12.02.2013

An Index: Arcade Fire Songs Mentioning Light, Darkness, Mirrors, and Reflections

"Look into the light...Look hard into the light..."
Related Post: "Continual Themes and Subjects in the Work of Arcade Fire (a list)"
For several years now I have been made powerfully aware of a theme that runs throughout a significant amount of the work of my (current) favorite band, Arcade Fire. The theme began to occur to me after I started digesting the lyrics to their 2010 work The Suburbs. I began forming some critical (as in "literary or music criticism") thoughts about their lyrics but nothing really gelled until they released their current album Reflektor.  It now became apparent to me that they are obsessed (obsessed I tells ya!) with imagery surrounding light, darkness, day, night, mirrors, and reflections.  In fact, it permeates a great majority of their work.

I had fully intended to write a critical essay containing my thoughts, but I just ran out of time (and I guess I also saw it as a priority to write about Duck Dynasty).  The reason I am not going to write this essay just yet, or, if I do write it I am not going to publish it, is that it is a specifically seasonal essay.

Essentially, here are my thoughts condensed to a few sentences: Arcade Fire write "Anti-Advent" songs, songs that portray light in a conflicted, confused, convoluted, ambivalent, and often negative tone (or light, if you will excuse the pun).  Here is one example, an easy one.  In "The Sprawl II" Regine sings

Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small
Then we can never get away from the sprawl
Living in the sprawl
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there’s no end in sight
I need the darkness. Someone, please cut the lights!


In Arcade Fire's world "lights" are something to be avoided, something to get away from, and something one should not trust. What I wanted to do was juxtapose their way of singing about "light" with the Christian understanding of Christ being the light of the world, and of his light being that which liberates and saves people.

But alas, I ran out of time to write the essay.  I spent a great deal of effort searching through all their songs, and so I really have not even left the "research" stage yet.  And thus, two days before Christmas I present to you my index or appendix or whatever of every (that I could find) Arcade Fire song that mentions "light, darkness, day, night, mirrors, and reflections." I just want the thoughts to get out there.

This is a long blog post, but everything from here on out is song titles and lyrics.  I encourage you to listen through the songs and seek out what they are trying to convey throughout the course of 4 albums, an EP, and a demo.


This index will be listed in chronological order according to album release.
When the entire song essentially revolves around light or related things, the entire song is quoted. 
Albums are boldfaced, song titles are in quotes, and lyrics are italicized. 

Also, here is another Arcade Fire post entitled: "Continual Themes and Subjects in the Work of Arcade Fire (a list)"

Demo (2001)
"Accidents"
Two blind kids in wheelchairs are crossing the street
And they get hit by the ambulance
Because the light was green
And I wait for the punchline
But it never comes

"In the Attic"
Cities that shine like El Dorado
Now it's sleeping in the Shadow
And I can't wake it up again
Stars above you are shining roads
And no one knows quite where it goes
And I can't get to sleep again

Stars above you shine on cue
Now they're acting a bit confused
And I can't make them shine again


Arcade Fire EP (2003)
"Old Flame"
It takes fightin' day and night
To make such a good thing die

"No Cars Go"
--quoted in the Neon Bible section

"Headlights Look Like Diamonds"
The red lights mean you're leaving
The white one's mean returning
Tell me how this story ends
And I'll keep them fires burning

The headlights look like diamonds
The taillights burn like coals
Tell me how this story ends
Before the fires go cold

Rarities and B-sides
"Cars and Telephones"
Because I like cars more than telephones
Your voice in my ear makes me feel so alone
Tonight I'm going to drive
The silver moon is shining bright
Over the interstate
God saying, "Hurry, don't be late"
Soon the sun will rise
That's when the romance dies
And I'm just tired of running around

Funeral (2004)
"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
as the day grows dim
I hear you sing a golden hymn.

"Neighborhood #2 (Laika)"
When daddy comes home
you always start a fight,
so the neighbors can dance
in the police disco lights.
The police disco lights.
Now the neighbors can dance!
Look at ‘em dance.

"Une Anee Sans Lumiere" (One Year Without Lights)
Hey, the streetlights all burnt out.
Une annee sans lumieres. (One Year Without Lights)
Je monte un cheval, (I mount a horse)
qui porte des oeilleres. (that carries blinders)
Hey, my eyes are shooting sparks,
la nuit, mes yeux t’eclairent. (at night my eyes light you up)
Ne dis pas a ton pere (don't tell your father)
qu’il porte des oeillieres. (that he carries blinders)

