Sufjan Stevens "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." Guitar Tab
A lot of you e-mailed about the promised Death Cab tab. Sorry I'm not done with it yet! I thought you might like this, though, 'cause it doesn't require an oboe and banjo.
Sufjan Stevens' chilling and suitable-for-strumming "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." got Stereogummed a while back. It phunked with Pitchfork's heart too:
"John Wayne Gacy, Jr." traces, with alarming accuracy, and over a hazy swirl of acoustic guitar and piano, the pathology of Illinois' most infamous serial killer: From 1972 until his arrest in 1978, Gacy was responsible for the torture, rape, and murder of 33 boys and young men, many of whom were discovered buried under the floorboards of his Norwood Park home. Lyrically, Stevens nails the specifics (as a kid, Gacy was slammed in the head by a swing, resulting in a blackout-inducing blood clot in his brain; he routinely donned a clown suit to entertain at a local hospital; victims were typically immobilized with chloroform-soaked cloths), and shifts perspectives gracefully; anchored in first-person, the song's narrator prods Gacy's mother and father, his neighbors, his victims, himself. More than any other track here, "Gacy" highlights Stevens' literary prowess, perfectly packed with nuance and detail.So we've got Dm Cadd9 Am F. Pretty ho-hum ... but get one of those Illinoisemaker uniforms and you've got a party. I tabbed out the fingerpicking 'cause I want one of you to improve on it and send back. Go team!
Sufjan Stevens - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."
Tabbed by Scott Stereogum
Capo 3
e ---1---3---1---0-----------------
B -3---3---3---3-----3---3---3---1-
G --2---2---2---2--0---0---0---0---
D 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---2---2---2---2--
A ----------------3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3--
E ---------------------------------
e ---------------------------------
B ---1---1---1---1---1---1---1-----
G -2---2---2---2---2---2---2-------
D --2---2---2---2---3---3---3--3-2-
A 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0------------------
E ----------------1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0--
Lyrics
His father was a drinkerSick of Sufjan yet? I'll scale it down after the Bowery shows:
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 of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my GodAre 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 of all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouthAnd in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid
Fri 8/19Those of you seeing subsequent gigs are so lucky to get Laura Veirs as opener. Stereogum praise for her new CD TK.
Sat 8/20 w/ Feathers
Sun 8/21 w/ Bunky
Mon 8/22 w/ Bunky
Tue 8/23 w/ Danielson Famile
Posted at 8:52 AM
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FIRST!
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Any chance on re-posting the Gacy mp3? I don't have my guitar with me. ;)
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I really like Sufjan, but this song makes me sick, just fucking sick. Am I missing something? Someone please explain it to me.
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Are you kidding? If not for you, I never would have been turned onto this gem of an album in the first place. (Although, admittedly, it's all over the damn blogosphere.) I look forward to giving this tab a try. I think "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." is going to go over quite well at the family BBQ this weekend. My mom's gonna love it.
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Also, for those who are so inclined, the chords for Casimir Pulaski Day are: D -> C -> Am -> G. Play a B passing root note between the C and the Am and you are golden. Another party jam from Sufjan to rock out to. Just hopefully not actually at a party...cause it might be kind of a downer. Ok a big downer.
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My mother, who's almost 60, loves the new Illinois CD, and I listened to it with her in her kitchen recently while we made dinner. She really liked this song until she heard the line "look underneath the floorboards," at which point she turns to me and says, "what the hell is this song about?" I told her and she was creeped out.
So yeah, seiche, I understand your reaction, but I'll tell you what I told my mom. The song is meant to be disturbing, it's meant to make Gacy's life seem normal, everyday, even exemplary. I think the main point of it is to explore what made him different than anyone else, and what made him different than Sufjan or the listeners themselves. I think the answer is that there isn't an answer. Sometimes people do awful things and sometimes there's no real explanation for it, and in reality, we're all capable of doing things beyond explanation.
Anyway, that was my take on it. I'll stop waxing poetic and acting like I know why it was written. In recap: disturbing, yes... disgusting, well, not really. It's more like a character study.
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Bunky's from San Diego! w00t!
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pippincat = on point
also, look to the lines: "even more, they were boys with their cars, summer jobs / oh my god"
so, while he's trying to humanize john wayne gacy a little bit, it's not like he's letting him off the hook or anything. the way he sings "oh my god"... just heartbreaking.
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if anyone is so inclined to hear this song, go to www.radioblogclub.com and search just for "sufjan." various songs of his pop up, and this is one of them.
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@ pippincat
Nice explanation.
I've lived my whole life in Illinois and I completely remember that whole nightmare. I guess that song just reminds me of the horror those families must have went through.
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My friend persuaded me to come with him to a birthday celebration at the M. Ward/Shins/White Stripes show here in DC which happens to be on the same day Stevens is playing a club show here. I was absolutely not going to miss this tour, so I promptly bought tickets, called my cousins to tell them I was coming, and booked my flight to Chicago to see him play there. I figure that's a pretty decent city to see this particular concert . . . it'll be the first time I've paid $200 or more to attend a concert, but oddly enough I actually think it'll be worth it.
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cheesiest lyrics ever
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I love the new Laura Veirs record. What's up with a Stereogum post on that record. It's so good and she needs the support.
I highly reccomend all you indieyuppys give it a listen.
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I just saw Sufjan here in Phoenix, and it was such a good show. The few cheers they did in between the songs were so entertaining, and "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." is so much more haunting live. I'm talkin' chills.
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how can the lyrics be cheesy when they are just recounting facts about gacy? creepiest lyrics ever. it's amazing how many people don't get this powerful song. the Illinois review in Rolling Stone is a riot. what an idiot. that guy should lose his job.
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listened to the song for the first time today, and i love it his singing is so personal and touching. i do get the chills when listening to it but thats what make it soooooo good.
im from england so i hope he comes over soon.!!
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this song is amazing and haunting. i swear ive listened to it 60 times in a row.
it freaks me out but i cant stop listening.. its like im mesmorized
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I think a comparison with The Smiths "Suffer Little Children" can be made. That song was about the Moors Murderers who tortured and killed many children in England in the sixties.
Comments?
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Seiche and all the other critics. the song is good, because every other narrative of the killings focuses on John Gacy's actions, but Sufjan tells it in a more personal level. he sympathizes with Gacy, which nobody else did. the lyrics 'he took of all their clothes for them' imlplies that he was helping them. i dont find the song creepy in any way. all i feel is sad and sorry, not for the victims, but for Gacy, which nobody did. its my favourite on the album. itunes list is up to 18 now.
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I don't think Sufjan was trying to make explanation for Gacy's actions at all. I think he was telling the story, and then he was comparing his own personal failures to Gacy's. While the measure of wrong may be different, the degree of guilt felt for something could easily have you comparing yourself to a national villain. Just a thought...
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Bought "Illinois" jst the otha day, nd the 1st time i listend thru it my fave track was "Gacy." Im frm england nd am only 15 so I didnt really know wat the song was on about. I did my research and was completely freaked by the whole story and c the song in a completely diffrent lite now.
Stevens is genius the way he can make the listener feel sympathy for Gacy afta all he did, or even jst make him out 2 b humane. "Kiss on the mouth", "kissed them all" and "took off all their clothes for them." Whoa! Clever stuff... i do find it frightening tho.
