1. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire - Analysis
The music videofirstsetsthe scene withanestablishingshot of peaceful lookingsuburbs onasunny
day withonlythe soundof police sirensinthe distance thatcontradictsthe peaceful looking
surroundings.Shortlyafterthe songbeginsandthe firstlyricsthatare sungare "In the suburbs,I
learnedhowtodrive"whichagainmakesusfeel like thisisanormal sub-urbanneighbourhood.
Althoughthe kidsinthe videoseemtoyourtobe drivingacar as theyare makingtheirjourneyon
peddle bikes.
The nextline of lyricssay"and youtoldme we'dneversurvive,Grabyourmotherskeyswe are
leaving"Thisagaincontradictswhatwe are seeingasduringthese lyricswe see agroup of youths
whoare havingfunand that are not doinganythingparticularlydangerousthatwouldmeanthey
wouldn'tsurvive."Grabyourmotherskeyswe are leaving"againlinkstothemnotbeingoldenough
to drive,somaybe theyare planningonrunningawayand escapingfromthe suburbs.Trackingshots
are usedthroughthe scenesof childrenplayingsothatwe get a sense of us beingthere withthem,
It givesusmore immersion.
"You alwaysseemedsure thatone daywe'dbe fighting.Inasub-urbanwar,your part of town
againstmine". The firstsentence inthisquote hasnolinktothe videoasitstill showsthe kids
havingfunalthoughitistrue that all groupsof friendshave theirfights,argumentsanddebates.The
secondhalf of the quote has a linkto the visualsasyousee the childrennexttoa fence lookingover
to the otherside where there isasmoke cloudrisingas if there hasbeena fire or an explosion,also
there isa apache helicopterflyingoff inthe distance whichlinksto the connotationsof warthat are
beingrepresentedinthe lyrics. Thisiswhenwe realise thateverythingmaynotbe as peaceful aswe
firstexpectitto be. A wide shotshowsthe full view of the wastelandthattheyare lookingatinthis
scene.
"I sawyou standingonthe opposite shore"issungwhilstthe childrenlookoverinthe distance
towardswhere the helicopterisheading."butbythe time the firstbombsfell.We were already
bored,we were alreadybored,alreadybored"now the youthshave moved ontoa more populated
area where theyare hangingoutand up tono good usingBB 'pellet'gunsshootingtowardspeople
at the shops.Thislinkswiththe ideaof thembeingboredbecausetheyhave togetintotrouble to
keepthemselvesoccupiedalthoughtheylooklike theyare enjoyingit.The reference tobombs
continuesthe ideaof warthat isreference throughout. A mediumclose upshowstwoof the youths
sittingdownwiththeirarmsaroundeach otherwhichshowsusthat theyare a couple.
The chorus is " SometimesIcan't believeit.I'mmovingpastthe feeling.SometimesIcan't believe it.
I'm movingpastthe feelingagain"The firstchorusdoesn'trelate tothe visualsmuchastheyare just
runningfromtrouble andhangingoutas theywere before.We couldinterpretthatthe words"Im
movingpastthe feeling"meansthattheyare growingapartas friendsandtheirfeelingsforeach
otherare fading.
Duringthe instrumental andthe startof the firstverse whichis"The kidswantto be sohard" we see
militaryconvoysinvadingthe suburbsandpatrollingthe streets whichcouldbe whythe kidswant
to grow upto 'hard' as theycouldsee the militarymenastheirrole models.
2. "But inmy dreams,we're still screaming andrunnin'throughthe yard,andall of the wallsthatthey
builtinthe seventiesfinallyfall,andall of the housestheybuildinthe seventiesfinallyfall.Meant
nothin'at all,meantnothin'at all. Itmeantnothin'"As theysaythat the wallsandbuildingfinallyfall
we see the youths ridingbackthroughthe suburbsastheydidin the beginningbutthistime there is
rubble inthe backgroundwhichmakesusthinkthat the militaryhave begantearingdownthe
houses andstructuresof the suburbs. "Itmeantnothingat all"couldtell usthat because theyare
still kidshavingfunandnothinghaseffectedthemyetthattheydon'tcare about the destruction.
Duringthe nextchorus we see themplayingandridingaroundasusual until partway throughwhere
it cutsto the nighttime andwe see one of the youthsmore grownup,late teens,ridinghisbike
throughthe suburbswhere the militarypresence hasincreasedandtheyare showndraggingabody
of a man across the streetawayfromthe road,alsothe otheryouthsare ridingthoughthe town
lookingmore worriedastheywitnesspeoplebeingforcefullyevictedfromtheirhouses.
The nextline is"Socan youunderstandwhyi wanta daughterwhile I'mstill young?"Duringthiswe
see one of the youthsinhisownhouse withhisdaughterandhis partnerwhichdirectlylinkstothe
lyrics.Butalso "while I'mstill young",he wantsa childwhyhe isyoungbecause withall the
destructionhe maynotlive tobe veryoldand enjoyhislife.
" I want to holdherhand and showher some beautybefore the damage isdone"andthisisanother
reasonhe wantsto have a daughterat a youngage while there isstillsome beautyinhis
surroundingsthathe can showher.The visualsshow twoof the youths,a female andamale,who
have beentogetherfromthe starthuggingforsecurityonthe sofato try and blackout the mayhem
and damage.
But if it's toomuch to ask,too much to ask thensendme a son"at thispointhe isthinkingthathe
justwantsa childandhe doesn'tcare what genderitisbecause he wantsto show themthe world
before he isunable to.Inthe visual we see thembeingcheckedbythe militaryandfocallypushed
againsta fence as one looksat the otherindisgust.
"Underthe overpass, Inthe parkinglotwe're still waiting.It'salreadypassed". The videoshows one
of the youthsfinishingworkandwalkinginthe carpark as he reachedhisbike he seesthatithas
beenvandalisedandslightlydestroyed.Ithinkthispartisa flashback to a time shortlybefore they
are interrogated.
"So move yourfeetfromhotpavementandintothe grass" Thiscouldmeanthat theyare stoodand
are hangingoutwhere theyare not suppose to(thisbeingthe hotpavementthatif theystaythey
couldface consequences) the grasson the otherhandis a saferarea where theywill notbe hurtas it
isn'tas hot or dangerousas the figurative pavement.
"Cause itsalreadypassedItsalreadypassed,alreadypassed"Duringthisthe youththatseemstobe
the maincharacter is ina shallowfocusshotlookingoverwhelmedbyall thatisgoingon aroundhim
that the audience justseesasa blur.
The Third and final chorusshowsthe youthslookingateachotherinhatredand disgustas all the
war has torn themapart.Especiallyfortwoof the characters whoare laterviolentlyfightingasthe
otherslookonin shockand are unable todo anythingasthe door to the restaurantwhere theyare
3. fightislocked.Theymanage toflagdowna militaryvehicle whichwe canpresume helpsthembut
we do not knowforsure as thisis where the videoends.
Throughoutthe videomostof the shotsare mediumshotsof the actors or are close upsas they
wantto capture the expressionsontheirfacesbecause theychange throughout asthe timesget
harderfor them.We can alsorelate tosome of the strugglesandthe peaksof theirlivesjustby
interpretingwhattheyare feelingthoughtheirfacial expressions.Overall keepingalotof the shots
the same in the videohasworkedfor thisreason.
