Arcade Fires Parodic Bible Reading Notes Gilmour PDF

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1 Arcade Fire’s Parodic Bible Reading Notes Michael J. Gilmour Abstract - Arcade Fire album: Neon Bible o 2006 o Juno in 2008  Alternative Album of the Year o Harsh critique of modern North American church life  Doesn’t extend to Christianity itself o Interesting commentary on church and society  A clever parody of Christianity - Mikhail Bakhtin o Describes medieval carnivals  Rabelais and His World  Claims carnivals introduce “a 2nd world and a 2nd life outside officialdom”  Arcade Fire does this in Neon Bible o Ridiculing church authority by forcefully taking its rightful place through an unofficial, popular culture medium  Recorded album in a church  Called finished album a “bible” - Parody o Arcade Fire’s use of term  Also, draws on Linda Hutcheon’s definition of the term Essay - Kelton Cobb o Jeremiad  Widely used narrative in popular culture  Definition: o A long, mournful complaint or lamentation  Lost paradise script  Calling for return to Edenic innocence (relating to/characteristic of the garden of Eden)  Biblical origin  Hebrew Scriptures o Prophets (e.g. Jeremiah) warn people of covenant violations and call them to repentance o Writers/artists in popular culture return to flexible form of jeremiad  Expressing conviction that “we have corrupted our obligations toward a [predetermined/God-given] order that surrounds us” (p. 2)  Writers/artists differences in narratives  Viewpoints of what constitutes corruption of God-given order

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 What it is that persists in causing it Writers/artists similarities in narratives  Use of paradise myths to explore “the shortcomings of human life”  Address question “what went wrong?”

Neon Bible o Arcade Fire presents 2 kinds of religiosity in dialogue: 1) Genuine, biblically informed spirituality 2) Expression of religion tainted by commercialism and self-interest o Band assumes role of prophet  Calls audience to be wary of #2 Cobb continued… o Covenant/jeremiad script = ideal for societal imaginations on deviancy  Through this narrative…  Stubborn moral faith persists in culture o Promotes repentance o Invokes more dignified & inclusive idea of justice than one that prevails  Offers proven device for inventorying society’s sins & contents of its conscience Neon Bible continued… o Juxtaposes ideal order with forms of deviancy  Occasionally, hints of stubborn moral faith  Some characters can’t escape persistent, nagging conscience o Value systems lash  Greed vs. scruple (i.e. doubt/hesitation to morality) o It is a parody Mikhail M. Bakhtin o “Carnivalesque”  Transgressive energies of medieval carnivals o In medieval carnivals…  Unofficial culture would mock official culture  Temporarily resisting political oppression and totalitarian order (i.e. political, ecclesial, or social) o Through laughter, parody, & grotesque realism o Bakhtin’s image highlights:  Liberation from fixed values  Imposed modes of behavior  Those normally subjected/silenced have: o Occasion to speak o Freedom to treat the sacred as profane (to mock & ridicule authority figures & cast off social expectations) Carnivalesque

3 Term interesting in connection to Neon Bible  Does not suit particular text in every respect  E.g. no attention to bodily functions & grotesque imagery in lyrics o Linda Hutcheon’s definition of parody  Parody is neither “that ridiculing imitation mentioned in the standard dictionaries” nor “a mode of discontinuity which rejects earlier kinds of textual reference to other works” (p. 3)  RATHER, Hutcheon sees parody as “operating as a method of inscribing continuity while permitting critical distance. It can, indeed, function as a conservative force in both retaining and mocking other aesthetic forms; but it is also capable of transformative power in creating new syntheses” (p. 3)  Summary in own words:  Parody o Can critically function as retaining/mocking force OR transforming force to create something new  Collective weight of parodic practice  Suggests redefinition of parody as repetition with critical distance o Allows for ironic signaling of difference at heart of similarity  Irony & parody are double-voicings (i.e. heightened awareness of and responsiveness to, the concerns of other) Neon Bible continued… o Parodies of Christian symbols  Identify album as a “bible”  Connect music to sacred imagery  Liner notes of album  Number the songs & verses in them o Uses smaller and larger fonts in the same format as chapter and verse divisions in modern Bibles  Evoke biblical themes o Includes pictures of:  Organ pipes,  Stained glass windows + churches, and  People in water with crosses on their wetsuits  Perhaps symbolic for baptism  Recorded and mixed album at a church in Quebec  St. James Anglican Church in Bedford, Quebec  Eglise St. Jean Baptiste in Montreal  Band lived/worked in 19th century church for year while completing album  This decision: o

