Chicago

About the song

Sufjan Stevens released “Chicago” on Illinois in 2005. Its recurring melodic figures and widening instrumental arrangement turn a personal journey into a song with a strongly collective musical character.

Sound and arrangement

Strings, keyboards, percussion and layered voices contribute different kinds of motion. The arrangement repeatedly returns to familiar material, allowing each new combination of sounds to change the feeling of the same central ideas.

Listening closely

Listen for the repeated patterns beneath the larger vocal passages. They make the song feel as though it is continually setting out again, connecting its reflective moments with its most expansive sections.