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January 6, 2007

New Arcade Fire - "Black Mirror"

Yeah getting shut out of five count 'em five Arcade Fire shows was no fun for anyone. So here's a little good news for the bummed among you: Run don't walk over to the Arcade Fire site and click into Win's scrapbook for another page from Neon Bible. It's sorta dark -- and so are the lyrics! A sample:

I will walk down to the ocean
After waking from the nightmare
No moon, no pale reflection
Black Mirror, Black Mirror

...

I know when the time is coming
All the words will lose their meaning
Please show me something that isn't mind
But mind is the only kind that I relate to
I never guessed how the mirror could ever break you
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror

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
Un, deux, trois, du miroir noir
Black Mirror
Un, deux, trois, du miroir noir
Black Mirror

Told ya. The track's got the sweeping drama and the AF climax moment -- but the simmering swirl and eerie rumble of the verses set it apart from what we've heard so far. Un, deux, trois, du miroir noir!

Posted at 5:32 PM
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52 Comments

its very good. dark and this way of mixing suits them...probably the best of the leaked tracks so far.

Posted by: chipmonkey at 01/06/07 6:16 PM  | Reply
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The sad and funny thing is that the only people I know that exist with that have tickets to the shows are girls ranging from 8 to 15 years old. The same cheerleader chicks who are only interested in seeing the band of the moment, such as Arcade Fire, Panic!..., the hipster bands played on "The O.C." and Hollister, and such. My friend also noticed the same thing.

I guess this is the future for Arcade Fire shows... Best of luck to them in the future.

Posted by: tjxm at 01/06/07 6:40 PM  | Reply
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is that the cover for the single maybe?

Posted by: ben at 01/06/07 7:10 PM  | Reply
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> is that the cover for the single maybe?

No idea, but it's cool right? Reminds me of Wish-era Cure single art.

Posted by: scott at 01/06/07 7:22 PM  | Reply
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Or the Black Parade. Are Arcade Fire ripping off My Chemical Romance?

Posted by: history man at 01/06/07 8:21 PM  | Reply
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oooh, good point, scott. one more reason to love this band.

Posted by: jane doe at 01/06/07 8:29 PM  | Reply
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It's a little early for comparison to the legendary Robert Smith & Co. but AF are on the right track. Funeral is one of the best albums of the millennium thus far. I like what I've been hearing of the new stuff so far.

Posted by: MrBartell1 at 01/06/07 9:00 PM  | Reply
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This is easily the worst song out of the new ones.

Posted by: Joe at 01/06/07 9:05 PM  | Reply
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hey tjxm, please get over yourself?

Posted by: cherry at 01/06/07 9:18 PM  | Reply
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ps im pretty sure im psyched for this album.

Posted by: cherry at 01/06/07 9:26 PM  | Reply
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i like it quite a bit. then again, i'm a hopeless fan and i'll take what i can get while waiting for the leak/official release. i don't think it's the worst of the leaks, but thanks for that mp3 link on your page, joe. i was going apeshit trying to find a working link.

Posted by: mercator at 01/06/07 9:49 PM  | Reply
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Shit, missed the link.
Any other kind person want to make one available?

Posted by: Robert at 01/06/07 10:13 PM  | Reply
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I didn't like it. I like the Arcade Fire. I love Funeral. This track is just not so good. Hopefully the rest of the album is better.

Posted by: Dan at 01/06/07 11:11 PM  | Reply
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I go to NYU but live in Arizona. Woke up at 7 am to get tickets. Clicked the link, got the tickets. Two for friday night. Peace and love

Posted by: dustin at 01/06/07 11:26 PM  | Reply
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I really, really like it. In fact, the song sounds slightly Cure-ish to me...it's very dark. As is the artwork. If this is indicative of the material to come then I'm excited!

Posted by: ajaku at 01/06/07 11:55 PM  | Reply
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i saved el payo's mp3 link (ta!) to my computer, but i can't get it to open in itunes. what am i doing wrong??

Posted by: jane doe at 01/07/07 1:07 AM  | Reply
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...is the french really necessary to say "1 2 3 Black Mirror"?

Posted by: Elliot at 01/07/07 2:08 AM  | Reply
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"...is the french really necessary to say "1 2 3 Black Mirror"?"

Was it really necessary for the bridge of Psycho Killer to be in French? Was it really necessary for Frank Black to write various Pixies things in Spanish?

