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.
Flashbulb Eyes
Arcade Fire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing
No I got, nothing
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing, you know I got, nothing
Hit me with your
flashbulb eyes is an interesting song that speaks about the impact of the media on the lives of individuals. The song speaks about the potential danger of cameras, suggesting that they could "take your soul." The lyrics suggest that when people are constantly watching and documenting every moment of our lives through pictures and videos, it takes away from our authenticity and individuality. The line "Hit me with your flashbulb eyes, you know I've got nothing to hide" expresses the idea that no one has anything to hide, but on the other hand, it also suggests that people may be forced to reveal more than they want to because of the constant barrage of cameras.
The song brings to mind the idea of the paparazzi, media obsession, and the constant invasion of privacy that has become commonplace in modern-day society. The use of "flashbulb eyes" emphasizes the intensity of this problem as it conjures up images of harsh, blinding light. The chorus of "Hit me with your flashbulb eyes" adds a layer of pressure and desperation, as if the person singing is asking for the camera to capture them before they disappear or are forgotten.
Overall, this song delves into the struggles of living in a world where everyone has access to cameras, and the potential loss of privacy and individuality that comes with it. It's a poignant reminder of how the media can have such a significant effect on our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
What if the camera
What if the act of being constantly watched and recorded through the camera lens has an effect on one's identity and soul?
Really do
Truly and significantly
Take your soul
Strip away one's authenticity and individuality, leaving behind only a superficial, performative version of oneself
Oh no
Expressing a sense of alarm or concern about the potential harm of being reduced to a mere image
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Audience and media relentlessly want to capture, possess, and consume artists' images and personas, leaving them feeling exposed and vulnerable
You know I've got nothing to hide
Despite the relentless scrutiny, the artist has no intention of hiding or altering who they truly are
You know I got nothing
Asserting that the artist has nothing to conceal or be ashamed of about their true self
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
carlos arturo ocampo
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
[Chorus]
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes!
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes!
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing
You know I got nothing
[Verse]
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing
You know I got nothing
Çağatay Çağlar
One of the most underrated songs by them, spectacular live
Abhishek Singh Rajput
u right ▶️
Zack Zallie
This song is so trippy and it hits my brain like a bullet.
Abhishek Singh Rajput
Nostalgia 😀
Maureen Reid
Indeed!
Adriana Nieto
Me encanta
DEMETERI
Amo essa música, saudade de ouvir a versão ao vivo!
peta james
God I love this band... awesome song x
ina
❤️🔥
Pau Méndez
Que chingones son #ArcadeFire