Arcade Fire: Top 25 Songs

Arcade Fire Top 25 Songs

Indie rock band formed in Montreal, Canada, in 2000. Helmed by husband and wife Win Butler (vocals, guitar, piano, bass, mandolin) and Régine Chassagne (vocals, accordion, piano, keyboards, hurdy gurdy, etc.: 2001-). Other members: Will Butler (synthesizers, etc.: 2003-2021), Richard Reed Parry (guitar, etc.: 2003-), Tim Kingsbury (bass, etc.: 2003-), and Jeremy Gara (drums, percussion, etc.: 2004-). Touring members include Sarah Neufeld (violin, piano, etc.: 2003-), Tiwill Durprate (percussion: 2013-), Stuart Bogie (saxophone: 2014-), Paul Beaubrun (multi-instrumentalist: 2022-), Dan Boeckner (multi-instrumentalist: 2022-). Click here to see other best-of lists from performers and here to see other best-of lists from songwriters and/or producers. Spotify Podcast: Check out the podcast The Best of Arcade Fire, based on this list. Debut: May 3, 2022, at 7pm CST. Tune in every Tuesday at 7pm for a new episode based on the lists at Dave’s Music Database.

Top 25 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 5%: 1. Wake Up (2004) 2. Rebellion (Lies) (2004) DMDB Top 10%: 3. Reflektor (2013) 4. Everything Now (2017) 5. Ready to Start (2010) 6. We Used to Wait (2010) DMDB Top 20%: 7. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (2010) 8. Keep the Car Running (2007) 9. Afterlife (2013) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 10. I Give You Power (with Mavis Staples, 2017) 11. Neighbourhood #2 (Laika) (2004) 12. No Cars Go (2007) 13. The Suburbs (2010) 14. Creature Comfort (2017) 15. Month of May (2010) 16. Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out) (2004) 17. Modern Man (2010) 18. Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels) (2004) 19. Intervention (2006) 20. Cold Wind (2005) 21. Black Mirror (2007) 22. The Lightning I, II (2022) 23. City with No Children (2010) 24. We Exist (2013) 25. Put Your Money on Me (2017) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Arcade Fire Dave’s Music Database: “Best-of Lists for Performers” Dave’s Music Database: “Best-of Lists for Songwriters and/or Producers” First posted 5/2/2022; last updated 5/3/2022.

Arcade Fire “Wake Up” released

Wake Up Arcade Fire

Writer(s): Will Butler, Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Tim Kingsbury, Richard Reed Parry (see lyrics here) Released: November 14, 2005 First Charted: November 26, 2005 Peak: 29 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.09 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 16.69 video, 144.93 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The indie-rock band Arcade Fire formed in 2001 in Montreal, Canada. At their core are the husband-and-wife team of singer/songwriters Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. The band have also been comprised of multi-instrumentalists Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara since their 2004 debut album, Funeral. The album became a critical favorite and ranks as one of the top 100 albums of the 21st century, according to Dave’s Music Database. Five singles were released from the album; the last was “Wake Up,” which has become their most celebrated song. In 2014, NME rated it the 25th greatest song of all time. WK In 2009, the song was featured in the trailer for the film Where the Wild Things Are. Lead singer Win Butler was “hit with an epiphany of existentialism when his grandmother died…Events like these inflict grand questions: What is life? What is death? Why are we here? Where do we go? What’s the point of living at all?...Butler expresses his answers on ‘Wake Up,’” FS “pleading for today’s kids to open their eyes” TM and “be proud of their mistakes…ive a true summer, to plant the fruits of adulthood and then let them ripen…before they (society, authorities, parents) turn it all into dust.” FS “Wake Up” “begins with a simple, one-note, rhythmic guitar pattern that leads to every band member singing an all-encompassing vocal part in unison. It’s big, spacious and patient…[Win Butler’s] vocals turn from beautiful melody to back-of-the-throat screaming that blends seamlessly into the rest of the members’ vocal line.” TM It “transforms into a dance number driven by a bouncy but still gloomy piano…It’s a truly sincere anthem for this seemingly unending age of irony.” TM Resources: FS Forthespeakers.com (9/18/2021). “The Beautiful Philosophy of ‘Wake Up’ by Arcade Fire” TM Time magazine (10/24/2011). “All Time 100 Songs” WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/25/2024.