Our Culture is Missing Something

Never has an album continuously made my spine tingle like Arcade Fire’s, “Funeral.” Maybe it’s the nostalgia derived from the individual songs that gets me. Maybe it’s lead singer/songwriter, Win Butler’s subtle, yet perfectly arranged lyrics that give way to encompassing feelings I didn’t even know there were words for.

There are too many aspects of this album that give it permission to be labeled one of the all time greats of the 2000s to quantify. Arcade Fire somehow successfully combines electronic, disco and folk influences within one album to arrive at one beautifully composed record that continuously touches on the theme of an unspecified neighborhood and the value of personal reflection.

The album acts as social commentary, poking at our culture’s inability to take advantage of what lies right in front of us. What the icons of our day are missing is the ability to sell an idea without having to be so blatant about it. Popular music has become an art (or lack thereof) for entertainers who don’t aim to explore their own emotions beyond what’s right on the surface. Where pop-music acts a way for artists to put their feelings, however shallow they may be, out there, Arcade Fire turns the tables and puts the listeners own personal insight on the front burner.

The depth of the album’s impact is measured by how much the audience is able to take away from what they’ve heard. The most widely known Arcade Fire song, “Rebellion (Lies),” featured in the television show “Six Feet Under” and Bono’s “Project Red” campaign, poses the idea that ignorance, especially on a personal-insight level is unconsciously saying that you’re done trying to grow into a better person.

“Sleeping in is giving in, no matter what the time is, sleeping in is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids.” The song engages the idea that people attempt to relocate their obstacles to an out-of-mind place, and in turn inadvertently asks the audience to determine what the potential future holds when living so independently from personal responsibilities.

“People try and hide the night underneath the covers, people try and hide the light underneath the covers.” The goal through the song “Rebellion (Lies) doesn’t seem to be to push the audience towards any particular action or goal, but rather towards their own personal realizations and recognition of who they really are.

Even when Arcade Fire turns their focus towards personal realizations and discovery, the album doesn’t switch gears towards melancholy. Butler lives inside of his emotions. Through the lyrics the audience becomes mindful that his own desperation isn’t fleeting. The prevalent theme of the song, “Crown of Love” is knowledge of self, even in the most desperate times. The honesty that’s derived from his personal insights gives tangibility to heartache without having to be expressed in Layman’s terms.

“They say it fades if you let it. Love was made to forget it. I carved your name across my eyelids, you prayed for rain, I prayed for blindness.” Beyond being perfectly phrased to give insight into love-induced desperation, it’s also simply eloquent.

Honest emotion isn’t something most people are seeking when they flip on the radio. As a culture, the prevalence of emotion in music may be accepted with a bit of cynicism amongst newcomers to this cathartic type of music. Where the term, “emo” used to derive meaning from emotionally charged content, it turned towards encompassing whiny, adolescent, ready-made music. The idea of sitting through an entire album that subtly begs it’s audience to look inward without coming off as borderline manic depressive is a mere pipe-dream for the pop-icon martyrs of our day. Arcade Fire almost effortlessly entangles their music with emotion, but avoids coming off overly dramatic.