The band’s trademark fashion consists in wearing rather formal attire during live events and a use of orchestral instruments. When asked about the rumour that the band's name refers to a fire in an arcade, Win Butler replied: "It's not a rumour, it's based on a story that someone told me. It's not an actual event, but one that I took to be real. I would say that it's probably something that the kid made up, but at the time I believed him." Win Butler and his brother Will grew up in Texas.
Band formation
Arcade Fire formed around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Joining together as recently as mid-2003, the current line-up solidified in late 2003/early 2004, when their first full-length album Funeral was recorded. Before this an eponymous EP (often referred to by fans as the Us Kids Know EP) had been sold at early shows. The EP was subsequently remastered and given a full release once the band started becoming more prominent. Arcade Fire are known for their enthralling live performances, as well as its use of a large number of musical instruments. In addition to mainstays guitar, drums, and bass guitar, members play piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, keyboard, French horn, accordion, and harp. With several able musicians, the band take most of their instrumental diversity on tour and members switch instrumental duties throughout their shows. The number of instruments, along with a wide set of musical influences has provided a substantial number of resources on which to draw from during the recording process. The promise showed by the band in its live shows allowed it to land a record contract with Chapel Hill-based independent record label Merge Records.
Funeral
Without a major label backing, the success of the band and the album Funeral has been acclaimed as an Internet phenomenon. After a 9.7 rating from Pitchfork, Merge Records sold out their inventory of Funeral and it became the label's first album in the Billboard 200 chart. An early tip from David Bowie was also influential. The band booked small clubs for their 2004 tour but growing interest forced many venue changes, far beyond the band's expectations, and continued internationally into mid-2005. The MTV2 2005 Review hosted by Zane Lowe named Funeral Album of the Year, and NME named Funeral Number 2 in their list of 2005's best albums and "Rebellion (Lies)" the best track. By November 2005, Funeral had gone gold in both Canada and the UK and sold in excess of half a million copies worldwide, a phenomenal number for an independent release with minimal television or radio exposure. It has also surpassed Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea as the biggest selling Merge Records album to date.
Arcade Fire were featured on the April 4, 2005 cover of Time Magazine's Canadian edition, and hailed as a band who "helped put Canadian music on the world map". On April 2, 2006, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, they received the Juno Award for Songwriters Of The Year for three songs from Funeral: "Wake Up", "Rebellion (Lies)" and "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)". Arcade Fire then planned to begin recording a follow up to Funeral in the winter of 2005-2006, having bought an old church forty minutes from central Montreal which they converted into a studio.
Neon Bible
In mid-December 2006 www.neonbible.com went live containing nothing more than a phone number, 1-866-NEONBIBLE where people can listen to a new track called Intervention. Built in the style of customer support lines, the number has other features including a contest and a chance to talk to a live person at a specific time each week.
Then in January 2007, they finally announced that the new album Neon Bible would be released March 5th in UK, March 6th in US. The announcement was made with a video in the album's website, with guitarist Richard Reed Parry using a gramophone and a paper mask of Parry's own face, and sitting on Win Butler´s chair. After the announcement of the album´s release, the website was updated with a streaming version of "Black Mirror", new art and a few phone messages sounding like the band´s members.
The Suburbs
The band released their third album "The Suburbs" on August 2, 2010 in the UK and August 3, 2010 in the United States. It debuted at #1 in both countries. On February 13, 2011, the album won Album of the Year at the 53rd Grammy Awards.
Arcade Fire recorded a song for The Hunger Games soundtrack (The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond), called "Abraham's Daughter". The song is featured in the movie's end credits. The soundtrack was released on March 20, 2012, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. It sold more than 175,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the first theatrical film soundtrack to top the chart since Michael Jackson's "This Is It" debuted at No. 1 on the list. It is also only the 16th soundtrack to debut at No. 1 in the history of the Billboard 200 chart (those soundtracks include film, television, and straight-to-video efforts).
Reflektor
Arcade Fire and Mercury Records confirmed that they would release a fourth album in late 2013. In December 2012, the band's manager Scott Rodger confirmed that Arcade Fire was in the studio working with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. The official Arcade Fire pre-order website sets the release date on October 28, 2013. The band announced on January 18, 2013 that they were selling the church they had been using as a studio due to a collapsed roof. Throughout 2013, the band worked on the album in several different recording studios - including Murphy's DFA Records studio in New York. On June 22, 2013, Rolling Stone reported that new material from the album would be released on September 9, 2013.
Everything Now
Arcade Fire's first announced its fifth record, "Everything Now," on May 31, 2017 when it released the record's title track and lead single. The album's release came July 27, 2017. In the weeks leading up to the album's release, the band released three additional lead singles, "Creature Comfort," "Signs of Life," and "Electric Blue." Upon the week of its release, "Everything Now" reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's third-straight and third overall #1 record.
WE
On October 21, 2020, Butler was interviewed for the Broken Record podcast, where he commented about Arcade Fire's sixth album. The band had been writing for a year before the COVID-19 lockdown. In March 2022, fans received postcards marked with the band's logo; the postcards included the note "We missed you", musical notations, as well as an image of an eye with the word "Unsubscribe" written below. Those same images began to appear in signage around London as well as on the band's social media pages, indicating the earliest signs of a new album. On March 14, the band announced a new song titled "The Lightning I, II" would be released on March 17.
On March 17, 2022, Arcade Fire announced that the album would be titled WE and be released on May 6, 2022. Later that week, Will Butler announced he had amicably left the band in 2021 shortly after the completion of WE.
Following the release of WE on May 6, 2022, Arcade Fire announced the group’s first world tour since 2018, starting in August 2022. They again appeared on Saturday Night Live on May 7, 2022, playing "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)", "The Lightning I, II", and "End of The Empire II" over the closing credits.
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Arcade Fire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They won't follow me, shadows, they fear the sun
We'll make it if we run!
Run from the memory
Je nage, mais les sons me suivent
Left my name with the border guards
A name that I don't need
Sur les vagues de l'oubli
Run from the memory
Je nage, mais les sons me suivent
Stop now before it's too late
Bean eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate
Nothing lasts forever
That's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea for me
Stop now before it's too late
Bean eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate
Nothing lasts forever
That's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea for me
For you
For me
It's always for you
Stop now before it's too late
Bean eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate
Nothing lasts forever
That's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea for me
Stop now before it's too late
Your lover was for hire
Have you noticed he's been late?
Nothing lasts forever
That's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea for me
For you
For me
It's always for you
The sound is not asleep, it's moving under my feet
The sound is not asleep, it's moving under my feet
The sound is not asleep, it's moving under my feet
The sound is not asleep, it's moving under my feet
The lyrics of Arcade Fire's "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" tell of someone trying to escape their past and start anew. The first verse describes this person running towards the sea, but their shadows fear the sun and won't follow them. This could represent the person's past or dark memories they are trying to leave behind. The following lines encourage them to keep running towards the ocean and away from their memories, with the French translation of "I swim, but the sounds follow me."
The chorus talks about stopping before it's too late and moving away from a life of excess and superficiality in the "ghetto on a hundred dollar plate." The line, "there's a great black wave in the middle of the sea for me," could represent a powerful force or obstacle in their path as they try to start anew, but it could also be interpreted as a metaphor for death or endings that are inevitable.
In the second half of the song, the lyrics take a darker turn. The line "your lover was for hire, have you noticed he's been late?" implies that the person's significant other may have been unfaithful to them, or they may have been betrayed in another way. The repetition of "for you, for me, it's always for you" might suggest the person's desperation to please or hold onto someone who has hurt them.
Overall, the lyrics of "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" are about leaving behind past mistakes and trying to start anew, but also acknowledging that things may not always work out the way we want them to.
Line by Line Meaning
We can reach the sea
We have the power to reach our desired outcome.
They won't follow me, shadows, they fear the sun
Our fears and insecurities cannot control us or dictate our actions. We must face them and continue on our path.
We'll make it if we run!
We must be willing to put in the effort and work hard in order to succeed.
Run from the memory
Sometimes we must move on from the past in order to move forward in life.
Je nage, mais les sons me suivent
I am swimming, but the sounds of my past are still with me.
Left my name with the border guards
I have left behind my identity and past mistakes, no longer allowing them to define me.
A name that I don't need
The labels and expectations others have put upon me are not necessary or important for me to define myself.
Ce sera un long voyage
The journey ahead will be difficult and challenging, but it's one worth taking.
Sur les vagues de l'oubli
On the waves of forgetfulness, leaving the past behind and starting anew.
Stop now before it's too late
It's important to recognize when a situation or path is no longer serving us and to make a change before it's too late.
Bean eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate
Living a lavish lifestyle in the midst of struggle and inequality does not solve or erase these issues.
Nothing lasts forever
Everything in life is fleeting and temporary, and we must embrace change and impermanence.
That's the way it's gotta be
We must accept and adapt to the circumstances and challenges life throws our way.
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea for me
An impending challenge or obstacle approaching, but we must face it head on in order to overcome and grow.
Your lover was for hire
A realization that someone in our life may not have had genuine feelings or intentions, but instead was using us for personal gain.
Have you noticed he's been late?
A sign of dishonesty or lack of commitment from someone we thought we could trust.
For you
For me
It's always for you
Regardless of the circumstances or outcome, our actions and choices are ultimately for the benefit of those we care about.
The sound is not asleep, it's moving under my feet
The echoes and effects of our past decisions and experiences are still present and affecting our current path.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jeremy Gara, Regine Chassagne, Richard R Parry, Tim Kingsbury, William Butler, Win Butler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@HaleG9
My favourite song of Arcade Fire by far. I cannot understand why not more people can understand this pure gem in Music history...
@MatthewMcGravey
I do
@golldern3577
Why would you care about others if this is YOUR favorite?
@ReitaSugoi
@Goll Dern is his right
@guiabramides
Best neon bible track, thats for sure
@whiskeyclones7161
I love this song so much. “The sound is not asleep…”
@DarkAngelEU
Also how it moves on onto Ocean of Noise. This album is pure poetry.
@MissHeathen
hands down one of my favorite arcade fire tracks. love the rhythm and tone so much.
@MarcWijesuriya
Nothing lasts forever, that's the way it's gotta be,
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea
@zoeherriot
...for me.