The Meaning Behind “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire: A Modern-Day “Hey Jude”

Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” isn’t the first tune to build an anthem with a wordless hook. You might remember Paul McCartney’s comforting ode to John Lennon’s son Julian. But “Wake Up” became something like a modern-day “Hey Jude”, and its “whoa-oh” chorus has drawn thousands of people to Arcade Fire concerts searching for community and catharsis.

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All Good Things Rust

Anthems aren’t usually built with pessimistic outlooks of the future, but “Wake Up” describes the dreams of children crashing into the reality and letdown of adulthood.  

“Children, wake up
Hold your mistake up
Before they turn the summer into dust.”

Singer Win Butler offers some hope within the despair. Humans are prolific at destroying things, but survival requires adapting. Butler makes this declaration straight into the “whoa-oh” singalong. Like Bruce Springsteen’s working-class anthems, Arcade Fire uses stirring melodies and layers of voices to find the light in all this darkness.

“If the children don’t grow up
Our bodies get bigger, but our hearts get torn up
We’re just a million little gods causing rainstorms
Turning every good thing to rust
I guess we’ll just have to adjust.”

Watching People Run Out of the Room

Though “Wake Up” became one of Arcade Fire’s most beloved songs, it didn’t immediately connect with fans as the band evolved creatively.

Butler told The Irish Times in 2018 that “the first time we played ‘Wake Up’, we lost half our audience because we were playing more acoustic music before.”

“I literally remember watching people running out of the room while we were playing it,” Butler continued. “They were horrified by it.”

Surviving the Hype

Arcade Fire’s debut album Funeral arrived under massive hype in 2004. They were one of the most talked about indie rock bands and the early shows were who’s-who events attended by David Bowie and David Byrne.

Many bands have crumbled under such hype and failed to live up to the expectations of being labeled “the next big thing.” But Funeral is a masterpiece. Apart from “Wake Up”, “Rebellion (Lies)” and the four-part “Neighborhood” series quickly justified the critical hysteria surrounding Arcade Fire.

Following the debut, the band completed a near-perfect four-album run with Neon Bible, The Suburbs, and Reflektor. (The Suburbs won a GRAMMY for Album of the Year in 2011.)

For years, Arcade Fire has closed its shows with “Wake Up”. As McCartney has often done with “Hey Jude”, there’s no better way to send people home. It turns out the future isn’t so bad after all.

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