It's Always the Adults' Fault

Stupidity is supposed to expire

This week, Jesse Singal had an article on his Substack that resonated with me. Singal described how the attempts at social commentary on Arcade Fire’s new album made him feel cranky and old. He writes:

“I was surprised how annoyed I got at the band’s attempts at social commentary. Just this roaring jolt of curmudgeonliness. 

My pique peaked while listening to “End of the Empire I–III,” which is one track, as well as the next one, “End of the Empire (Sagittarius A*).” In the first song, lead singer Win Butler sings that we are “standing at the end of the American empire” (in case you didn’t glean from the title which empire he was referring to). It’s incredibly deep stuff.

…

I’m 38 now and things just don’t generally feel as new or intense as they did when I was 22. Maybe there is a 22-year-old for whom [Arcade Fire’s latest album] captures the present moment perfectly, and listening to it causes them to delete TikTok or whatever (though I don’t know how many twentysomethings listen to Arcade Fire).”

First, let’s not kid ourselves: The only twentysomethings listening to Arcade Fire are suspected terrorists at black ops sites being subjected to sleep deprivation torture.

But more substantively: I’m a bit older than Jesse, so I’m a few Arcade Fire albums ahead of him. For me, The Suburbs was the album that made me roll my eyes and think “Jesus, it’s like Holden Caulfield started a band.” I do happen to really love Arcade Fire’s music (including the new album!), but I always ignore the lyrics. Because at the end of the day, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler — though a genius — is just some fucking moron.