INTRODUCTION

Arcade Fire is a Canadian Indy Rock band out of Montreal Quebec that was founded back in year 2000. They currently have five albums released and have won several Grammy and Juno awards for best album of the year and best international album.

One of my favorite songs by the band is “We Used to Wait” which was released in 2010 on “The Suburbs” album. This article presents the lyrics to the song “We Used to Wait” and offers my interpretation of the meaning behind the lyrics. The song and video are posted at the end. I hope you enjoy.

SONG LYRICS AND ANALYSIS

I used to writeI used to write lettersI used to sign my name

The song speaks about a time before email and before technology. It was a time when people used to communicate to each other by writing letters back and forth. They would have to wait for the letters to arrive to their intended host and then they would have to patiently wait for a reply. This was before email and before the any of the other instantaneous forms of communication like texts and social media.

I used to sleep at nightBefore flashing lights settled deep in my brain

In a time before technology people used to sleep when it became dark outside. Now the flashing lights and buzzing sounds of technology call to their brain and signal them to stay awake. Signaling them to pay attention.

Now is a time when people stay up late to absorb nonsense and cheap entertainment. Images pass over their blank stares as they sit and scroll in the pale artificial light of their phones while they lay in bed surrounded by the darkness and the sleep that calls to them .

But by the time we metBy the time we met the times had already changedSo I never wrote a letterI never took my true heart, I never wrote it down

Times change fast these days. Technology has arrived and taken over. People no longer write letters to each other. Instead they email and text. Nowadays people never take the time to formulate his true feelings and to write them down on paper. Instead they send brief text messages to each other digitally. Messages that won’t last the test of time but will ultimately be lost in a sea of data never to be recalled again. Never to be looked back upon in fond memory.

So when the lights cut outI was lost in a wilderness downtown

Addicted to technology we are lost without it. When a power outage occurs at home we sit alone in the dark with blank stares. Scared of the silence, we are lost in a city wilderness not knowing what to do. What do we do?

Now our lives are changing fastNow our lives are changing fastHope that something pure can lastHope that something pure can last

Times change so fast and things are replaced and forgotten about. We can only hope that something as pure as writing our feelings down on paper and sending it to a loved one can last the test of time. Will it last? We can only hope.

Now it seems strangeHow we used to wait for letters to arriveBut what's stranger stillIs how something so small can keep you alive

It often seems strange to us to look back on what the previous generation seemingly lacked. They didn’t have the technology that we have. It makes us wonder how they managed. How did they manage? But even stranger to think about is the fact that the little things in life, like waiting for a letter from a loved one, can keep a person going. Like a soldier in WWII receiving a letter from home or a loved one receiving a letter from the soldier. These things can “keep them alive.”

We used to waitWe used to waste hours just walking aroundWe used to waitAll those wasted lives in the wilderness downtown

Back then before technology, people would walk for the sake of walking. They would explore their surroundings and their environments. But times have changed. Now they explore pages on a video screen and look at pictures of others exploring.

We used to waitWe used to waitWe used to waitSometimes it never cameWe used to waitSometimes it never cameWe used to waitI’m still moving through the pain

Sometimes the things people waited for never came to them and that was hard because they didn’t know if the things they waited for were on their way, or if they were forgotten about or lost. The uncertainty could be painful.

I’m gonna writeA letter to my true loveI’m gonna sign my nameLike a patient on a tableI wanna walk againGonna move through the pain

Nowadays sometimes people long for nostalgia and the methods of the past. Sometimes they long for the purity and innocence of something simple like writing down their feelings and sharing them with another person. Sometimes people decide to once again write a letter to a loved one.

[Chorus]We used to wait for itWe used to wait for itNow they’re screaming sing the chorus again![Repeated]We used to wait for itWe used to wait for itNow my voice screaming “sing the chorus again!”

Now people can’t wait for anything anymore. Not even 1 minute for others to voice their opinions or to sing a song. They have no patients for anything. They scream “Hurry up and get to the good part,” “Sing the Chorus again!”

Wait for itWait for itWait for it

“Wait for it” is a message to be patient, to wait for things and to appreciate them. Do not take things for granted.

THE SONG: “WE USED TO WAIT” - BY ARCADE FIRE

For similar posts about song meanings and my interpretations, please see the links below:

THE CHIPPER UPBEAT 90'S SONG THAT IS ACTUALLY ABOUT CHRYSTAL METH

A RISE TO POWER AND AN INTERNAL STRUGGLE

Thanks For Reading

Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

MEANING AND INTERPRETATION OF THE SONG "WE USED TO WAIT" BY ARCADE FIRE