Art Essay Number 2: Romulus by Sufjan Stevens

I wanted to share one of my favorite songs from singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens' 2003 album entitled Michigan. The release is a collection of songs that reference places and people in Stevens' home state. The song is structured in a strophic format, meaning each stanza of the lyrics follow the same rhyme scheme and pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. This song could also be analyzed as being in AAA song form, becuase there is a refrain after each verse tying the song together. AAA song form is common in folk music where the song often becomes a vehicle for storytelling. The repeated verses give the songwriter plenty of space to develop that story and/or message. In songs with this format, the lyrical content is often the primary focus, not the music, and in this example Stevens makes effective use of sparse instrumentation with just guitar, piano, banjo, and voice.

I'm not an expert on poetic devices, but I think Stevens' mastery of his craft really shines in Romulus through the usage of alliteration, interesting rhymes, and imagery. Take a look at the lyrics below for some of these references. In lines one and two of the first stanza, Stevens employs alliteration and a slant rhyme with "called" and "cough." I also like the internal rhyme in the second stanza between "away," "day," and "Chevrolet." The imagery evoked in stanzas one and four of the children passing around the phone and the hospital scene is especially powerful in my opinion. Stanza three contains a brilliant line about the consequences of the mother's absence in the children's life and the grandfather's attempt to mitigate the situation. "Our grandpa bought us a new VCR/ We watched it all night, but grew up in spite of it."

There isn't much uplifting about this song, and I believe Stevens' quiet and somber vocal delivery perfectly captures this. Though the song is in a first person point of view, I don't know if this song is about Stevens' childhood or someone that he knew or was in contact with. Either way, it's still a very moving piece of art.

Once when our mother called,
She had a voice of last year's cough.
We passed around the phone,
Sharing a word about Oregon.
When my turn came, I was ashamed.
When my turn came, I was ashamed.

Once when we moved away,
She came to Romulus for a day.
Her Chevrolet broke down.
We prayed it'd never be fixed or be found.
We touched her hair, we touched her hair.
We touched her hair, we touched her hair.

When she had her last child,
Once when she had some boyfriends, some wild.
She moved away quite far.
Our grandpa bought us a new VCR.
We watched it all night, but grew up in spite of it.
We watched it all night, but grew up in spite of it.

We saw her once last fall.
Our grandpa died in a hospital gown.
She didn't seem to care.
She smoked in her room and colored her hair.

I was ashamed, I was ashamed of her
I was ashamed, I was ashamed of her
I was ashamed, I was ashamed of her
I was ashamed, I was ashamed of her