Lyrics for John Wayne Gacy, Jr. as interpreted by attractivecousin

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics
His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's t-shirts
When the swingset hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep
Oh, the dead

Twenty-seven people
Even more, they were boys
With their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed
He kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took off all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss on the mouth

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid

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attractivecousin
04-27-2005

Rated -1 
I'm sorry, Sufjan. I disagree with the notion that you're "just like" him. I don't care what secrets you've hidden under your floor boards. If they aren't really rotting corpses, then It's just not a very good analogy.

I do like this song though. I've always been so fascinated by John Wayne Gacy.

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4 Replies
special 3lend
04-30-2005

Rated 0 
totally with you attractivecousin. i didn't know who he was, but after listening to this song, i had to look him up. such an interesting story.

i really don't know what to make of that "i am really just like him" part of the song. i guess it's just that every single person has a/some deep dark secret that they don't tell anyone. still, what an amaaaaazing song. probably my favorite off of illinois.

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heroinhotwater
05-03-2005

Rated 0 
This song fills me with such strange emotions.
It is one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard and it is about a serial killer. Sufjan is a true artist.

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Yoshiidino
05-05-2005

Rated 0 
The moment when Sufjan first breaks into falsetto at "oh my god" is one of the most chillingly beautiful things I've ever heard

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5 Replies
beulahrawk
05-07-2005

Rated +1 
Well, from a Christian perspective, when Sufjan sings "I am really just like him," it is harking back to the foundational belief that all men are sinful and none of them are worthy in God's eyes. So even though Sufjan probably hasn't ever murdered anyone or committed any act that heinous in human terms, the state of his soul (before coming to Christ) was no better than John Wayne Gacy's.

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3 Replies
morbot
05-15-2005

Rated 0 
best song of the album. absolutely haunting.

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xiaohoa
05-22-2005

Rated 0 
yes, this song is super wonderful.

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attractivecousin
06-03-2005

Rated 0 
Oh yes. I keep forgetting to look at things through a Christian's perspective. That definitely helps.

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E Benson
06-20-2005

Rated 0 
This song is absolutely amazing, my favorite parts are when he sings higher...like at the "Oh my God" part and "on the mouth"

this song has an indescribeable feeling to it, it's so amazing...probably the best on the album..but it's hard for me to decide yet, since i'm in love with the entire album currently...it takes me about 3 weeks to decide which are my "favorites"

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drowningnoah
07-09-2005

Rated 0 
lovely melody, but the subject matter of the lyrics about the serial killer is disturbing and then at the end, he compares himself to gacy. a stark example to show the perspective of how all men have fallen short of the glory of God, that all are utterly sinful. you won't find mainstream christian artists like jars of clay or even shane barnard to ever sing songs like this.

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Childe
07-13-2005

Rated 0 
I think that's what makes Sufjan a cut above the rest, drowningnoah.

I think this is one of the most simplictically powerful songs about falling short of God's glory and a reminder that, without the grace of God, like beulahrawk said, our souls are no better off than Gacy's.

and that falsetto gives me chills every time.

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Stinger947
07-14-2005

Rated 0 
This song automatically stuck out for me, even without listening to the lyrics. After a few days, I started listening to the words and I was shocked to realize that the beautiful music was telling a tale of a murderer.

I personally don't view this song with a Christian perspective. When Sufjan says "I am really just like him", it sounds like he feels disgusting. Sometimes there are periods in one's life where they feel like they're such a horrible person because they make wrong decisions/do wrong deeds and they don't understand why.

"How can I ever be normal?"

"I'm a freak."

I think we have friends like that. They hide their true selves and only show a bastard of a person that you want to punch in the face (hah).

When these people find themselves alone, they feel like dirt, like a murderer.

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JeremyB1
07-15-2005

Rated 0 
wow. i think the "i am just like him" section is the best part of the song. the difficulty of the lyrics is not being too sympathetic to someone who did something so horrific yet not writing a preachy song comdemning a serial killer which would be exceedingly obvious and boring. sufjan offers the perfect level of compassion for someone whose horrific acts were clearly the result of being deeply mentally disturbed and by lowering himself (and everyone since everyone has some secrets and acts they aren't proud of hiding somewhere) as opposed to elevating gacy too much he doesn't overdo it.

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BizzyR18
07-22-2005

Rated 0 
My favorite part of the song is in the end when you can hear him breathe, it almost sounds like he's hiding that he is crying and holding back so much pain.

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BizzyR18
07-22-2005

Rated 0 
My favorite part of the song is in the end when you can hear him breathe, it almost sounds like he's hiding that he is crying and holding back so much pain.

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2 Replies
aereogramme
07-25-2005

Rated 0 
This song is pretty amazing. The whole subject matter of the song is mentally relaxing yet strikingly startling. To take such a tragic person and make a beautiful song from it is true talent. I also love the song "A Winner Needs A Wand".

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jady
07-25-2005

Rated 0 
Pretty much all of Sufjan Stevens' songs are written from a narrative perspective of a character; therefore I think that when he says "I am really just like him" he is speaking from the POV of a character who may well be a killer. I think it is a mistake to view this song with any overt christian message, because it seems to imply that all people have a bit of Gacy in them: "are you one of them?" Some other songs he writes have to do with faith, but this one is about human fallibility. The attempt to humanize a "monster" like Gacy is laudable, and few people would take it on. This song is downright spooky.

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jady
07-25-2005

Rated 0 
And to say that all people are like Gacy before "coming to Jesus", that's just stupid.

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lichty
07-28-2005

Rated 0 
Perhaps, when he says "I am really just like him" he is referring to the way Gacy lured his victims--taking on a different persona and dressing as a clown (hence the painting of the clown on the cd insert). So maybe we all mask our true selves at times, not to cover up or hid from the bad things we do, but in order to rationalize committing the acts in the first place.

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sergiolikewhoa
08-04-2005

Rated 0 
"And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid"

I think Sufjan is referencing the Christian idea that all sins are equal in the eyes of the Lord. So even when Sufjan is being a good guy, the sins he has commited and not repented for are just as bad as the heinous crimes John Wayne Gacy commited.

Either way, I love this song. Instantly my favorite on the new album.

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precipitate
08-14-2005

Rated 0 
'The moment when Sufjan first breaks into falsetto at "oh my god" is one of the most chillingly beautiful things I've ever heard'
---I agree with that. I really love this song.

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AIRPORT
08-15-2005

Rated +1 
I thought that it was pretty clear why he describes Gacy as being "just like him".
The majority of the time when he refers to Gacy he talks about his childhood -and its normality. He gives a few little details which underline this.
To all intents and purposes there is no reason that I, nor Sufjan can work out why Gacy turned out the way he did and Sufjan did not. That's what the song is mostly about.
When he says "and in my best behaviour" it's like he's transporting himself back to his childhood (no adults seriously talk about themselves as being 'on their best behaviour') for the purposes of comparing himself directly with Gacy.

In this respect the song is partly about a loss of innocence and the mystery behind why similar people take different paths.

It always annoys me slightly when christians try to read too much into sufjan. It's like theyre *claiming* him and every song he's ever written for god.
I love the purity of his spirituality (he references faults of and doubts about his god in his lyrics.)
I doubt that god enters into everything stevens does -sure his religion is an influence but I think it would be a mistake to say that his beliefs influence his songs any more than say, the town where he grew up or his childhood.

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2 Replies
jady
08-17-2005

Rated 0 
That's a great reading, AIRPORT.

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pstans
08-18-2005

Rated 0 
This is such a great song. I agree with the people who think the "I am just like him" part is a referrence to being a sinner in God's eye. The emphasis on "Oh my God" points into that direction.

I never did consider what Airport said about 2 people with similar backgroungs going in very different paths. It is something to think about. Maybe when Sufjan sings, "Oh my God," he is showing that he believes in God and Gacy did not.

Another thing to lookat is that Stevens uses the words "best behavior" twice in the song. First when Gacy is about to kill someone and that he is being on his best behavior. The second time is when Sufjan says that when he is on his best behavior, he is just like him. Not real sure what to make of that.

What do you think of those connections?

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beulahrawk
08-19-2005

Rated -1 
Aw come on, it's not very often that we uptight ole' Christians get a Christian artist who actually tops the indie charts and has become a favorite of music critics and music blogs all around. What a hero!
But really, why is it so annoying that Christians view a Christian songwriter's lyrics from a Christian point of view? You could hardly expect anything else. It's just another meaning to look at, and it's probably the most elucidating at times, isn't that what we're discussing and trying to figure out by posting on this website? Sorry that it may seem like Christian listeners are "claiming" Sufjan, but my guess is that if he were a devout follower of any other religion, like Islam for example, there would be far less fuss and resistance raised in response to Muslim interpretations and whatnot.

"I doubt that god enters into everything stevens does -sure his religion is an influence but I think it would be a mistake to say that his beliefs influence his songs any more than say, the town where he grew up or his childhood."
Personally, I must disagree with the first part of this statement. From examining his lyrics, I find it clear that Sufjan is a strong believer, and as with true religion, your faith causes you to strive to bring glory to God (or whatever ultimate deity) in all aspects of your life. And to me, this song had the most blatant Christian reference on the album.

pstans, going along with the "sinner" interpretation, then it must follow that Sufjan, in talking about his "best behavior," means that his very best isn't good enough to put him above the sinful state of the human race, of which Gacy is a part.

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