There are 9 songs on Arcade Fire’s debut album, Funeral, that could easily make it into my top ten and another two or three songs from their sophomore effort; Neon Bible, that could claim tenth spot. In the event, however, only three songs from Funeral made the final cut.
When I first started to listen to Funeral it felt like listening to a new genre of music; I can think of few other bands that have produced a comparable style of music before or since. Despite its title, Funeral is actually one of the most beautiful and uplifting albums ever written which is actually rather apt because when you think about it, a funeral is not a only a celebration of a person’s life but also a reminder of how precious our own lives are. Many of the lyrics on Funeral allude to existential angst and our collective failure to grab hold of life (‘Sleeping Is giving In’, ‘The Power’s Out In The Hearts Of Men’); ‘Wake Up’ is a clarion call to take control of your life and do things you always wanted to do; fittingly it then breaks out into ecstatic and euphoric Motown coda.
I will use live videos for all the Arcade Fire songs in this list because you really have to see them live to understand the passion and the intensity of their performances. The sound on this video is pretty bad and a lot of detail from the song is lost, however I chose this video because I felt it best summed up what Arcade Fire are all about. This was one of those rare moments when the band and the crowd were at one and both became performers. It came as no surprise when I learned that lead singer Win Butler studied Religious Studies at university as the band has a definite Messianic quality; certainly when three thousand people are singing in unison it’s impossible not to give in to their manifesto and follow their lead.