lot better about making my own.

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watkins
08-23-2006

Rated 0 
sorry if this is a little off topic, but i've searched everywhere for it. does anyone know what he's saying near the end of the Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version. It starts with something like "If I was right or wrong I can't..." To me it's one of the most beautiful parts of any Sufjan song, and I'd love to know what he says.

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Macdaddy444
08-30-2006

Rated 0 
This song trips me out for sure. I know my take is sort of abstract but its the only thing i think of when i hear it. I feel like when he says "If i was crying, in the van, with my friend, it was for freedom, from myself and from the land" he is talking about this weird obsession or imprisonment he is engaged in with himself and the land. The land being the different places and culturs that compose our country which might explain his reason for doing the whole 50 states thing. Ive never heard of anyone having such a thing but maybe he is just such weird guy that we gets attached to places and since it was "in his mind" he cant help but follow through with his compulsions to go places and fall in love with them. Or something like that. I have trouble putting this thought into words.

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ohxmy_spaceship
09-08-2006

Rated 0 
We listen to this song sometimes in AD Design and people will just start singing along. Its great. Awesome song.

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elemdee
10-15-2006

Rated 0 
i just found this song and have just spent the last half hour listening to it over and over. it is so beautiful. i think it says a lot about a song when you love it from the very first listen. can't wait to hear some more of his stuff. wow! this song has made my day!

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