What melody is being referenced at 2:38 into Sufjan Stevens' song "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!"?

January 31, 2007 3:58 AM

What melody is being referenced at 2:38 into Sufjan Stevens' song "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!"?

I could swear this is exactly the tune from another famous song.

posted by k7lim to media & arts (10 comments total)

The Cure and the song is eluding me right now (it's late here!)
posted by snez at 4:20 AM on January 31, 2007

Ah yes, Close To Me from The Head On The Door (or at least I think that's right)
posted by snez at 4:26 AM on January 31, 2007

Boys Don't Cry, innit? The horn part is a big nod of the head to that song anyway.
posted by Jofus at 4:34 AM on January 31, 2007

it's definitely Close To Me.
posted by soma lkzx at 5:07 AM on January 31, 2007

Yes - It's on Head On The Door. Wow - I've never noticed that. Is it a deliberate homage or an accidental ripoff, a la George Harrison's My Sweet Lord?
posted by crapples at 5:24 AM on January 31, 2007

From an interview:

Sufjan: Yes, it was intentional. It didn’t start out sounding so much like The Cure, but at the end I was struck by the resemblance, so I decided to accentuate it, to make it more explicit.

posted by smackfu at 5:46 AM on January 31, 2007

Thanks smackfu. Struck me as clear homage when I first heard it—I laughed out loud, in fact.
posted by cortex at 8:31 AM on January 31, 2007

well I dont know the song you cite first but could the original be "Come on Feel The nozie" by Slade (Words/Music: Jim Lea/Noddy Holder, 1973) covered by Oasis in '96?
posted by fatsober at 9:02 AM on January 31, 2007

Wow, for a long while I've been like "What's that song people play sometimes that breaks into a total rip of "Close to Me" but isn't actually "Close to Me?" " So thanks, AskMe, for answering my unasked question.
posted by escabeche at 9:46 AM on January 31, 2007

Oh, and Dave Brubeck's "Take 5" and Vince Guaraldi's "Linus And Lucy" are being (more subtly) referenced in that song, too, if I'm not mistaken (which I may be).
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:22 AM on February 1, 2007