John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

by Sufjan Stevens

From the album: Illinois

Track 4 of 22 on Illinois (2005).

Duration: 3:19

Illinois cover art

Lyrics for John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

His father was a drinker and his mother cried in bed Folding John Wayne's t-shirts when the swing set 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 Oh the dead Twenty-seven people Even more, they were boys, with their cars, summer jobs Oh my God Ooh, are 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 slight of his hand, running far, running fast to the dead He took off all their clothes for them He put a cloth on their lips, quiet hands, quiet kiss on the mouth And in my best behavior I am really just like him Look beneath the floor boards For the secrets I have hid

Listen On

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  2. The Black Hawk War, Or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself In the Morning, Or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going to Have to Leave Now, Or...
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  5. Jacksonville
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  7. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother!
  8. One last "Whoo-hoo!" for the Pullman
  9. Chicago
  10. Casimir Pulaski Day
  11. To The Workers of The Rock River Valley Region, I have an idea concerning your predicament, and it involves an inner tube, bath mats, and 21 able-bodied men
  12. The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
  13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About
  14. A conjunction of drones simulating the way in which Sufjan Stevens has an existential crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze
  15. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!
  16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!
  17. Let's hear that string part again, because I don't think they heard it all the way out in Bushnell
  18. In This Temple As in The Hearts of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth
  19. The Seer's Tower
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  21. Riffs and Variations on a single note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to name a few
  22. Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I shake the dirt from my sandals as I run