Song Review
I’ve got a quick Christmas Eve post for everyone today, before the circus known as the Ukrainian Christmas Feast begins at my family’s place. With all the recent hoopla surrounding a possible Arcade Fire release in 2010, now seems like a good time to post another tune from the band. If you haven’t heard the aforementioned hoopla, early on in December Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons revealed that producer Markus Dravs had been working with Arcade Fire for the last 6 months. The following day, Rolling Stone announced (though it was quickly refuted) that the band’s next release would hit stores in May of 2010. Regardless of when the album ultimately drops, any buzz surrounding a new release is good news. Today’s song Neighborhood #2 (Laika) was the second single released in support of the band’s colossal 2004 debut Funeral. Front-man Win Butler explained the song as being about about the first animal (Soviet space dog Laika) to orbit the earth, and subsequentley die while orbiting the earth with the following quote: “It’s a great story about a dog being the first living creature in space. Doing this spectacular thing, but not having food and watching itself fall back into the earth.”. The band delves into this story in the recurring context of the album’s “Neighborhood”, with older brother Alexander being the one sent out on the fated great adventure. For more, from arguably the finest album of the last decade, we’ve also posted the songs below.
Arcade Fire -- Wake Up
Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
Alexander, our older brother,
set out for a great adventure.
He tore our images out of his pictures,
he scratched our names out of all his letters.
Our mother shoulda just named you Laika!
Come on Alex, you can do it.
Come on Alex, there’s nothin’ to it.
If you want somethin’ don’t ask for nothin,
if you want nothin’ don’t ask for somethin’!
Our mother shoulda just named you Laika!
It’s for your own good,
it’s for the neighborhood!
For the neighborhood
Our older brother bit by a Vampire!
For a year we caught his tears in a cup.
And now we’re gonna make him drink it.
Come on Alex don’t die or dry up!
Our mother shoulda just named you Laika!
It’s for your own good,
it’s for the neighborhood!
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! (x4)
