Incredibly cool interactive Arcade Fire video

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 9:40am

"We Used to Wait" is a great song and it has been turned into a really cutting edge video.


We Used to Wait

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 1:42pm

I don't even have words for that. Just wow.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 1:54pm

I know! I then put in the address of my grade school.

These are the words, in case the visuals overload your brain:


I used to write
I used to write letters, I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing light settled deep in my brain

But by the time we met, by the time we met
The times had already changed
So I never wrote a letter
I never took my true heart, I never wrote it down
So when the lights cut out
I was lost standing in the wilderness downtown

Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that sonething pure can last
Hope that something pure can last

It may seem strange
How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what's stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive

We used to wait
We used to waste hours just walking around
We used to wait
All those wasted lives in the wilderness downtown

We used to wait
We used to wait
We used to wait

Sometimes it never came
Sometimes it never came
Still moving through the pain

I'm gonna write a letter to my true love
I'm gonna sign my name
Like a patient on a table
I wanna walk again, gonna move through the pain

Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last

We used to wait
We used to wait
We used to wait

Sometimes it never came
Sometimes it never came
Still moving through the pain

We used to wait
We used to wait
We used to wait

We used to wait for it
We used to wait for it
And now they're screaming:"Sing the chorus again!"

We used to wait for it
We used to wait for it
And now we're screaming:"Sing the chorus again!"

I used to wait for it
I used to wait for it
Hear my voice screaming:"Sing the chorus again!"

Wait for it!
Wait for it!
Wait for it!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 4:44pm

I used the home that I started school in and even though that area has changed a lot, it was enough to be haunting and nostalgic.

I then tested it on my current address to see how the video works in the big city. It was pretty interesting to see how adaptable it is.

I imagine there will be some poignant and humorous locations that people will discover.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 6:03pm

The disappearance of old neighborhoods is also a theme of the Arcade Fire album "The Suburbs," about looking for your home and finding a mall.

Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small
That we can never get away from the sprawl

Living in the sprawl
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there's no end in sight
I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights

[TnGuy05]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 8:18pm

Wow, I never expected that video to make me cry. My Childhood home is in Chalmette, La, a small suburb of New Orleans that was covered in oil after Katrina. Murphy Oil bought all about 3 blocks of homes from all the residents who lived there. It was hard to go back and see nothing but green fields and streets were all that remained of all the Childhood memories I have there. Very powerful video.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 10:53pm

It's very emotional to begin with, as a song. What they do with this experience heightens the emotion. I can't imagine what it's like for you TnGuy.

[Q]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 10:57pm

If you sign up for Google Chrome, are you stuck with it if you don't like it? It won't play through Explorer

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/2/10 at 11:00pm

I tried watching this from work earlier, but it, er, didn't work.

I just finished watching it on my home machine, and I'm blown away! I was expecting the satellite pictures, but that animation is incredible.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/3/10 at 12:21am

I used Safari so I don't know from Chrome.

[wendilin622]

Posted: 9/3/10 at 9:22pm

They were talking about this on NPR so I checked it out a few days ago. They didn't have my home address (or they said that I won't be able to get maximum viewing effect) so I put in my high school address instead. It really was amazing. Not only is this a testament to how incredibly talented/creative Arcade Fire is, I hope other bands follow suit and use new media in these great ways.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/5/10 at 8:18pm

The Secret Ingredient of Arcade Fire's New Video? You

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/5/10 at 11:42pm

That's cool the filtering and color tinting happens in real time.