It's certainly a "tragic" song. For me, it's one of the most bone-chilling songs ever written. Great album! For me, the saddest song from it is Casimir Pulaski Day
I just found this explanation of that song. Never thought of it like that. Still, JWG Jr is sung with so much emotion, as if Sufjan can't deal with the issue as well. Especially when he sings the oh my god part, it never fails to move me.
As for the link, I've thought about the lyrics of this song a lot. A close friend of mines daughter got bone cancer when she was about 18 years old. She was a big Sufjan fan then and relished this song, it really connected with her. I think she was determined to not end up like the girl in the song. Thankfully, she didn't. To the best of my knowledge, she is doing very well. -She's a lovely human being, I'm glad she beat it. When I hear this song, I see her in my minds eye and while the lyrics are sad, I get a bit happy knowing that she kicked cancer and that this song helped her do so.
I won't fault you there, it's extremely moving. As a friend of mine put it, the most beautiful song about a serial killer ever.