POST NO. 2: THE LORD GOD BIRD

Surely you're already familiar with Sufjan Stevens, winner of the 2004 award for most confusing first name to pronounce for a singer-songwriter employing spiritual overtones yet cashing in on the indie music community at large (i.e. most likely to appear at Cornerstone and still be praised by the God Almighty of indie press, Pitchfork). Kidding aside, Soof-e-yawn (as I've been told is correct) just released album No. 2 in his tour of the fifty states, and it's about my home state of Illinois. A wise marketing move on his behalf, no doubt attempting to capitalize on the media blitz surrounding the Fighting Illini's title game against those talented Tar Heels.

But this post isn't about that Sufjan endeavor; instead, it's about the town of Brinkley, Arkansas, a cozy village of 3,600 east of Little Rock. The folks over at NPR challenged Sufjan to write a song about a town of their choosing; in exchange, they'd prep him for a future album and give the song a spin on the radio. A pair of NPR reporters traveled to Brinkley, intereviewed the locals, and handed the tapes over to Sufjan, who then chose to focus on a symbolic, nearly-extinct bird known to hang out in the mucky lakelands surrounding the community. The "great god bird," otherwise known as the "lord god bird" or the "ivory-billed woodpecker," became the basis for Sufjan's song, which once again displays his knack for "getting" the communities he sings about without ever having actually lived there. Listen for yourself:

Sufjan Stevens - "The Lord God Bird"

Read more about this story here. Visit Sufjan Stevens on the web here.