States I Called Home / What Sufjan Should Write About Part 2: Washington

"I'm a banjo pickin' man! And I takes cash tips when I can...."
Today, we continue helping our friend Sufjan Stevens in his ongoing pact to create an album for each of the 50 states. Early on I was rather skeptical about his ability to finish this project. As I've mentioned, he's moving at a rate of 1 state every 2 years, putting him well into his hundreds before he finishes the project. While I hate to see him finish the project, I worry that it will never happen, but he can't abandon his dream before he tackles the three states I've called home: Oklahoma, Washington and Oregon. So to make sure he gets on track, I thought I'd steer his research on each of these states this week. Today we look at the State I've lived in the longest, and the one that I see being my home for many years to come: Washington!

1) Let's just cut to the chase and talk about Seattle. We already know that if you create a Washington album (a cover adorned, no doubt, with apples and salmon, resembling a fish and wildlife magazine) that Seattle is going to get a monster track on a "Chicago" level. So let's start here with what you SHOULD NOT sing about. We're tired of the Space Needle. Please, for the love of ALL things holy, stay AWAY from the Space Needle - and when you make your album cover, don't show it poking out from behind Mount Rainier. Also, monorails - touchy subject. I'd just avoid mass transportation (or the lack thereof) altogether. And to sum up a few other things, let's have a hearty NO to the following: Kurt Cobain, Rain, Ted Bundy, Flannel, Grundge, Coffee. Simple rule, if it can be heard in Robyn Hitchcock's "Viva Sea-Tac," we shouldn't hear it on your CD. Sir Mix-A-Lot is fair game though.

But let's stick with the positive, shall we? I can't narrow down what topic you'll cover for this fair city, but I can make one rock solid recommendation. When you visit Seattle, stay off of I-5 and travel strictly up and down Highway 99. This was once the way to get through Seattle quickly, and also sports the best view of the best parts of Seattle. Heading North you see the oldest portions of Seattle, Pike Place Market, the Puget Sound and our arsenal of Ferry Boats. Head north out of Downtown and you can see the Seattle Center (remember what we discussed about the Space Needle?) You head toward Ballard (which frankly deserves its own song) and Wallingford. Stop at about 85th. There's only car dealorships and box stores that far up. Also, pull off at Fremont to see the Troll underneath the Ballard Bridge.

2) The Skagit Valley is where we grow our foods and flowers on the West Side of the state. It's also the home of the Tulip Festival. Lots... and lots... of tulips. As I've been told (by sources that may or may not be reliable) the tulips come from Holland and were shipped to the Northwest as a safety precaution, preserving the old Dutch blossom. When? I don't know... during some war, or some drought, or something... I just heard they're from Holland. But drive through during tulip season and you will see fields, and fields of technocolor flowers. They're not for picking, and many of them are not even for harvesting. Half the fields are just to draw in tourists who see a couple acres of nothing but red and yellow.

3) Edward R. Murrow spent the better part of his childhood in Edison, Wash. Mr. Sufjan, if you make it through these 50 states without the godfather of broadcast media, we may have some issues. This is a good place to start. It's where he learned hard manual labor and grew to appreciate the working class before running off to report the Blitz from London rooftops. Across the state he attended Washington State University, which was otherwise considered barely a blip on the academic map until he brought it some national attention.

4) Fair is fair, and if I'm trying to steer you away from unnamed coffee behemoths and the grundge movement, I've got to steer you towards our computer and internet history. There's gotta be some good songs to be found here. What rhymes with Microsoft?

5) As if you needed more to think about in Seattle, taking a trip through Pioneer Square is necessary, being of the oldest areas. Taking the Underground Tour is interesting, but alarmingly uneducational when you discover that the tour guides just make crap up. And while you're there, you can peep out the Elliott Bay Bookstore, the bestest darned bookstore in Seattle!