Is it really necessary for Sigur Ros to sing in Icelandic, or worse (by what are clearly your standards), an entirely made up language?

And what's up with those Kraftwerk guys with their words sometimes in English and sometimes in German? Is that really necessary?

Is it really necessary to have all those French bits in earlier AF material?

Posted by: sparkletone at 01/07/07 2:20 AM  | Reply
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Is it really necessary to post a massive response to a stupid comment?

Posted by: j at 01/07/07 3:51 AM  | Reply
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"Is it really necessary to post a massive response to a stupid comment?"

Yes.

Wait. No.

Wait. What was the question again?

Posted by: sparkletone at 01/07/07 4:11 AM  | Reply
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I think the question was, WILL SOMEONE POST ANOTHER MP3 OF THE DAMN SONG ALREADY?!?!?! K Thx. <3

Posted by: Jarrett at 01/07/07 5:17 AM  | Reply
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http://obscuresound.com/mp3/arcade-black.mp3
I LOVE THIS SONG >>> If anyone wants to take me the any of the NYC shows here is my email address billy@hostageradio.com

Posted by: billy oaks at 01/07/07 5:29 AM  | Reply
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I dig. What was the deal about the wrong song getting put on iTunes? Does anyone have a link to that song?

Posted by: M.J.S. at 01/07/07 6:26 AM  | Reply
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Two tickets to see The Arcade Fire in NYC in Feb. sold for $2,025!!! on eBay today. Dang crazy

http://indierockcafe.typepad.com/indie_rock_music_/2007/01/tickets_for_the.html

Do you think they're that good??

Posted by: phil at 01/07/07 6:38 AM  | Reply
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Shades of the second (and unfinished) Jeff Buckley album? I mean in the darkness etc.

And please be aware that you cannot exchange, pass on or buy NYC tickets on Craiglist as they will only let the buyer in the venue.

Posted by: Mat at 01/07/07 6:45 AM  | Reply
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don't forget all the Spanish stuff in "Should I Stay or Should I Go" - though i kind of do see what you're saying - like, they're like "oh shit, this is our single, and we're the Arcade Fire - we gotta say something in French so people will remember how we're different!"
kind of happens with bands- as they go on, idiosyncracies become codified and become less spontaneous... but I still can't claim to have any idea why certain things on Funeral were in French, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

Posted by: history man at 01/07/07 7:34 AM  | Reply
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Why French ?

Because the band resides in Montréal, Québec, where French-speaking people are the majority, so they use both languages frequently. And because Régine has haitian origins and French is largely spoken in Haiti. Seems like two pretty solid reasons to me.

Posted by: manur at 01/07/07 11:25 AM  | Reply
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okay, this is weird. i saved the first mp3 link posted to my computer -- it wouldn't save it to itunes. i saved the second mp3 link to my computer -- it saved to itunes and showed up in the playlist, but when i clicked on it to play, it acted like the song wasn't there and played another song instead.

i guess this means there's some sort of protection on the file? bah.

Posted by: jane doe at 01/07/07 11:39 AM  | Reply
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Tracklisting and release date for the album. And new clips!

http://headlessponch.blogspot.com/2007/01/neon-bible-release-date-and.html

Posted by: Joe at 01/07/07 11:40 AM  | Reply
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'Black Mirror knows no reflections, not pride nor vanity' is a great line. Love the french.

Posted by: I Hate Carrying Stuff at 01/07/07 11:48 AM  | Reply
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anyone who listens to this crap is a moron. good music will prevail...

Posted by: ryan at 01/07/07 1:00 PM  | Reply
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doesnt it have a morrissey feel over it? or maybe not?

Posted by: nicke at 01/07/07 1:47 PM  | Reply
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Ummmmm....No Cars Go is going to be on Neon Bible? I think my head just exploded - excuse me.

Posted by: nick at 01/07/07 2:23 PM  | Reply
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this song sucks. period.

if you listened to this song without knowing it was Arcade Fire, i bet a lot of people would hate it. Because this song is, well, drivel.

Posted by: kevin at 01/07/07 2:47 PM  | Reply
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full lyrics are here: http://littleradio.com/blogwire/24585

they mess up slightly w/ the french translation which is 1 2 3 of the black mirror literally, or 1 2 3 from the black mirror, but either way it seems kind of random, not that that's a bad thing, considering the french phrases in psycho killer are just that which I did that night there and what's that. Also, on another note, that is a children's choir right?

