| Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I feel that this song, just like the other 3 Neighbourhood tracks, alludes to the hopeless inevitability that perpetuates mankind. Time, Life and ultimately the neighbourhood are repetitive to the extent that they are cyclic, which is depicted in the line, "Time keeps creeping through the neighborhood Killing old folks, waking up babies just like we knew it would". However, this cycle will eventually end, and I believe that the pot of water symbolises mankind and its slow downward spiral, eventually resulting in its fall. The writer is observing this slow and painful descent, which is documented in the stanza: "They say a watched pot won't ever boil Well I closed my eyes and nothing changed Just some water getting hotter in the flames" The media acts as a catalyst for this downward spiral, slowly destroying all of the sincerity and innocence (the feelings that Gama alluded to in his/her post) that exists within mankind, which is demonstrated in the lines, "there's some spirit I used to know That's been drowned out by the radio!" I know that this may all sound like a bunch of doomsday jargon, but that is the reason why it is the last of the Neighbourhood tracks - because it outlines the Neighbourhood's destruction. Its rather annoying how the vocals on many of Arcade Fire's tracks are barely audible (not on this track, however). On tracks like Neighborhood #2 and #3 I would much rather listen to their observational poetry than their guitar and accordion riffs. Also, for the record, Funerals pwns Neon Bible: there is no other term that accurately compares them. |
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