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ithink this song is great..it tells a story that needs to be heard..but also it makes it sound this it was a everyday life kinda thing..which isnt good
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well, i was just looking up for the lyrics of john wayne gacy jr and at the top of google was the link to the story of gacy. creeped the hell out of me - half way of the story and i just couldn't believe it was about the same person, but as i was listening to the song it did match.. so... i was feeling a bit tricked as i never heard the story about this killer before. and i think what bothers most people who didn't know the killer is that they feel a bit betrayed for being so fond of a song that turns out to be the reacounting of a serial-killer's tortured life. anyway, i don't think i'll hear the song with the same innocence i gave it before, and yea, it's my favourite song of the cd. it's not either bat or good - it's just strange.
p.s. - still i think sufjan will have a lot of writting to do to make something that stands up to seven swans (now that is what a call a pretty tight album except maybe for the song sister that falls a bit short). cheers ppl.
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This song is absolutely amazing. Beautiful. I didnt know the story behind it and now i just think its even better. Sufjan Stevens is a champion song writer get his name around because he deserves all the credit he can get.
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I think the John Wayne Gacy, Jr. song is metaphorical on at least one level. Stevens is taking a serial killer and using him as a metaphor for the way we all do terrible things, it might not be killing people, but it's something that if you look underneath our individual floorboards, there are awful things we're ashamed of hiding there. Remember, Stevens is a Flannery O'Conner fan, and that mix of sin and salvation, of people doing terrible things, is always going to be there. But my favorite part besides the heartbreaking-ravishing "Oh, my God..." is the part where he says, "He took off all their clothes for them," as though gacy were helping them somehow, like he were doing them a favor. Beautiful. Brilliant. Sad. Scary.
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So basically im doing a report a john wayne gacy in my Criminal Justice class, and i found this song, and actually seeing the lyrics makes me hate this guy even more. but im sure the kids in the class will love the song.
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This song is so sobering you listen to it and its like nothing else matters and you just think about what that guy did its terrible yes but I think the song is good
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yes the song is good, it's also very scary, I had read about a movie called Gacy a while ago and then about a year later when i hear Sufjan's song, I suddenly start realising, did that story and that song match and then i realise they did and I was very disturbed. Maybe Sufjan is trying to moralize Gacy but I hope not because that was a sick guy that ruined so many boys futures and their families lives, its horrible, and i listen to that song and cry because imagine if it happened to you. Sufjan is a great writer and makes you so at peace...even though song is good, it will haunt me.
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ok, i'm back, i thought for a few days about this song, and i came to some conclusions about what it is that gives us an awkward feeling about it.
first of all, if it were about jack the ripper, would it still hit the same soft nervous spot of ours? i think not.
and why? well, jack's long gone, it feels as though as if it happened quite a lot lifetimes ago, and it did. and one important point: jack rapped girls. and why is that important? well, i suppose it's that homofobic prejudice buried deep in us.
still, i do believe that what makes the song controversial is really being so close to our "era".
but damn, other than that it's a great song, and worth listening!
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Sufjan is a Christian and this song is about how all sin is equal in the eyes of God. Nothing John Wayne Gacy did is any worse to God than what anyone else has ever done.
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I just bought this cd last week and i could not stop listening to this song and finding new things. I also had to research John Wayne Gacy Jr and find out more about him.
It is such a beautiful song that brings us out of our shells to see truth. He was a hardworking man and everyone loved him yet he did this and hid it from everyone. No one could have thought about such a thing. Yet it could be any of us. My favorite lines are the last four and also "Oh my god...are you one of them?"
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I think the song is trying to communicate that any one of could have been Gacy. Some of us do a better job of hiding our evil side. It's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Sufjan is a Christian and is just echoing what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount -
You've heard it said - 'Do not murder', but anyone whoever has anger in his heart has committed murder in his heart.
We all fall short of God's standard - perfection. We are all hiding sin beneath the surface. We are all in need of saving. On our best behavior we still fall short.
"And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid"
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I'd just like to five Casteel and Anders for nailing it. This song creeped me the hell out until I really listened to that line. Then I creeped the hell out of my self. Ewww. Out black spot. . .
