The idea for Run Rabbit Run came to Stevens after he moved to the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2005. Among his new neighbors were Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National and their sister, Jessica. Sufjan quickly became friends with the Dessner clan, and Bryce suggested that Stevens rearrange Enjoy Your Rabbit for his other neighbors, Rob Moose (violin), Olivier Manchon (violin), Marla Hansen (viola) and Maria Bella Jeffers (cello)�the Osso Quartet�who had recently collaborated with Stevens on his 2005 release, Illinois. The project was fully realized when Sufjan approached Jessica Dessner to contribute artwork to the album based on the original record's Chinese Zodiac illustrations created by artist Matt Morgan.

What began as an expression of community amongst the artist-residents of Ditmas Park expanded to include members of a different artistic community as well. Over the next year a series of young composers�Nico Muhly, Michael Atkinson, Maxim Moston and Gabriel Kahane�rearranged pieces from Enjoy Your Rabbit for Run Rabbit Run. Atkinson's arrangements premiered at the Bryce Dessner-curated Music Now Festival in Cincinnati in 2007.
Stevens has released seven studio recordings since 2000 including Michigan and Illinois, the first two entries in an epic series of 50 recordings each based on a different U.S. state, a 5-EP Christmas box set and the aforementioned instrumental electronic work Enjoy Your Rabbit. Stevens has also collaborated with fellow indie pop acts Danielson Famile, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer, My Brightest Diamond and many others.