Listen here: sufjanstevens.lnk.to/fourthofjuly
Listen to the April Base version here:    • Sufjan Stevens - Fourth of July (Apri...  
Listen to the original here:    • Sufjan Stevens, "Fourth Of July" (Off...  

Today, July 1, on his birthday, Sufjan Stevens is releasing two alternate versions of his song, “Fourth of July” via Asthmatic Kitty Records.

The new versions are “Fourth of July (April Base Version)”, recorded in Eau Claire, WI at Justin Vernon’s April Base studio, and “Fourth of July (DUMBO Version)”, recorded in Sufjan’s old studio in Brooklyn, NY.

The original version of “Fourth of July” appeared on Sufjan’s album, Carrie & Lowell — a deeply personal album written to process his sorrow after the death of his mother, Carrie. Sufjan would work and rework, and record and re-record, trying to manage the grief. The refrain of the song, “We’re all gonna die,” became an anchor in each version he recorded. At the time of its release and when Sufjan would perform the song live on tour, this lyric and fact of life seemed to shock listeners. Yet its solemnity invited them to feel comfort, connection — even joy — wrought from great pain.

The song has recently had a resurgence with listeners — which may speak to a deep national grief and a yearning to heal. As we head into this Fourth of July weekend — a U.S. holiday marked by war (and death) — it seems the exact correct time to be sharing them.
A limited run physical 7" in red will be released in December 2022, which marks the 10-year anniversary of Carrie’s death.

Lyrics:
The evil it spread like a fever ahead
It was night when you died, my firefly
What could I have said to raise you from the dead?
Oh could I be the sky on the fourth of July?

“Well you do enough talk
My little hawk, why do you cry?
Tell me what did you learn from the Tillamook burn?
Or the Fourth of July?
We’re all gonna die.”

Sitting at the bed with the halo at your head
Was it all a disguise, like Junior High
Where everything was fiction, future, and prediction
Now where am I? My fading supply

“Did you get enough love, my little dove
Why do you cry?
And I’m sorry I left, but it was for the best
Though it never felt right
My little Versailles.”

The hospital asked should the body be cast
Before I say goodbye, my star in the sky
Such a funny thought to wrap you up in cloth
Do you find it all right, my dragonfly?

“Shall we look at the moon, my little loon
Why do you cry?
Make the most of your life, while it is rife
While it is light

Well you do enough talk
My little hawk, why do you cry?
Tell me what did you learn from the Tillamook burn?
Or the Fourth of July?
We’re all gonna die.”