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
Oh, history involved itself
Mysterious shade that took its form
Or what it was, incarnation, three stars
Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes



Lyrics submitted by thisismyname

Track duration: 02:08


Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:The piano reminds me of England by the National.
    Flag Merry0123on July 03, 2011   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:I will give this a crack as I think people are dancing around the subject. To understand this, you have to combine his full "occult" background with his current Christianity, and of course relating these two states to the wondrous event of the song. I posted on "Vesuvius" and "I Want to be Well" to go into much greater detail on these other topics.

    It's a beautiful song, but it has a bit of creepy tone, not a sound of true excitement. Given his upbringing, he was brought up in the belief that he was of alien lineage, something taught to illuminati children (sadistic worshipers of Lucifer).

    When the revenant came down
    We couldn't imagine what it was

    The "revenant" is not a description of Christ, as its of an evil nature. Some posters are correct in saying that "the second coming" is not Christian-specific. The end times have been prophesied about from the Old Testament and heavily in Revelation, but it has been copied by many other religions, including Islam (reversing the roles of the characters to make the antichrist out to be the Messiah).

    The illuminati believe in the (re)incarnation of Lucifer to lead the New World Order, while Christians believe this will be the coming antichrist. Some illuminati also belief in space travel, and experience it possibly through demon possession, unless their experiences can be believed as real. Some believe that the illuminati will bring this creature from another universe, but Christians believe he will really come from the earth, according to Revelation.

    In the spirit of three stars
    The alien thing that took its form

    the antichrist or Lucifer-incarnate makes his presence known

    Then to Lebanon, oh God
    The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow
    Oh, history involved itself

    ..prophecies come true

    Mysterious shade that took its form
    Or what it was, incarnation, three stars
    Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes

    Like the holy trinity of the Bible, the Luciferians believe in the coming of an "unholy trinity". According to Revelation, this antichrist will perform wondrous miracles and bring world peace and essentially unite the world, and the world will (incorrectly) look to him as the Messiah.

    The amazing end times scenarios predicted in Revelation and the Old Testament have been playing out just as prophesied. Take a closer look and try to ignore the line you are being fed by today's media.
    Flag cragion March 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Ummm Sufjan is a Christian. And this song is about an event actually happening, not waiting for the event to occur. So my guess is he's referring to Yeshua coming down the first time and tying it with the UFO sightings. Pretty flipping sweet.
    Flag motownfreak15on September 21, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think this song makes it clear that Sufjan's mind is open and able to understand certain theories without automatically disregarding them, faith or not. We all know the title of the song "concerning the UFO sighting etc etc". That sighting is well documented, and as has been said, four of the witnesses were police officers from three different counties (I think) which would be "credible" witnesses by "societies standards".

    Lets take the title into consideration when we look at the first line of the song; "When the revenant came down". It's obvious, right of the bat Sufjan is comparing the UFO to the "revenant", which as people have already stated means one that will return after death or a lengthy absence. Sufjan stevens doesn't usually beat around the bush, his lyrics are very descriptive. When he compared the UFO to the revenant I do not believe it was by accident, or some vague emotional or metaphysical reference to be interpreted in a big manner of ways. I believe he is referencing the theory that most major ancient religions are based off actual occurrences of space fairing beings either creating mankind, or sowing the seeds of our culture.

    This becomes more evident as he continues to allude to the UFO being "incarnation"."delivering signs" the sames signs that were delivered to ancient peoples. "Dusting off their eyes" removing the dust from peoples eyes, as they've kept blind faith to the religious institutions that have kept this truth from them.
    Flag TheGoolashon March 24, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:I listened to 'Illinois' the whole way through the very first time I heard any of the songs, and I don't remember paying much attention to this one. But then one night I had this strange dream, and the only thing I could remember from it was this weird piano melody playing over and over and over. I spent so much time after that trying to figure out what the song was-- I could even play it on piano, but I couldn't remember any words or anything about the song besides that tune, so I had no luck finding it, and eventually forgot about it. And then one day my iPod was on shuffle, and I got a shiver down my spine as I heard those fateful notes ringing out again. It took a minute for me to realise why they seemed so familiar, because I'd forgotten all about the dream; it was almost like musical deja vu. So all lyrics and meanings aside, this song has one of the most haunting piano lines I've ever heard, even without being able to put a name to it.
    Flag lemons41on September 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I get the religious allusions, but could it be that perhaps it's referring to the rebirth of a town or an area? Because I would imagine that something like an alleged UFO sighting would bring plenty o' tourists to the area, and thus cause an otherwise sleepy area to thrive?
    Flag joeydangerron July 21, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:My only complaint is that this song is way too short.


    Beautifully mesmerizing.
    Flag Cacity87on July 30, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:beautiful song. the only problem that i have with it is that it isn't longer. i could listen to that piano melody and sufjan's voice for hours.
    Flag jaigurudeva89on April 27, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that Sufjan is using the UFO sighting as a metaphor for faith and Jesus returning.
    The biblical references have well been pointed out, but a prominent reference that hasn't been given very much attention is the "Then to Lebanon, oh God" line. While Lebanon is a city in IL, it was far before and still is a country in the Middle East and mentioned very many times in the Bible. The land of the cedars with the Phoenecians and Beirut and all? That's Lebanon.
    Flag ridingfromaboveon February 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I just got done watching a program about the first civilizations of earth, and how it is believed by some that alien beings came to earth and gave us a gentle push in the direction we are in now; Teaching us how to build, sow seeds, etc. Maybe this is a reference to that theory as well, that our first perception of God/s were an alien race. It was interesting to see how the mayans built pyramids of varying sizes on one sight, that from the air resembled our solar system, including one small structure that could've represented Pluto, allthough Pluto was discovered only 3 decades ago(and sadly is now not a planet).
    I see the biblical references, and I can tell Sufjan is most definitely a spiritual man, but I just thought I would throw this out there, since oddly enough I just got done watching the show.
    I LOVE this song with a passion now. This and John Wayne Gacy, Jr. I just discovered Sufjan a little less than a month ago, and I am madly in love with his music now! Can't wait to hear his album for Missouri!
    Flag enjoybradon February 24, 2008   Link

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