(Intro)
I'm in the black again, can't make it back again
We can just pretend we'll make it home again
From everything now
Every inch of sky's got a star
Every inch of skin's got a scar
I guess that you've got everything now
Every inch of space in your head
Is filled up with the things that you read
I guess you've got everything now
And every film that you've ever seen
Fills the spaces up in your dreams
That reminds me
Everything now
Everything now
Every inch of road's got a sign
And every boy uses the same line
I pledge allegiance to everything now
Every song that I've ever heard
Is playing at the same time, it's absurd
And it reminds me, we've got everything now
We turn the speakers up till they break
'Cause every time you smile, it's a fake
Stop pretending, you've got . . .
(Everything now) I need it
(Everything now) I want it
(Everything now) I can't live without
Every ancient road's got a town
Daddy, how come you're never around?
I miss you, like everything now
Mama, leave the food on the stove
Leave your car in the middle of the road
This happy family with everything now
We turn the speakers up till they break
'Cause every time you smile, it's a fake
Stop pretending . . .
~ Arcade Fire
If this song is new to you, that may be because it was just released YESTERDAY! This is the single from the new Arcade Fire album of the same name, Everything Now. I've watched the video a couple of times now, and I find something new each time. Please watch it if you haven't already.
The song addresses our need to obtain everything immediately in order to guarantee our happiness. It speaks to the overstimulation promoted by our culture as well as our insistence on instant gratification. About the song, Win Butler says, "There's sort of an everything-nowness to life. I feel like almost every event and everything that happens surrounds you on all sides. It's trying to capture some of the experiences of being alive now in all its flaws and all its glory."
The video, set in the stark desolation of the desert, offers a contrast to the consumer-ridden and often congested communities in which we live. Till every room in my house is filled with shit I couldn't live without. But strip away the McMansions and vehicles and technological toys, and what remains? Telephone poles, electrical wires and cables, barbed wire, and contrails. In this other-worldly desert environment, all the signs on the storefronts claim "Everything Now." The children play on the fallen spacecraft and watch more attempts at expanding our universe as rockets take off over the horizon.
And it begs the question: Why can't we make taking care of this planet a priority before we try to inhabit others? Is it only coincidence that this video/song was released on the same day that the decider-in-residence announced our withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord? Take note of the scene in which the camera focuses from above on a bird nest full of eggs sitting atop a telephone pole while children throw rocks at it from below. An obvious metaphor for the destruction of nature.
Arcade Fire is a Canadian band, but they make no secret about their feeling toward this new U.S. administration. On the day before the Inauguration, they released "I Give You Power" featuring vocals by Mavis Staples. There's a line in the song that follows "I give you power." Mavis sternly threatens, "I can take it all away -- watch me!" We're all watching, eyes on the 2018 mid-terms. All proceeds from "I Give You Power" were given to the ACLU. A statement from the band cautions, "It's never been more important that we stick together and take care of each other."
The "outro" concludes the song as everything now goes up in flames:
The ashes of everything now
And then you're black again
Can't make it back again
From everything now
I want to believe that it's not too late. How about you?
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