Arcade Fire

A good friend of mine, Matt, invited me to the Arcade Fire concert tomorrow and I'm excited to see them live. Doing some reading on the band and their latest release "Neon Bible" was a fascinating adventure. Their lyrics are not superficial and sugary but reveal a depth found few other places.

Christianity Today had an interesting article about the band. The album was recorded in an old church and speaks scathing critique and soaring praise of religion. The lyrics are chalked full of biblical allusion and challenge.

"There are two kinds of fear," Win Butler, lead singer, said. "The Bible talks a lot about fear of God—fear in the face of something awesome. That kind of fear is the type of fear that makes someone want to change. But a fear of other people makes you want to stay the same, to protect what you have. It's a stagnant fear; and it's paralyzing."

One would be hard-pressed to call the album a ringing endorsement of faith and God, but the band shows an honest side as it deals with religion and its practice these days.

Butler said Neon Bible is ultimately about "addressing religion in a way that only someone who actually cares about it can. It's really harsh at times, but from the perspective of someone who thinks it has value."

Needless to say I'm excited to see them tomorrow night...