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Brad Anders nailed it. This song is supposed to be gut wrenching, powerful, and disturbing. It vividly recounts the awful story of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (read about it here: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial/gacy/gacymain.htm)
The line where it talks about taking off all their clothes for them isn't designed to make Gacy out to be a good guy. He was trying to convey some imagery of Gacy raping one of his young male victims before he killed them.
The point of all of the grotesque imagery and vivid description is brought home in the final few lines of the song. Up until that point most people wonder "What the hell is this song about? What a sicko..." until you hear the lines:
In my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid
Which makes the point that no matter how good we pretend to be we are all messed up...even the most high and mighty church-going person in the world who looks down on "sinners" and thinks they're perfect (you aren't). Sin is sin in the eyes of the pure and perfect Holy God. If you have told the slightest hint of a lie you are just as much of a sinner as John Wayne Gacy, Jr. in the eyes of God.
The fact of the matter is that not a single person in this world is perfect or even really good when it comes down to it. The only way any of us are capable of doing any pure, unselfish, good thing is through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to take away our sins, that we might believe in Him and have a relationship with Him and spend eternity in Heaven with Him rather than in Hell.
And He died for each and every one of us.
He died for John Wayne Gacy, Jr., hundreds of years before he was even born, knowing full well that one day that man would kill over 30 young men.
He died for me, and He died for you.
So, in my best behavior, I am really just the same as a man who killed over 30 young men after brutally raping and torturing them. But praise the Lord, I have been saved through grace, because He loves each and every one of us so much.
I know this is a long dissent but this song is amazing and this needed to be said. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Questions or concerns: taylor_abbey@hotmail.com
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How the hell did the guy above me turn Sufjan Stevens into a bible-thumper? I suppose everything is up to interpretation, but please... this was not a review, just promotion of Christianity. Go post in another forum if you want to proselytize.
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Taylor is so right
i never knew what the last part of the song meant until i read that.
thanks man
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hey, i'm wondering if anyone has figured out "regarding the UFO sighting" on the piano. i wanna play it but i suck. so if you know it that would be awesome if you posted it or emailed it to me, it would make my day.
oh and "john wayne gacy, jr." is so beautiful it makes me cry.
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hey, i heard this song a while back and it struck a chord in me; i've looked at sufjan stevens' bio on his website, and it says some story about sufjan stevens being dound in a milk crate in canada as a child. I realise this isn't his actual life story, but is it one he just made up or is it based on someone???
btw. isn't Sufjan stephens muslim....i don't know. It's just that name is a muslim one... ?
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This site has one of the only intelligent postings regarding anything that I have found on the internet. The atmosphere and intentions of "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" have been captured perfectly by the previous postings.
Although I find some of his songs hard to muddle through, Sufjan Stevens has established himself as one of the most brilliant songwriters ever. Any doubters need only listen to "John Wayne Gacy" and (especially) "Casimir Pulaski Day". The lyrics, coupled with the repetitve melodies, carry the listener into the song, as if you are actually there. Glen's comparing of this song to "Suffer Little Children" by The Smiths is brilliant, as both songs illustrate the magnitude of the atrocities not by focusing on the actions but by telling the story of the people and children involved.
I am at work right now and have done nothing for the past 2 hours because I keep listening to "John Wayne Gacy, Jr" and "Casimir Pulaski Day" over and over again , and each time it seems like I am able to pick a new aspect from each song. Needless to say, I am very depressed right now.
Incidentally, Sufjan Stevens is a Christian songwriter. He was raised with his parents in a cult(?) called Subud, and turned to Christianity later on. Any lyrics that can be interpreted as Christian teachings are probably just that.
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I have put off for months it seems buying this new sufjan stevens album. I have listened to snipits of it on cdnow.com. I finally purchased the album it lives up to every expectation I had nad then some. I agree with a lot of the posts about the gacy song beautiful, insightful, disturbing, and metaphorical all in the few minutes this amazing song lasts. I believe this is the best album that I have purchased all year. Sufjan will only get better and more accomplished with every state album he chooses to tackle. I hope he reaches his goal of all fify states. If not he already has touched my life and many others with the albums he has released.I still have to say rest in peace Elliott
Smith.