Hey your old man should know
If you see a shadow
there’s something there

"Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)"
I woke up with the power out,
not really something to shout about.
Ice has covered up my parents hands
don’t have any dreams don’t have any plans.
I went out into the night,
I went out to find some light.
Kids are swingin’ from the power lines,
nobody’s home, so nobody minds.
I woke up on the darkest night,
neighbors all were shoutin’ that they found the light.
(”We found the light”)
Shadows jumpin’ all over my walls
some of them big, some of them small.
I went out into the night.
I went out to pick a fight with anyone.
Light a candle for the kids,
Jesus Christ don’t keep it hid!
Ice has covered up my parents hands
don’t have any dreams don’t have any plans.
Growin’ up in some strange storm,
nobody’s cold, nobody’s warm.
I went out into the night,
I went out to find some light.
Kids are dyin’ out in the snow,
look at them go, look at them go!
And the power’s out in the heart of man,
take it from your heart put in your hand.
What’s the plan?
Is it a dream? Is it a lie?
I think I’ll let you decide.
Just light a candle for the kids,
Jesus Christ don’t keep it hid!
Cause nothin’s hid, from us kids!
You ain’t foolin’ nobody with the lights out!
And the power’s out in the heart of man,
take it from your heart put in your hand.
And there’s something wrong in the heart of man,
you take it from your heart and put it in your hand!
Where’d you go?
"Crown of Love"
If you still want me, please forgive me,
because the spark is not within me.

"Haiti"
Mes cousins jamais nes (My un-born cousins haunt the nights of Duvalier)

"Rebellion (Lies)"
People try and hide the night
underneath the covers.
People try and hide the light
underneath the covers.

"In the Backseat"
Alice died
in the night

Neon Bible (2007)
"Black Mirror"
I walked down to the ocean
After waking from a nightmare.
No moon no pale reflection.
Black Mirror, Black Mirror

Shot by a security camera
You can’t watch your own image
And also look yourself in the eye
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror

I know a time is coming
All words will lose their meaning
Please show me something that isn’t mine
But mine is the only kind that I relate to.
Le miroir casse, (The mirror breaks)
The mirror casts mon reflet partout (The mirror casts my reflection everywhere)
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror

The Black Mirror knows no reflection,
It knows not pride or vanity.
It cares not about your dreams.
It cares not for your pyramid schemes

Their names are never spoken.
The curse is never broken.
The curse is never broken.
Un! Deux! Trois! Dis: Miroir Noir
Black Mirror!
Un! Deux! Trois! Dis: Miroir Noir
Black Mirror!
Black Mirror, Black Mirror

Their names are never spoken, The curse is never broken,
Their names are never spoken, The curse is never broken,
Mirror mirror on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall
Mirror mirror on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall

Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror,
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror,
Black Mirror

"Keep The Car Running"
Every night my dream’s the same.
Same old city with a different name.
Men are coming to take me away.
I don’t know why, but I know I can’t stay.
There’s a weight that’s pressing down.
Late at night you can hear the sound.
Even the noise you make when you sleep.
Can’t swim across a river so deep.
......
If some night I don’t come home,
Please don’t think I’ve left you alone.

"Neon Bible"
A vial of hope and a vial of pain,
In the light they both looked the same.
Poured them out on into the world,
On every boy and every girl singing

It’s the Neon Bible, the Neon Bible
Not much chance for survival,
If the Neon Bible is right.

Take the poison of your age
Don’t lick your fingers when you turn the page,
What I know is what you know is right
In the city it’s the only light.

It’s the Neon Bible, the Neon Bible
Not much chance for survival,
If the Neon Bible is right.

Oh God! well look at you now!
Oh! you lost it, but you don’t know how!
In the light of a golden calf,
Oh God! I had to laugh!

Take the poison of your age
Don’t lick your fingers when you turn the page,
It was wrong but you said it was right,
In the future I will read at night.
In the Neon Bible, the Neon Bible
Not much chance for survival,
If the Neon Bible is true.

"Black Wave/Bad Vibrations"
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 Well and the Lighthouse"
I heard a voice
Calling from down inside a well
“See that silver shine?”
She said to come claim what was mine
So down I fell, down into the water black
My prison cell, only the moon was shining back!
Shining back, shining back
Shining back, shining back
.......
Resurrected, living in a lighthouse
If you leave them ships are gonna wreck
Resurrected, living in a lighthouse
The lions and the lambs ain’t sleepin’ yet

Resurrected, living in a lighthouse
Can you see the funny side? the ships are gonna wreck
Resurrected, living in a lighthouse
The lions and the lambs aint sleepin’ yet
The lions and the lambs ain’t sleepin’ yet
The lions and the lambs ain’t sleepin’ yet

"Antichrist Television Blues"
Dear God, I’m a good Christian man
In your glory, I know you understand
That you gotta work hard and you gotta get paid
My girl’s thirteen, but she don’t act her age
She can sing like a bird in cage
Oh Lord, if you could see her when she’s up on that stage!

