Casimir Pulaski Day

Casimir Pulaski Day is an Illinois state holiday for the Polish-born hero of the American Revolution, held on the first Monday in March. In the song a teenage narrator's girlfriend dies of bone cancer on that day despite the prayers of their Bible study group, and he wonders where God was. It is mostly voice, guitar and banjo on four chords, with Craig Montoro's trumpet and Shara Worden's harmonies. Stevens has said Illinois transplanted events from his own life into the state's landscape, though he has not said whether this one happened. Pitchfork called it heartbreaking and bravely sung; the Chicago Reader, painfully poignant.

He posted an early demo on the holiday in 2013, and it is his third most performed song. Lucy Dacus and Tomberlin have covered it, and in Illinoise it scores the death of a character from cancer.