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4 o Contributes to fresh, original sound of album o Has metaphoric value (preference for “sacred space” over a “secular space”)  Arcade Fire acknowledges contributions of:  “Gospel Singers”  PLUS, direct thanks to: o The Ven. Dr. Brian A. Evans (Archdeacon of Bedford) AND o The Eglise St. Jean Baptiste in Montreal  For use of their organ Album cover   Open, glowing (neon) book (presumably a bible)  Visual clue indicating presentation of “bible”  Symbols  Sacred sounds of church organs  Chapter-and-verse style of lyric presentation  Explicit references to the Bible & ecclesial practices  Title “Neon Bible”  Suggests a modern, urban landscape: o Commercialism (neon), and o Things like religious authority and moral directives (bible)  Lyrics do the same o Full of unexpected twists and inversions  Implied by “carnivalesque” o Win Butler  Principle songwriter  Grew up in suburbs of Houston  Brother & fellow band member, Will Butler  Fathers side:  Really nonreligious  Mothers side:  Really religious  Maternal grandparents o “Martini-drinking Mormons” o Grandfather  Would cheerfully undermine the church’s dogma  Attended Mormon Sunday school as a child  Studied “scriptural interpretation”  Previous album (Funeral from 2004) can be traced back to 1999, when Butler moved to Montreal to study scriptural interpretation at McGill  Exposure to many megachurches (tried to contact him)  These institutions embody a religion fused with culture o Becomes more commercial

5 o ^SEES THIS AS CONTRARY TO WHAT RELIGION SHOULD BE**  THUS, he quotes, “I’m always suspicious when religion isn’t countercultural” (p. 5-6)  Religion has 2 faces 1) A genuine spirituality (countercultural) 2) Aligning too closely with culture and commercialism (e.g. megachurches) o This 2nd face betrays influence of contemporary society, presumably its uglier qualities  This dual perspective… o Contributes to uncertainty of religion in Neon Bible songs  THUS, use biblical and ecclesial imagery as part of critique of certain religious institutions (e.g. megachurches)  I.e. Those fused with culture (manifesting greed/selfishness of modern world) Butler refers to 2 kinds of bibles:   A bible that is poison (“Neon Bible”) AND  The Bible that is relevant o The church  A place that can kill you & destroy your family (“Intervention”)  BUT, “the church” (liner notes) is also:  The site of creativity  The sacred space in which the band creates its prophetic music o I.e. it’s jeremiad o Overview of Selected Lyrics in Neon Bible  Illustrates band’s vision of these contrasting manifestations of religion  The Song: “Antichrist Television Blues”  Involves 3 distinct speeches: o First speech  A soliloquy presenting the narrator’s rationale for not wanting to work downtown (because “planes are crashing into buildings two by two”)  Obvious allusion to 9/11 o Articulates perfectly understandable fear and credible reason for wanting to avoid the rigours of a regular job in an urban landscape  Presumably, listeners would be sympathetic to narrator’s despair at first… o Third speech  Addressed to his “sensitive child”

6 Listeners become suspicious of narrator’s motives  He tells his 13 y/o daughter he used to work for minimum wage and he will not allow her to do the same knowing a better opportunity exists  Enticing his “little mockingbird” to get on the stage and sing  She may be tired & afraid but he insists she perform & convince the men watching that she is “old for her age” (p. 7)  Initially, gentle in his words but, along with musical accompaniment, become increasingly frantic as the song proceeds  As if girl is reluctant to perform as he wishes  “I’m through being cute; I’m through being nice”  Lyrics toward of song  He will force her to sing  Suggest violet coercion o Second speech  Directed to God  Helps piece together narrative in more detail  Refers to himself as a “good Christian” narrator  Attempts to justify his actions explaining people must work hard and receive compensation for their labours  Says his daughter is quite mature for her age  Perhaps anticipating the same objection that the men watching the girl, and the girl herself, appear to recognize  Father looking for permission to allow his “bird in a cage” to perform for pay  To persuade God, appeals to biblical examples: o 1) Asks God whether he intends to seat his daughters at his right hand  Alluding to Gospel story where a parent puts the same request to Jesus  Parent in the song obviously knows this story but appears to overlook the fact that Jesus does not grant the mother’s request, making his appeal to this biblical

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passage rather odd, even foolish  Butler aware of this (parodic) BUT, by having his narrator make such a request, clear that his actions do not enjoy divine commendation (or the songwriter’s approval) o 2) He claims to have God’s best interest in mind, wanting his daughter on the TV screen so “the world can see what your true word means”  Refers to his daughters as “the lanterns” and God as “the light”  Alludes to Jesus’ metaphors of a city on a hill & a hidden lamp (“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven”.) (p. 8) “Antichrist Television Blues” occasionally referred to as “Joe Simpson” o Pop star Jessica Simpson’s father o Jessica would, thus, be the “bird in the cage” o Song clearly describes a parent willing to exploit his children for personal gain  Father may say “show the men it’s not about the money”  But his words ring hollow o He is the one that doesn’t want his daughter working for minimum wage