You know that I’m a God-fearin’ man
You know that I’m a God-fearin’ man
I just gotta know if it’s a part of your plan
To seat my daughter there by your right hand
I know that you’ll do what’s right, Lord
For they are the lanterns and you are the light

Now I’m overcome
By the light of day
My lips are near
But my heart is far away
Tell me what to say
I’ll be your mouthpiece!

Into the light of a bridge that burns
As I drive from the city with the money that I earned
Into the black of a starless sky
I’m staring into nothing and I’m asking you why:
Lord, will you make her a star
So the world can see who you really are?
......
You’re such a sensitive child (sensitive child)
Oh! You’re such a sensitive child
I know you’re tired, but it’s alright
I just need you to sing for me tonight
You’re gonna have your day in the sun
You know God loves the sensitive ones
......
Oh my little mockingbird sing
Come on, my little mockingbird sing
I need you to get up on that stage for me, honey
And show the men it’s not about the money
Wanna hold a mirror up to the world
So that they can see themselves inside my little girl

"No Cars Go"
Between the click of the light and the start of the dream
Between the click of the light and the start of the dream
Between the click of the light and the start of the dream
Between the click of the light and the start of the dream 
[is the place where no planes, ships, cars, subs go]

"My Body is a Cage"
I’m living in an age
That calls darkness light
Though my language is dead
Still the shapes fill my head
......
I’m living in an age
That screams my name at night
But when I get to the doorway
There’s no one in sight

The Suburbs (2010)
"The Suburbs"
Sometimes I can’t believe it
I’m moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can’t believe it
I’m moving past the feeling and into the night

"Ready to Start"
Now I’m ready to start
I would rather be wrong
Than live in the shadows of your song
My mind is open wide
And now I’m ready to start
You’re not sure, you open the door
And step out into the dark
Now I’m ready

"Modern Man"
Oh I had a dream I was dreaming
And I feel I’m losing the feeling
Makes me feel like
Like something don’t feel right
I erase the number of the modern man
Wanna break the mirror of the modern man
Makes me feel like
Makes me feel like

"City With No Children"
I dreamt I drove home to Houston
On a highway that was underground
There was no light that we could see
As we listened to the sound of the engine failing

"Half Light I"
You told us that
We were too young
Now that night’s closing in
And in the half light
We run

Lock us up safe
And hide the key
But the night tears us loose
And in the half light
We’re free

Strange how the half light
Can make a place new
You can’t recognize me
And I can’t recognize you

We run through the streets
That we know so well
And the houses hide so much
But in the half light
None of us can tell
They hide the ocean in a shell
The ocean in a shell

Our heads are just houses
Without enough windows
They say you hear human voices
But they’re only echoes
They’re only echoes
They’re only echoes
Only echoes
We are not asleep
We are in the streets


"Half Light II (No Celebration)"
You and I, we head back east
To find a town where we could live
Even in the half light
We can see that something’s gotta give

"Suburban War"
The night’s so long
Yeah the night’s so long
I’ve been living in the shadows of your song
Been living in the shadows of your song
In the suburbs I, I learned to drive
And you told me we’d never survive,
So grab your mother’s keys we leave tonight


"Deep Blue"
You could have never predict it, that it could see through you
Kasparov – Deep Blue 1996
Your mind’s playing tricks now
Show is over so take a bow
We’re living in the shadow of…
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

Hey. Put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey.
Put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it’s leaving me

"We Used To Wait"
I used to write
I used to write letters
I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing lights settled deep in my brain


But by the time we met
The times had already changed
So I never wrote a letter
I never took my true heart
I never wrote it down
So when the lights cut out
I was lost standing in the wilderness downtown

"Sprawl I (Flatland)"
Took a drive into the sprawl
To find the house where we used to stay
We couldn’t read the number in the dark
You said “let’s save it for another day”
......
The cops shone their lights
On the reflectors of our bikes
Said “Do you kids know, what time it is?”
Well, sir, it’s the first time I felt like something is mine
Like I have something to give

"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
They heard me singing and they told me to stop
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock
These days, my life, I feel it has no purpose
But late at night the feelings swim towards the surface

‘Cause on the surface the city lights shine
They’re calling at me, “come and find your kind!”

Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small
Then we can never get away from the sprawl
Living in the sprawl
The dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there’s no end in sight
I need the darkness. Someone please cut the lights!

We rode our bikes to the nearest park
Sat under the swings, we kissed in the dark
You shield my eyes from the police lights
We run away, but we don’t know why
Black river, your city lights shine
They’re screaming at us, “we don’t need your kind!”

Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small
Then we can never get away from the sprawl
Living in the sprawl
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there’s no end in sight
I need the darkness. Someone, please cut the lights!

