Fourth of July

about this song

This song is a conversation between Sufjan and his mother, Carrie, while she was dying in the hospital. Each stanza alternates between them. Sufjan spoke of this time in an interview: "She had stomach cancer, and it was a quick demise. We flew to see her in the ICU before she died. She was in a lot of pain, and on a lot of drugs, but she was aware. It was so terrifying to encounter death and have to reconcile that, and express love, for someone so unfamiliar. Her death was so devastating to me because of the vacancy within me…

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