http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0-SKD2D6cBA
Coming in at a whopping two minutes, having only two distinct instruments and repeating itself without much variation, this is an exceedingly simple song. And yet, there’s the distinct feeling of a heartstring being tugged whenever I listen to it. Why? It’s hardly even a sketch of a song – almost a sketch of a sketch. So many of Sufjan’s songs are stories, fleshed out in varying degrees of detail, and I think of this song as the most fundamental level of that spectrum – a sentiment. One word comes to my mind with this song: plaintive. The title adds details that one can build off of in their own minds.
What happened in Redford? Who are Yia-Yia and Pappou? Nobody can certainly say what this song is about, perhaps not even Stevens. But with what little we’re given – the chords, the pace, the chorus of aaahhs – we can construct our own stories.
Yia-Yia is Greek for Grandmother; Pappou is Greek for Grandfather. With that in mind, I think you're right — that tells us what they are, not who they are.
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