The Seer's Tower

As a reminder, this looooong-ass entry is from an atheist's mind. I am not religious, but I do appreciate it for what it is, and Sufjan can make some good fucking art with it. Also, these lyrics have bothered me for a while.

The way Sufjan structures each line seems to represent the tower as a metaphor for his faith. Why a tower? It's majestic, tall, and intended for the faithful ones to go to the top. Sufjan is at the top questioning his faith.

The first lines, "In the tower above the earth / there is a view that reaches far / where we see the universe" are telling the viewer that faith provides people with these gifts. All they must do is believe to get to the top.

The following line, "I see the fire, I see the end" is referencing the title of the song, a pun on the Sears Tower in Illinois. A seer, by definition, is one that can foresee events before they happen. Sufjan is one of these faithful people, and he can see the apocalypse, or some end, approaching because of what we, as humans, have done. This is a common theme in Illinoise, that humanity has lost creativity over its existence.

The next 4 lines describe the effects of this tower in further detail. "Seven miles above the Earth" uses "7", a common biblical number that represents completeness (see Seven Swans).

"There is Emmanuel of Mothers / with His sword, with His robe / He comes dividing man from brothers" uses Emmanuel, another biblical term, which just means "God with us", or simply God. There is a bible verse, Matthew 10:34 and 10:35, that, in short, proclaims that God gives humanity the sword, or the hard way, instead of peace altogether, and that He asks for one's complete attention, setting aside all family and friends to be with Him. God is "dividing man from brothers" as a result. Sufjan sees this as a bad thing, causing him to question back and forth whether he should remain on this tower in the next 4 lines.

"In the tower above the Earth, we built it for Emmanuel / In the powers of the earth, we wait until it rips and rips / In the tower above the Earth, we built it for Emmanuel". These lines represent Sufjan's direct questioning of his faith. He goes back and forth, almost desperately, as evidenced by the sudden pitch shift he makes. We made religion ("the Tower") a thing, with the belief of God already in mind ("for Emmanuel"). But he also says that the tower is in the "powers of the earth", and that the tower "rips and rips", or simply tears the earth apart. He can't decide on whether his faith is a good thing.

And then there's "Oh, my mother, she betrayed us. But my father loved and bathed us," which is probably the most important line of all. The mother can be one of 2 things: Carrie Stevens, Sufjan's real life mother who was never quite good to him, or it can be mother earth as a whole. Now, the father is NOT Lowell Brams. Or Rasjid Stevens. In this line, the father is God. Okay, just thought I'd address that. Now let's analyze the actual line. Sufjan describes mother earth as a traitor, because of humanity's general indolence, like in "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!". As a result, he is drawn to God (the father) for giving him all his gifts. All Sufjan has to do is follow those bible lines from earlier, stay on the tower, and he'd keep these gifts. He's almost made the decision to stay on the tower forever.

But finally, he realizes the truth. "Still I go to the deepest grave / where I go to sleep alone". He realizes that the tower, faith itself, has blinded him from reality, and that earth has to be cruel. Bad things will happen, whether God exists or not. So, he makes his final decision to leave the tower. He goes back down to earth ("the deepest grave") , and mourns the sad truth ("go to sleep alone").

So, why is this subject in an album on the State of Illinois? He could've called this song "The CHRISTler Building" and placed in a New York album. Well, in a way, the Sears Tower is the same thing as this fictitious Seer's Tower: something majestic, tall, and something people expect gifts from. I think Sufjan specifically chose to reference the Sears Tower here, because of his personal history with Illinois, which REALLY says something: the song is personal. It's what he's really thinking in his mind.

sigh my god. Yes, I said God.