Posted by: ian at 01/07/07 2:51 PM  | Reply
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Messed up the translation? Dude, they speak French in Quebec. If it says 'of the' or 'from the' then that's exactly what the band wanted to say.

Posted by: reinholdmesner at 01/07/07 8:18 PM  | Reply
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mogwai x joy division x mercury rev playing hide and seek in a graveyard

Posted by: Anonymous at 01/07/07 8:21 PM  | Reply
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I thought it was the blog doing the translation and not the arcade fire. Also the butler's aren't from montreal even though the band is from there which I didn't know until I listened to their morning becomes eclectic set.

Posted by: ian at 01/07/07 8:31 PM  | Reply
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"...is the french really necessary to say "1 2 3 Black Mirror"?"

goodness gracious, no. that's my least favorite part of the song. it's inconceivably unnecessary! it sounds contrived, forced and kitschy all at once. over-all i would agree that this is the worst of the three tracks so far...at least in "une annee sans lumiere" it is purposeful and pretty...i'm a loyal arcade fire fan, but i hope the rest of the album isn't as weak as this track...

Posted by: James at 01/07/07 9:08 PM  | Reply
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If i was quicker on the response James, that's exactly what i would have said to the idiots up above.
Sparkletone: though all your comparisons are almost equal in idiocy, to compare the purely musical intent of the vocals in Sigur Ros to The Arcade Fire screaming "1 2 3 Black mirror" in French is particularly hilarious.

Posted by: Elliot at 01/08/07 3:27 AM  | Reply
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God their lyrics are terrible.

Posted by: Paul at 01/08/07 11:08 AM  | Reply
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suddenly, everyone loves to hate arcade fire...

Posted by: sol at 01/08/07 3:02 PM  | Reply
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This makes for interesting reading thanks to one and all...Win

Posted by: Arcade Fire at 01/13/07 7:34 AM  | Reply
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> This makes for interesting reading thanks
> to one and all...Win

This is Ryan Adams isn't it?

Posted by: scott at 01/13/07 4:23 PM  | Reply
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It sounds like Echo and the Bunnymen, the Killing Moon.

Posted by: b at 01/24/07 6:19 PM  | Reply
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Fuck the haters. This song is LEGIT

Posted by: brian at 02/11/07 10:01 PM  | Reply
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Just thought you all might want to know that they're actually singing "un deux trois, DIS: miroir noir" (one two three, say: black mirror) - since it appears to be quite important to some people.


This is one of the weaker songs on the album, which is not to say that it's a bad song, but rather that Neon Bible is gonna be HUGE. even better than Funeral.

Posted by: ashtraygirl at 02/12/07 1:25 AM  | Reply
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I will walk down to the ocean
After waking from the nightmare
No moon, no pale reflection
Black Mirror, Black Mirror

Shot by a security camera
You can watch your own image
And also look yourself in the eye
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror

I know when the time is coming
All the words will lose their meaning
Please show me something that isn’t mine
But mind is the only kind that I relate to
I never guessed how the mirror could ever break you
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror

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
Un, deux, trois, du miroir noir [one, two, three, from the mirror]
Black Mirror
Un, deux, trois, du miroir noir [one, two, three, from the mirror]
Black Mirror

Black Mirror, Black Mirror
Their names are never spoken, The curse is never broken,
Their names are never spoken, The curse is never broken,
Mirror mirror on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall
Mirror mirror on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall
Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror, Black Mirror

Posted by: Liz at 02/15/07 11:38 AM  | Reply
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There is nothing that brings me more joy than an Arcade Fire song. They make me a happy girl. I saw them in Detroit a couple years ago and didn't know who they were. The day after I bought their cd and have loved them ever since. What would this world be without Arcade Fire?

Posted by: Liz at 02/15/07 11:45 AM  | Reply
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Un! Deux! Trois! Dis: Miroir Noir!

Is, obviously, as far as I know (don't know hardly any french, taking a guess) means
"One! Two! Three! Say: Black Mirror!"
And then of course, they all shot "Black Mirror!"

Posted by: ienvyregine at 06/27/07 12:59 PM  | Reply
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just finished this REMIX of black mirror. check it

http://andrewmaury.net/remix/pages/blackmirror.html

Posted by: andrew at 02/08/08 12:30 AM  | Reply
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