The BQE by Sufjan Stevens, is a meditation on the United States in the mid-twentieth century. According to Stevens’ record label, Asthmatic Kitty Records, this composition is "a cinematic suite inspired by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Hula-Hoop." These seemingly disparate ideas are contrasted in the extensive liner-notes of the CD, which frames an elaborate battle between "Captain" Robert Moses, urban planner and engineer, and the Hooper Heroes, hula-hooping advocates for freedom, connection, circular motion, and face-to-face interaction. Their values, of course, cannot be fully expressed from a speeding car. For more on the battle between the Hooper Heroes and Captain Moses, take a look at The BQE.

This CD/DVD set is a fascinating counterpoint to other works about highways. Kerouac’s On the Road, for instance, directs us to travel into the wide open spaces of the west at high speed. William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways travels those same wide-open spaces at a pace designed for meaningful social interaction. That’s not the sort of motion that’s under consideration here as we crawl the outer boroughs in heavy traffic on a highway that Moses’ critics say destroyed as many neighborhoods as it connected.

We house The BQE in the Library’s music collection, but I would encourage you to experience it first by watching the included DVD. Stevens’ triptych visuals first establish the intrusion of the expressway, and then enliven the grim truth of urban traffic with kaleidoscopic visual effects. The movie also balances the traffic backups with interludes of cyclical, organic movement courtesy of the Hooper Heroes. Later tracks play with reflections, mirror images, and other visual effects to find the hidden beauty in the highway. Take a ride on (OK, sit in traffic with) The BQE today.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch