Day After Day #321: Rebellion (Lies)

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Rebellion (Lies) (2004)

Twenty years ago, indie rock bands were popping out of the woodwork and a legion of nerds with MP3 blogs was sharing their music to the masses. One band that blew up immediately was the Arcade Fire, a Montreal-based act that made emotional, stirring anthems. They became industry darlings, renowned for their exhilarating live performances, and collaborated with some of the biggest names in rock. If you asked me in 2004 where the Arcade Fire would be 20 years later, I would have said they'd be one of the biggest bands in the world. The band is still touring two decades later, but its profile has diminished considerably for a number of reasons.

Arcade Fire was formed in 2001 in Montreal by Win Butler and Josh Deu, who first met at Phillips Exeter Academy as high school kids. The band came together when Butler was attending McGill University and Deu was at Concordia University in Montreal; they added Regine Chassagne, a music student, and other members. The band started recording an EP in Mount Desert Island, Maine, at Butler's family farm; the lineup changed, with Butler's brother Will and Tim Kingsbury brought in to replace Deu and Brendan Reed. 

Adding drummer Howard Bilerman in 2003, the band played live shows and recorded its first album, Funeral, which was released in September 2004 on Merge Records. The title referred to the deaths of several family members of the band. The album got an immediate boost from a review by online publication Pitchfork, which gave it a 9.7 out of 10; Pitchfork reviews carried a lot of weight back then, and the aforementioned MP3 blog nerdz praised it to high heaven. That's how I heard about the album, which I actually downloaded from one of those sites. Win Butler's impassioned vocals and the band's everything-including-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation gave the album an exciting, arena-ready feel, while also pushing aside the ironic attitude of '90s bands.

"Rebellion (Lies)" was the fifth single off the album, but it connected instantly with audiences and became a show-closer for years. 

"Sleeping is giving in/No matter what the time is/Sleeping is giving in/So lift those heavy eyelids/People say that you'll die/Faster than without water/But we know it's just a lie/Scare your son, scare your daughter/People say that your dreams/Are the only things that save you/Come on baby, in our dreams/We can live our misbehavior/Every time you close your eyes (Lies! Lies)/Every time you close your eyes (Lies! Lies!)/Every time you close your eyes (Lies! Lies!)/Every time you close your eyes (Lies! Lies!)"

The song picks up steam as it goes on, exhorting the listener to rebel against everything that your parents said to scare you.

"People try and hide the night/Underneath the covers/People try and hide their lies/Underneath the covers/Come on hide your lovers/Underneath the covers/Come on hide your lovers/Underneath the covers/Hiding from your brothers/Underneath the covers/Come on hide your lovers/Underneath the covers."

Live versions of the song (see below) were cathartic and thrilling, as the nearly 10 band members gave it their all in every performance. Funeral routinely topped 2004 year-end lists (including mine) with delirious praise heaped upon it. 

Arcade Fire followed it up with 2007's Neon Bible, which was strong and anthemic and continued the band's trajectory, debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200. They appeared on SNL, Win and Chassagne guested at a Springsteen concert and the band played at an Obama campaign event at the president's request. The band's 2010 album The Suburbs did even better, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and winning Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards. The band also contributed to the soundtrack of The Hunger Games, one of the biggest movies of the year.

But the band's next album, 2013's Reflektor, was a bit of a misstep, a double album that delved into dance music. It still got decent reviews, but I didn't dig it. It felt pretentious and frankly, it just wasn't interesting to me. But it still went to #1 on the Billboard 200. The band's 2017 release, Everything Now, got mixed reviews but again debuted at #1. Arcade Fire's most recent album is 2022's We, which hit #6 on the album chart. I couldn't tell you what anything off the last two albums sounds like. That kind of shows you what it means to have a top 10 album these days: not a whole hell of a lot.

Two years ago, frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by four people; Butler denied the allegations and said the encounters were all consensual, but there was definitely fallout. Feist dropped off the band's European tour as a result of the allegations, and Beck later did the same for the American leg. Will Butler left the band right after the album was recorded in 2021. 

Despite the controversy, the band has been playing some festivals the last few years. I haven't listened to their music much over the last decade-plus, although I've heard a few songs from their first album at the gym in recent months. Listening to some of Funeral for this piece reminded me of what a great band they were 20 years ago, but I'm still not going to listen to their newer stuff. I've moved on.