Reflektor (2013)
"Reflektor"
Trapped in a prison, in a prism
 of light
Alone in the darkness, darkness of white
We fell in love, alone on a stage
In the reflective age

Entre la nuit, la nuit et l’aurore  (Between the night, night and dawn.)
Entre le royaume des vivants et des morts (Between the kingdoms, of the living and of the dead.)
If this is heaven
I don't know what it’s for
If I can’t find you there
I don't care

I thought I found a way to enter
It’s just a Reflektor (It's just a Reflektor)
I thought I found the connector
It’s just a Reflektor (It's just a Reflektor)

Now, the signals we send, are deflected again
We're so connected, but are we even friends?
We fell in love when I was nineteen
And now we're staring at a screen

Entre la nuit, la nuit et l’aurore
Entre le royaume des vivants et des morts
If this is heaven
I need something more
Just a place to be alone
Cause you're my home

It’s just a reflection of a reflection
Of a reflection of a reflection
But I see you on the other side?
We all got things to hide
It’s just a reflection of a reflection
Of a reflection of a reflection
But I see you on the other side
We all got things to hide
All right, let's go back

Our song it skips, on little silver discs
Our love is plastic, we'll break it to bits
I want to break free, but will they break me
Down, down, down?
Don't mess around

Thought you were praying to the resurrector
Turns out it was just a reflector (It’s just a reflector)
Thought you were praying to the resurrector
Turns out it was just a reflector (It’s just a reflector)
Thought you were praying to the resurrector
Turns out it was just a reflector (It’s just a reflector)

It’s a reflector
It’s just a reflector
Just a reflector
But I see you on the other side
It’s just a reflector
But I see you on the other side
We all got things to hide
It’s just a reflector
But I see you on the other side

"Flashbulb Eyes"
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
No I got, nothing

"Here Comes the Nighttime"
When the sun goes down
When the sun goes down you head inside
'Cause the lights don't work
Yeah nothing works they say you don't mind
Here comes the night time
Here comes the night time
Here comes the night time

And the missionaries
They tell us we will be left behind
Been left behind
A thousand times, a thousand times

If you want to be righteous
If you want to be righteous, get in line
'Cause here comes the night time

Here comes the night time...

They say, heaven's a place
Yeah, heaven's a place and they know where it is
But you know where it is?
It's behind the gate, they won't let you in
And when they hear the beat, coming from the street, they lock the door
But if there's no music up in heaven, then what's it for?

When I hear the beat, my spirit's on me like a live-wire
A thousand horses running wild in a city on fire
But it starts in your feet, then it goes to your head
If you can't feel it, then the roots are dead
And if you're the judge, then what is our crime?
Here comes the night time

Here comes the night time...

Now the preachers they talk
Up on the satellite
If you're looking for Hell, just try looking inside

Here comes the night time, the night time...

When you look in the sky, just try looking inside
God knows what you might find
When you look in the sky, just try looking inside
God knows what you might find
Here comes the night time

"You Already Know"
When your love is right
When your love is right
You can't sleep at night
You've been sleeping just fine
But when your love is bad
When your love is bad
Don't know why you're so sad
But it's time to go

"Here Comes The Nighttime II"
Here comes the night time
Here comes the night time
Here comes the night time...

"Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)"
We know there's a price to pay for love in a reflective age
I met you up upon a stage, our love in a reflective age
Oh no, now you're gone

"It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)"
We stood beside
A frozen sea
I saw you out
In front of me
Reflected light
A hollow moon
Oh Orpheus, Eurydice
Its over too soon

"Aferlife"
Afterlife, oh my God, what an awful word
After all the breath and the dirt 
And the fires that burn
And after all this time 
And after all the ambulances go
And after all the hangers-on are done 
Hanging on to the dead lights
Of the afterglow

I've gotta know 
Can we work it out?
We scream and shout 'till we work it out
Can we just work it out?
Scream and shout 'till we work it out?
'Till we work it out, 'till we work it out
'Till we work it out, 'till we work it out

Afterlife, I think I saw what happens next
It was just a glimpse of you 
Like looking through a window
Or a shallow sea
Could you see me?
And after all this time
It's like nothing else we used to know
After all the hangers-on are done 
Hanging on to the dead lights
Of the afterglow

I've gotta know 

Can we work it out?
Let's scream and shout 'till we work it out
Can we just work it out?
If you scream and shout 'till we work it out?

But you say
Oh, when love is gone
Where does it go?...

And after this
Can it last another night?
After all the bad advice
Had nothing at all to do with life

I've gotta know 

Can we work it out?
Scream and shout 'till we work it out?...

But you say
Oh, when love is gone
Where does it go?...

Is this the afterlife?


It's just an afterlife, with you...

__________________________________________________________________________
Related Post:
"Continual Themes and Subjects in the Work of Arcade Fire (a list)"


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