2010Released
5:15

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about The Suburbs. By Songfacts®.

This semi-apocalyptic number is the title track of Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire's third studio album. Recorded in Montreal and New York, The Suburbs was preceded by a 12-inch single containing this song and "Month of May."

Band members Win and Will Butler stopped by US radio network NPR Music for an interview in which they explained that the album title was inspired by their upbringing in Houston, Texas. "Will and I were born in a really small town in California, on the Nevada border," Win explained. "Maybe 50 people on the side of a mountain. We moved to the suburbs of Houston when we were young. Being a very young child, it's like going to Mars or something. The blast of hot air when you get off the plane at Houston. Just trying to talk about some of the feeling [on the album]." He added: "A lot of my heroes from Bob Dylan to Joe Strummer were suburban kids who had to pretend they were train-hoppers their whole lives. Talking about an experience and not make-believe is what we're doing on The Suburbs."

Arcade Fire and director Spike Jonze collaborated on a short film inspired by this song. Filmed in Austin, Texas, according to Rolling Stone, the video is centered around a cast of teenagers in a story of "friends growing apart," which echoes the theme and lyrics of the track.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of The Suburbs.
F♯Key
MinorMode
4/4Time Signature
118BPM

Album

The album The Suburbs is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released The Suburbs.
Sony Music CG
(P) 2010 Arcade Fire Music Under Exclusive License to Sony Music Entertainment

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