Arcade Fire – Black Mirror

General CommentIt seems to be quite obvious to me. For me, Black mirrors are all kinds of creens, it doesn't matter if they are televisions, computeres, mobile phones or other devices, you can find them everywhere if you watch carefully - in our homes, in public, even in almost every pocket.
Nowadays people can't live without their black mirrors and this curse wil be never broken.
But there are also many disadvantages about living alongside black mirrors such us snooping cameras, stalking and stealing data from your profile and many others. Arcade fire also mentioned their fear about very common fact that our world -as we know it- is getting closer and closer to a very sudden end - for example - 'all words will lose the meaning' this is very wellknown idea - Arcade fire shares this fear with many other artist especially those who are connected with term of the 'Theatre of the Absurd'.
Just try to switch your black mirrors and keep them so for one day, you will find it very hard to look through the black screen and see your reflection.
I think George Orwell would love this song.

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  @Bretislav
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  A black mirror is used in the art of divination. It is completely black 'shows no reflection, knows not pride nor vanity' Can be used to show the dead or to see the future ' show me where them bombs will fall'
  But I think they were also referring to tv because like someone said turn it off and look at it, it's a black mirror, it can show you the dead i.e. victims of wars, disasters and can show the future 'show me where them bombs will fall.'
  Of course the ocean on a moonless night looks like a grand black mirror.
  
  I love Arcade Fire. They are so smart.

  Flag Tat1986on February 06, 2013  

General CommentNo..."it's un deux trois, DIT miroir noir."

("One two three, say black mirror")

And that's coming straight from Win Butler himself.

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  @afimrtl

General CommentWell this is strange. All these theories are really interesting and nothing like my immediate one. I immediately assumed the 'black mirror' was a televison. Or rather all televisions. Its makes sense in the context of "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall." On the official neonbible website this song was previewed with an image of a room with a turned off tv (black mirror) mounted to the wall. Obviosuly the bombs falling refers to watching the news perhaps on iraq. I had really just assumed thats what this song was about.

To summarise I think its a very scary image of the tv as a souless thing which will serve uncaring in mans will whatever that may be. "Cares not about your dreams, cares not for your pyramid schemes" seems to show this.

Something else that may support my idea is:
"I walked down to the ocean
After waking from the nightmare"
I thought this referred to static noise that can be made by a tv.

And another could be:
"Their names are never spoken
The curse is never broken...
Un, duex, trois, dis: miroir noir
[one, two, three, say black mirror]"
I thought this was saying that the awful things we see on tv (preachers begging for money in the name of god for example) could be ended if we woke up realised it on took notice of the tv as something which is affecting society quite abruptly.

I really liked the other theories though so I'm not saying mine is definitive.

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  @thevampirevalentine

General CommentIt's clear. This song is about what will happen to us in the end, whatever the end may be. All we know is that we are causing the end, but we can't seem to do anything about it... or can we? We know we are causing the problems, but why can't we stop it? And will it be too late?

"Black mirror knows no reflection, knows not pride or vanity
Cares not about your dreams, cares not for your pyramid schemes
Their names are never spoken
The curse is never broken, the curse is never broken"

Humankind's eventual downfall doesn't care (metaphorically) about how close you came to ALMOST caring or almost stopping bad things from happening.

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  @zhicago

General CommentA black mirror is a special mirror artists used to use. They would turn their back on a landscape or portrait and paint the reflection they saw in the mirror.

So yes I agree with steak for chicken, a mirror that shows the truth about the world.

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  @Checkerpig

General Comment"Un, deux, trois, dit miroir noir"

It gives me goosebumps. It's so good.

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  @uncletross
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  me too! first time i heard it it chilled me

  Flag IZFERNORon November 05, 2008  

General Commentthe truth about america? All of Neon Bible has a general theme of anti-comercialism, materialism, politics, religion, etc. anti-american delusionalism i like to put it.

See Windowsill and Intervention.

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  @SnwBorder52

General CommentThis song reminds me of Neighborhood #3 (Power Out). Power Out was about apathy of people as a whole but was played with a fast tempo and was sung in a very panicked fashion to show that something needs to be done about it, and fast.

Black Mirror could very well be the response to Power Out. The people are told that their apathy needs to end, but their apathy is kept in place by itself. The end finally comes and they are judged with the same apathy that they harbored for so long (Cares not about your dreams, cares not for your pyramid schemes).

Black Mirror's play style takes an unsympathetic tone, matching the content of the lyrics, whereas Power Out had an opposite tone to the lyrics' direct content.

Just some thoughts after reading through the comments. I absolutely LOVE where the Arcade Fire's sound has gone with this album.

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  @The_Yoshinator

General CommentI'm french and the correct lyrics would be "dis mirroir noir" instead of "dit" ("dis" = say, "dit"= says). But it's just a detail.

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  @ThirdPig

General CommentIs it just me or does this song really sounds like rebellion lies, somehow as if it were a negative version of it ?

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  @Mychkine