Neon Bible

Neon Bible, an album from Arcade Fire( a Montreal based band fronted by a husband and wife duo Win Butler, and Régine Chassagne, but others in the band consist of, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld, and Jeremy Gara) caused quite a commotion. Some liked it, (it was nominated for a Grammy), yet some hated it and called them sellouts. Maybe that was the idea. I disagree thoroughly, and enjoyed this album immensely. Neon Bible is an aggressively gothic record, with pipe organs and church bells. The self entitled track, "Neon Bible" is a bleak, soft, two-minute eulogy for a generation blinded. "A vial of hope and a vial of pain/In the light, they both looked the same," Butler sings through whispering cellos, like Leonard Cohen wandering through the third Velvet Underground album. When Arcade Fire hits the gas pedal, with "Keep the Car Running" it is a gripping chase scene --on the run from some kind of gestapo? Even better is the delirium of "(Anti- christ Television Blues)." The reverb does the lyrics no favors, but at the end of this torrent of 9/11 trauma ("The planes keep crashing, always two by two") and blasphemous prayer (a minimum-wage-slave dad asks God to make his daughter a TV star), an avenging spirit cuts through -- "I'm through being cute," Butler snaps, "I'm through being nice" -- that runs deep in Neon Bible. It's too bad you can't always hear it. My favorite song from the album is "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations". Overall, this whole album gave me chills.
Lyrics: Black Wave/Bad Vibrations:
We can reach the sea
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
Ce sera un long voyage
Sur les vagues de l'oubli
Run from the memory
Je nage, mais les sons me suivent
Stop now before it's too late
Been eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate
Nothing lasts foreverThat's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea
Stop now before it's too late
Been eating in the ghetto on a hundred dollar plate
Nothing lasts foreverThat'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
Been 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
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