Marching Band
Sufjan Stevens Lyrics


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One dark day the trees began a trumpet sound,
trumpet sound
We sat listening patiently, the sky was near
and i felt the trembling motion
we ran out to see the future, from the ground
from the ground
from the ground
from the ground
people died and people risen everywhere
We held hands and made a circle
quietly from the ground




quietly from the ground
We returned and set the table, by the door

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Sufjan Stevens's song Marching Band convey a powerful message about the cyclical nature of life and death. The opening lines, "One dark day the trees began a trumpet sound," suggest the coming of an ominous event. The repetition of "from the ground" emphasizes the connection between the earth and humanity. The trumpet sound that the trees make is reminiscent of a call to arms, perhaps signaling the start of a battle.


As the song progresses, we learn that people have both died and risen after this event. The line "We held hands and made a circle" implies that the survivors have banded together in the face of this adversity, coming together for comfort and support. The final line, "We returned and set the table, by the door," represents a return to normalcy, despite the traumatic events that have occurred.


Overall, the song Marching Band explores themes of resilience and strength in the face of adversity. The powerful imagery and repetition create a sense of unity and solidarity in the face of death and destruction.


Line by Line Meaning

One dark day the trees began a trumpet sound,
On a gloomy day, the rustling leaves of the trees started to make a loud trumpet-like noise,


trumpet sound
The sound was reminiscent of a brass instrument, loud and commanding.


We sat listening patiently, the sky was near
We sat down, attentive and patient, as the sky seemed to be within our reach.


and i felt the trembling motion
I felt the ground shaking underneath me.


we ran out to see the future, from the ground
We hurried to witness what the future held from our grounded perspective.


from the ground
We stayed rooted to the earth while observing the future.


people died and people risen everywhere
Death and resurrection occurred all around us.


We held hands and made a circle
We held hands and formed a circular shape.


quietly from the ground
In a peaceful manner, with our feet still planted on the earth.


quietly from the ground
In a calm and tranquil manner, never losing touch with the ground.


We returned and set the table, by the door
We went back to our normal lives and set the table near the entryway.




Contributed by Julia L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

Lorraine Trout Mask

I absolutely adore this.. I've already had it for a while.. It seems to be talking about the Rapture.. I love the eerie long trumpet sound ending.. So haunting.. I swear I've heard that exact same trumpet sound myself in the sky over recent years.. There are even very strange YouTube videos of awesome trumpet sounds in the air in various places around the world!.... Love it love it..

yorick22

So sad this isn’t on Spotify, one of my favorites off the Michigan album IMO.

Myrmelie

Million-billion thanks for uploading this!!! I am searching for his unreleased stuff and Michigan Outtakes and especially for this song for a long time so now i can't even describe how happy I am at the moment :)

Agnes Clamfanger

This guy. His work from the first decade of the 21st century (technically beginning 1999 but close enough) will always be indispensable in the overarching musical soundtrack of my life (in a literal sense; it will always be on rotation in the collection of music I listen to at any given time), pretty certain about that. Even if I live to a very old age - despite probably beginning to develop dementia-related brain plaques around age 42 due to my lifelong gift and treasured inheritance of extraordinary levels of neuroticism which I sometimes think I can distinctly feel disfiguring my grey matter in real time. BUT I will somehow have incredible longevity despite poor physical health, so the plaques will carry on accumulating for over half a century as I gradually become more and more confused and terrified and irrational, until finally my comprehension has been whittled down to the barest fibers possible - and then one day my breast will start oozing (unbeknownst to me, since at this point I am in essence a backwards-ageing feral newborn stringing together strange combinations of words with no decipherable meaning and shouting them repetitively) and I'll die of cancer a year and half later, two days before my 98th birthday.

I was actually gonna say something about how Sufjan has to be world's only man who can use explicitly Christian imagery in the vast overwhelming majority of his work and yet express something so beautiful and multifaceted (and very very gay - yet simultaneously ambiguous enough to leave open the question of whether he is in fact gay in general or instead gay only for god) so that I find nothing objectionable about the Christness of it.

Man wow, never let them tell you weed isn't a medicine, cuz I never would have contributed these valuable thoughts into the vacuum of the internet without this Strawberry Cough.

Sameoldfitup 💙💚

The battle is not yet lost

21ArcticM79RomancePanic! Fall out

When I was a young boy, my father took me to the city, to see the marching band 😆🎉

21ArcticM79RomancePanic! Fall out

luna haha sorry

Luca Vincent

TRUMPET SOUND TRUMPET SOUND

Writhing Mass of Worms

Spooky suf!

Jake N

8O...

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