The most haunting and thought-provoking song I've ever heard. To not only empthize with America's most notorious serial killers but compare yourself directly to him is the most daring things I've ever seen/heard done lyrically, and it's completely changed my opinions on the nature of evil. And although there's no question that John Wayne Gacy's actions were horrendous and terrible, you have to feel sympathy for the man for becoming mentally instable enough to commit such vile acts. It's unfortunate that he couldn't overcome his demons and that 33 lives were lost because of this. But you have to wonder how Stevens could possibly vilify himself to that level of evil after hearing that chilling final verse.
Even though I believe Sufjan Steven's prominent religious themes are discussed too heavily when it comes to discussing the meanings of his songs, ultimately I think Stevens is asking here "what constitutes a sin?" If 'sinners' go to hell, and every human is inclined to hurt someone and commit sin at some point in their life, doesn't that mean we're all going to hell? Are we really forgiveable for the sins we commit? Is murder really 'the ultimate sin', or is Stevens as guilty as Gacy for having sinned against others for his own sake?
People always end up regreting and questioning the bad things they do, as if they didn't really mean it and it was beyond their control. But what control did Gacy have over his troubled childhood, his indifferent father, or even his urge to kill and molest those boys? Could John Wayne Gacy's murderous tendancies be credited to the sins of other human beings? And did he deserve to become the troubled man that he became? Stevens is trying to say that nobody has the right to classify him as a 'monster', because ultimately he was just as much a human being as anybody else, a human distorted by the inevitable evil of the human condition.
Any one of us could have turned out like Gacy. His murders just go to show that human species is truly capable of evil, because we don't have control over how we are raised. We have all done things that we never thought we were capable of, and although we may want to deny it, we are all in some way like John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
@Aaron342 Typical left-wing nonsense. Psychopathy is inborn, and if "bad childhood" were the real reason then there'd be millions of serial-killers. Sufjan is a complete fool if he actually believes that there is a psychopath lunatic in everyone.The inability to believe in evil (people) is a coward's choice, the lack of bravery in facing nature in all its brutality.
@Aaron342 Typical left-wing nonsense. Psychopathy is inborn, and if "bad childhood" were the real reason then there'd be millions of serial-killers. Sufjan is a complete fool if he actually believes that there is a psychopath lunatic in everyone.The inability to believe in evil (people) is a coward's choice, the lack of bravery in facing nature in all its brutality.
The most haunting and thought-provoking song I've ever heard. To not only empthize with America's most notorious serial killers but compare yourself directly to him is the most daring things I've ever seen/heard done lyrically, and it's completely changed my opinions on the nature of evil. And although there's no question that John Wayne Gacy's actions were horrendous and terrible, you have to feel sympathy for the man for becoming mentally instable enough to commit such vile acts. It's unfortunate that he couldn't overcome his demons and that 33 lives were lost because of this. But you have to wonder how Stevens could possibly vilify himself to that level of evil after hearing that chilling final verse.
Even though I believe Sufjan Steven's prominent religious themes are discussed too heavily when it comes to discussing the meanings of his songs, ultimately I think Stevens is asking here "what constitutes a sin?" If 'sinners' go to hell, and every human is inclined to hurt someone and commit sin at some point in their life, doesn't that mean we're all going to hell? Are we really forgiveable for the sins we commit? Is murder really 'the ultimate sin', or is Stevens as guilty as Gacy for having sinned against others for his own sake?
People always end up regreting and questioning the bad things they do, as if they didn't really mean it and it was beyond their control. But what control did Gacy have over his troubled childhood, his indifferent father, or even his urge to kill and molest those boys? Could John Wayne Gacy's murderous tendancies be credited to the sins of other human beings? And did he deserve to become the troubled man that he became? Stevens is trying to say that nobody has the right to classify him as a 'monster', because ultimately he was just as much a human being as anybody else, a human distorted by the inevitable evil of the human condition.
Any one of us could have turned out like Gacy. His murders just go to show that human species is truly capable of evil, because we don't have control over how we are raised. We have all done things that we never thought we were capable of, and although we may want to deny it, we are all in some way like John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
@Aaron342 Typical left-wing nonsense. Psychopathy is inborn, and if "bad childhood" were the real reason then there'd be millions of serial-killers. Sufjan is a complete fool if he actually believes that there is a psychopath lunatic in everyone.The inability to believe in evil (people) is a coward's choice, the lack of bravery in facing nature in all its brutality.
@Aaron342 Typical left-wing nonsense. Psychopathy is inborn, and if "bad childhood" were the real reason then there'd be millions of serial-killers. Sufjan is a complete fool if he actually believes that there is a psychopath lunatic in everyone.The inability to believe in evil (people) is a coward's choice, the lack of bravery in facing nature in all its brutality.
@gorgon1138 from where is this supposed to be left wing for you? It's just being deterministic
@gorgon1138 from where is this supposed to be left wing for you? It's just being deterministic