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.
Wasted Hours
Arcade Fire Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Spent the summers staring out the window
The wind it takes you where it wants to go
At first they built the road then they built the town
That's why we're still driving around and around
And all we see are kids in the buses longing to be free
Where to go and what to do
Wasted hours that you make new
And turn into a life that we could live
Some cities make you lose your head
In this suburb stretched out thin and dead
What was that line you said?
Wishing you were anywhere but here
You watched the life you're living disappear
and now I see, we're still kids in the buses longing to be free
Wasted hours before we new
Where to go and what to do
Wasted hours that you make new
Turn into a life that we could live
Arcade Fire’s “Wasted Hours” is about looking back on the younger days, reminiscing about the times when one did not have specific plans or responsibilities, and embracing the uncertainty of what is to come. Throughout the song, the band emphasizes the idea that things do not always go according to plan and that one must be open to new experiences and opportunities. The lyrics reflect the band’s ability to capture a range of emotions that accompany changes in one’s life.
The opening lines of the song - "all those wasted hours we used to know, spent the summers staring out the window" - create a sense of nostalgia for the past. These lyrics are accompanied by slow, dreamy music that reflects the sentimentality of the lyrics. The wind has a symbolic representation of time - it is something that cannot be controlled, just like the passage of time.
The second verse highlights the idea that some things in life are beyond our control. The reference to the suburbs as a “suburb stretched out thin and dead” suggests that the monotony of suburban life can stifle creativity and limit one’s potential. This is repeated in the chorus with the lines “wasted hours that you make new and turn into a life that we could live,” which encourages the listener to take action and make something of their life, despite feeling trapped or stuck.
In conclusion, “Wasted Hours” is a poignant reflection on how the past shapes the present and how one’s past experiences can shape the future. It encourages listeners to be open to change, to embrace the uncertainty of what is to come, and to make something of their life.
Line by Line Meaning
All those wasted hours we used to know
In the past, we had wasted hours that we were aware of
Spent the summers staring out the window
During the summers, we passed time by looking out the window
The wind it takes you where it wants to go
You can't control where the wind takes you
At first they built the road then they built the town
The road was built before the town, which is why we are driving around trying to find our way
That's why we're still driving around and around
We can't seem to find our way due to the lack of planning in the town's construction
And all we see are kids in the buses longing to be free
We are surrounded by young people on buses who desire freedom
Wasted hours before we knew
We wasted time without realizing it
Where to go and what to do
We had no direction or purpose
Wasted hours that you make new
We can use our wasted time to create something new
And turn into a life that we could live
Our wasted hours can form the foundation for a new and fulfilling life
Some cities make you lose your head
Certain cities can be overwhelming and cause confusion
In this suburb stretched out thin and dead
The suburbs we are currently in lack vitality and substance
What was that line you said?
Can you please repeat what you just said?
Wishing you were anywhere but here
Desiring to be in a different place than our current location
You watched the life you're living disappear
You witnessed your current life fading away
And now I see, we're still kids in the buses longing to be free
Currently, we are still young people on buses who aspire to achieve liberty
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
Cat
I was in a really depressing mood one night, and was going through all my mom's music she left on her old iPod, and this came on. The song lifted me right out of that mood, and I relate to it so much. Thank you so much for this song.
INFLUENCE ♪
This track really resonates with me. Thank you for this beautiful creation!
Yumm
The extended version has become one of my most played songs in the last year. Would love an official upload of that version !
Byabang AD
One of my fav Arcade Fire songs.
Bo Beardington
Underrated song
Arthur S Sena
Demorei tanto a perceber que essa é a melhor música do álbum
Marcos Daniel
To ouvindo os albuns deles só agora mas uow.....como pode ter tanta musica boa?
Arthur S Sena
@Marcos Daniel a discografia deles é incrível... Vale muito a pena ouvir cada um deles
Kevin Aponte
omg everytime i hear arcade fire feels like i'm receiving a huge amount of wisdom, love it 💕
DanceYouFoo Dance
Midnight in Los Angeles and this came on. Love it....... Arcade Fire 🔥🔥🔥