Rococo!

I really dislike when I do not understand the lyrics to a song. I'm pretty sure this is a trait whose effects translate to almost any area of my life, but I am especially vocal about this when it comes to music (no pun intended). I'm guessing that the reason for this is that I love to sing along to music, and some songs naturally go over my head the first time around. If I don't know what I'm singing about, I'd rather not sing it. This is why I have so much trouble getting into opera. I'm serious, it's an actual issue for me. I have a friend who's been trying to get me into it for years, but until I learn to speak Italian, it's going to be difficult.

The Suburbs, by Arcade Fire, is one of those albums I have to learn to love. It's an acquired taste for me. I was initially resistant to all popular "indie" music, the inherent oxymoron being one of my main complaints. At the moment, I'm currently a fan of quite a few bands who would be classified as indie, but the concept still repulses me. At this point, the market is completely saturated with bands who sound like other really original, creative, innovative bands. It's really easy to love a band for its originality until you find the seventeen other major label bands who sound just like them. Once that bubble has been burst, I have to question whether they actually sound good. Because that's important, right?

For all the buzz The Suburbs is recieving, I have found some of the acclaim to be well-deserved. The songs are put together solidly, the album has cohesiveness, and the performances put on vocally and instrumentally are always good and are borderline brilliant every great once in a while. The lyrics were a struggle for me at first, mostly because I wasn't entirely sure what they were trying to say half the time. In my mind, there is a thin line between deep, intellectual verse and amateurish vagueness. Sometimes they sound the same.

However, today I learned what "Rococo" means, and my respect level for Arcade Fire went way up. In my music appreciation class, we had just finished covering the Baroque period. As we transitioned from the Baroque to Classical eras, my professor mentioned rococo. My ears perked up. "As in the Arcade Fire song?" I had been paying attention, I promise you, but it's helpful when the information is relatable. According to him (and don't worry, I check everything he says with Wikipedia), rococo is a style developed near the end of the Baroque period which is more playful and less symmetrical than either of its adjacent eras. Ornamentation and frivolous details in decoration abounded in rococo rooms, rococo paintings, and rococo music. Many have criticized this period and used the term derogatively, for they view rococo like many the hipsters of today: Being different for no other purpose than being seen as different.

I went back to the lyrics of the song to try and reconcile this definition, and I was pleased with what I found.


Let's go downtown and watch the modern kids
Let's go downtown and talk to the modern kids
They will eat right out of your hand
Using great big words that they don't understand
They say

Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo

They build it up just to burn it back down
They build it up just to burn it back down
The wind is blowing all the ashes around
Oh my dear God what is that horrible song they're singing

Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo, rococo!
Rococo!

They seem wild but they are so tame
They seem wild but they are so tame
They're moving towards you with their colors all the same
They want to own you but they don't know what game they're playing

Rococo, rococo, rococo, rococo
Rococo!
Rococo!

Am I dreaming, or is Arcade Fire pointing out the flaws and contradictions of the very culture and industry of which it is a part? Let me tell you, I am perfectly all right with posers who have come to terms with their posing. At that point, when the goal is no longer to impress others with one's uniqueness, can a person embrace the different without agenda. For me, this song identifies Arcade Fire as one of the bands that innovate for the sake of innovation, not for the sake of percieved innovation.

Now that's the right attitude to have!