Finally Something New!

Well a new post about an old song. Sorry.

Jonathan Swift remarked that a fool saying nothing could pass as a philosopher; but if a blogger says nowt it's usually because they're caught up in having a real life. It's less pithy, but it's true. I'm living through the sort of interesting times that are not interesting or funny enough to warrent commentary. I don't have a west wing to seclude myself in whilst I'm quiet, but I do have some music rich with dramatic flare to offer up...

I was going to go with Arcade Fire's 'Black Wave-Bad Vibrations'; a tune built from sawing vocals that cut across the slightly jarring fairground backdrop, to all of a sudden be nicely countered by a switch to stoically paced hand wringing and imploring. However, I think that 'My Body is a Cage' is a better standalone track for anyone who may have been living on Mars and doesn't know the band. Much the song is soaked through with simple pleading, that when coupled with the Hammond organ, the marching drum beat, and everything else (bar the kitchen sink) that gets throw at it, creates a soaring, hopeful, transcendental piece of music.

I came late to admiring Arcade Fire; Amazon.co.uk's incessant recommendation triggered a perverse rejection, and I grumpily sat in the corner shaking my head whilst everyone else, and all the critics raved. I was wrong, Amazon was right. Arcade Fire are exactly my sort of thing; complicated, slightly pretentious ( see above "hopeful, transcendental" comment) and oh so achingly well crafted.

On that note I'll enigmatically flounce off into my own fretting.

• Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage