Funeral – Arcade Fire (Throwback Thursday)

Written by Shannon Fricke

Today, we are going to throw it back to 2004 with award winning, best alternative album “Funeral,” by Arcade Fire. What better way to reminisce and celebrate a throwback Thursday, as it has been announced, the Canadian, indie rock band and husband and wife duo will make an appearance at Chicago’s 2017 Lollapalooza! There is some debate as to how many of Arcade Fire’s extended family members died during the making of the band’s debut album. Without knowing full detail, death permeated and influenced the creation of this piece. Regardless of death being an overshadow of the album, it still displayed life-affirming hope. “Children, wake up… before they turn the summer into dust,” sang Win Butler, on the track “Wake up,” only to remind us that we must seize the day and continue to be daring regardless of adversity we face in our lifetime. It was hard to appropriate the sensibility of this piece with it being dark but having an uplifting orchestration, along with sing-along choruses who collaborate, building a sense of community. Funeral left the music world with transformative power. It was an honest, emotional album defined by death yet still able to find life on the other side. I picked this album personally because I have recently undergone the unfortunate side of life…death. My circumstance has allowed me to view life in a different light. I’m learning a lot about loss, love, coming of age, and generational struggles, all similar themes this symphonic rock displays. I am looking forward to their performance at Lollapalooza, and I am extremely excited to cross off another band on my list! Though this album is nearly 13 years old, it’s as fresh as the day it was released and it continues rocking on!

Song to listen to: “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, “Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)”, and “Wake up”

 

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