8 o He becomes wealthy thanks to her talent  If girl doesn’t sing “daddy won’t buy her no diamond ring”  Escapes the work day world by living off profits earned by his celebrity child  Polyphonic (many-voiced) quality to this song’s lyrics  On one hand, a “good Christian man” and biblically literate o Recognized in his terms/phrases  On the other hand, recognizes his actions are morally suspect o Or else he wouldn’t need to explain himself to god in the first place o Recognition of moral shortcoming evident in closing words  At the end he cries, “O tell me, Lord, am I the Antichrist?!” o THUS, conflicted father is aware of the 2 kinds of sacred discourse:  1) Commercially driven  Exploitation using biblical “justifying” tropes  2) Religiously informed conscience  What Cobb termed “a stubborn moral faith”  Despite his rhetoric, he’s aware what he is doing is wrong  Desperate last question (“am I the Antichrist?!”) stifled voice of conscience coming out o The Song: “Keep the Car Running”  Narrator anxious about vague sense of impending doom  Likewise, to hints in “Windowsill”  Describes contents of recurring dream by a sleeper in the city targeted to be taken away by unidentified men  The men know the sleeper’s name because he told it to them o Implies personal connection  The male sleeper does not want the men to find him o Repetition in lyrics to keep car running  Show’s his intentions to flee before (or when) they arrive  Narrator doesn’t say who the men are or why they frighten the man  Man feels a “weight that’s pressing down” o Further describes deep-seated fear that he has known its name “since before [he] could speak” (p. 10)

9 o This weight and fear distinct from the men  Adds they “don’t know where and they don’t know when it’s coming” (p. 10)  Capitalization of “It’s”  Intriguingly suggests he is referring to a specific crisis o Perhaps the biblical judgement  Doesn’t imply identity of men o Potentially religious teachers who preach fear to their congregations even if message lack clarity and detail (i.e. the where and when of divine judgment)  Man cannot escape the fear itself  Continues to have these disturbing dreams  Can avoid those who promulgate (i.e. spread/publicize) that fear  THUS, Gilmour hypothesizes, like other songs in Neon Bible, actual religious content from institutions and other manifestations of that religion that are suspect  Narrator wants to distance himself from those who think it is okay to frighten children in the name of God  Comments on form of child abuse (like “Antichrist Television Blues”) o The Song: “Intervention”  Further narrative of frightening power of institutional religion  Tells story of a “soldier” whose efforts towards Church produce destructive consequences  Relatable to others in the Church community  “Singin’ hallelujah with the fear in [their] heart”  Opens with king taking back his throne and sowing of “useless seed”  Allusion to parable of sower (biblical reference) o In Jesus’ parable, some of the seeds do not produce crops because of the nature of the soil, competing plants (thorns), or birds  The seeds themselves are fine  Contrastingly, king in song sows “useless seed”  Carnivalesque quality to this image o Seed in Arcade Fire’s version is, in itself, ineffective (as opposed to in Jesus’ parable where the soil/conditions are ineffective)  King in song (paralleling the diligent, well-meaning farmer of Jesus’ parable) is abusive  Inversion of values in soldier’s story reveal… o Church doesn’t care for the hard-working individual but is instead responsible for his demise  Even though soldier is “fighting… on [the Church’s] side”  Narrator can sense his fear

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o Sees man’s life fall apart  THUS, “a church that once provided genuine care for its members and carried out the honest, biblically mandated work of spreading the gospel and its love (i.e., spreading good seed, as in Jesus’ parable) now exploits and abuses its members” (p. 12) o The Song: “Neon Bible”  Album’s title track  Distinguishing pain and hope is no easy thing because “they both [look] the same” (p. 13)  Describes moral ambiguity in world  Narrator uses first person in a dialogue with an unnamed individual who holds a position of moral authority  Person says to him, “what I know is what you know is right” (p. 13)  By end of song, person recognizes that morality of the authority figure was suspect and his value system was corrupt o Person says to him, “it was wrong but you said it was right” (p. 13)  THUS, carnivalesque reversal at play (with reference to ethics; right is wrong & wrong is right)  Golden calf  Biblical imagery used  Light provided by golden calf is more blinding than illuminating  Raises notion of religious authority figures  After addressing distortion of moral views of authority figure narrator says “in the future I will read at night” (p. 13)  I.e. the darkness provides better source of illumination than the alternatives available to him  Theme of commercialization and self-interest  Present in the golden calf  Acts in detriment of others: hope and pain pours “out into the world, on every boy and every girl” (p. 13)  Reference to “the city”, i.e. an urban setting o Consistent with use of “neon”  Typically associated with downtown signage and commercial spaces o Also, consistent with Butler’s reference in interview to megachurches Conclusion o Neon Bible =  illustration of unofficial culture resisting official – in this case ecclesial – culture  Questioning coercion and abuses by presenting a parody of the church & its biblical basis of authority

11 o Linda Hutcheon’s definition of parody  Potential of parody as a constructive force  Has power to renew (not needed, but it can) o Carnivalesque lyrics  Subvert and ridicule authoritarian, commercially driven Christianity  Arcade Fire, carnivalesque reversal of roles, takes the place of the Church (literally in one) through their symbolic act of choosing to record in that venue o Album functions:  As alternative bible  Effectively replaces the Bible  Criticizes the questionable ethics/practices of churches in consumer culture  Through parody o Repetition of religious images involves, according to Hutcheon’s def. of parody, a critical distance permitting “ironic signalling of difference at the very heart of similarity” (p. 14)...