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In response to the question mark after cult, when referring to Stevens' early spirituality - Subud is a spiritual group with roots in Islam and Javanese mysticism, but is free of dogma of social hierarchy. The foundation of Subud is the idea that every person is able to experience an individual and tangible connection with God, Allah, Mother Earth, Universal energy, or whatever one chooses to name it.
One idea popular within Subud is that one's name has a strong significance in one's life, and many people change them. Frequently, Muslim names are chosen, and given to children. Hence, Sufjan.
I hope this is helpful.
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I just wanted to point out how amazingly talented this man is. Although some of his songs may be creepy once you know the lyrics, they have a way of finding something undescribable within you.
His ilinois CD, marvelous. John Wayne Gacy Jr., the best song on it.
No matter how many times you listen to these songs, you don't get sick of them. The harmonies, the music...i don't know how he does it. All people should have exposure to this mans music, society should not deprive them of the cretions from the geneous who is Sufjan Stevens.
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I think this is probably the most beautiful song that Sufjan has ever written, it's almost as if it allows you to be in Gracy's head, and see things through his eye's at the time, although I know very well this isn't possible. It's a great expression of how people even as well as you know them, are capable of unimaginable things. Kudos to Sufjan for this songs.
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Heh, I love this song but honestly, there's an element of humor and self-parody in it that I think a lot of people here are missing.
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Humour? It sounds more like a cry for help to me. Damn this song blows my mind. So sad. I had no idea it was simple musically. You do your job well Mr. Stevens.
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best site
swimuit
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i grew up in a suburb of chicago and have been friend's with the kunkle family forever. bill kunkle was the one who put gacey away. they have a bunch of gacey's stuff at their ouse. i've even played pool on gacey's bumper pool table. crazy.
ps- sufjan is amazing
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Veteran actor William Franklyn, known for voicing the 1960s Schweppes TV adverts, dies aged 81...
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The album is a masterpiece. Moved and soaring with Gacy until the lyrics hit. How can this horror be turned to mere entertainment, a commodity, company on bus ride through earphone? Or is music...More? I am disappointed with the sophomoric end--oh gee, I am like him after all. If it's secular, it's suburban ennui cum Marilyn Manson. Gosh. Theology is (somewhat) better but the sweet baby Jesus' mighty Redemption does not blanket us all with a moral relativism. Having said that, I am still unbearably haunted by the song. Maybe that is what art should be. But. I really appreciate parsing all of these opinions here, and it is a rare treat to read an intense exchange between people without all that lame flamin' schtick. Keep grooving.
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The whole point of the last verse of Gacy is this:
In God's eyes, telling a lie is the same as killing a man, hence every sin is equal and relevant, in God's eyes.
All Sufjan is saying is that he recognizes that sin itself is as sick as what Gacy did, and to me, the song is not sick or disturbing at all. It should really be an eye opener.
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trop beau *_* jvais essayer dl'apprendre à la guitar espéréons que j'y arrive!!!
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wat the fuck
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What is the significance of the line:
...killed ten thousand people?
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"he'd kill ten thousand people" is the accual line...it means that he would have kept if he hadn't been stopped
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Is't it just like a portarait of onr individuals experience in life - a little bit Simon and Garfunkle - esque? quite a modern take on experience and a bit disocciated I think.
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for everyone that has posted saying that it has no biblical or christian significance, you are completely incorrect. Whilst it is a haunting song Sufjan himself has said that he performs and writes for God. Thus, he worte this for his beliefs and is a mission of sorts, the sooner you understand and come to grip with that fact, the sooner you begin to truly love and enjoy his music.
I'm not entirely a Christian mysel, but understanding why ufjan writes has made me enjoy it so much more.
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