Thursday, September 23, 2010

Arcade Fire-- "Deep Blue" song mentions Kasparov



I was recently listening to the new Arcade Fire CD, The Suburbs, which debuted at #1 on the charts a few weeks ago. I came across the song "Deep Blue", which I of course assumed had no relation to the Deep Blue that we chessplayers all know and love/hate. Then they specifically sing: "Kasparov and Deep Blue, 1996."

A number 1 chart-topping album has a song about chess and not as a metaphor for war! Has that ever happened before?


Lyrically and muscially, this is a great album, by the way. Each song contributes to the theme in a way few albums do these days, but it is not exactly an overt concept album, where some blatant story is told. Thematically and musically, it's tight.

Pretty cool. Here are the complete lyrics to "Deep Blue", by the Arcade Fire:

Here
Are my place and time
And here in my own skin
I can finally begin
Let the century pass me by
Standing under night sky
Tomorrow means nothing

I was only a child then
Feeling barely alive when
I heard a song from the speaker of a passing car
And prayed to a dying star
The memory's fading
I can almost remember singing la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

We watched the end of the century
Compressed on a tiny screen
A dead star collapsing and we could see
That something was ending
Are you through pretending
We saw its signs in the suburbs

You could never have predicted
That he could see through you
Kasparov, Deep Blue, nineteen-ninety six
Your mind's pulling tricks now
The show is over so take a bow
We're living in the shadows la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

Hey
Put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey
Put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la

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