Sprawl I (Flatland)

Album: The Suburbs (2010)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • On this minor key piano lamenting change and modernization, frontman Win Butler revisits the town where he grow up. "I took a drive into the sprawl to find the house where we used to stay in," he recalls. However, Butler fails to locate various childhood haunts that are imprinted on his memory.
  • Arcade Fire's brothers Win and William Butler spent their formative years in The Woodlands, a suburb of Houston, Texas. In preparing to write The Suburbs, Win and his wife and band colleague Chassagne travelled to The Woodlands in the summer of 2008. "It was kind of a bummer," Chassagne told Q magazine April 2012. "It was interesting to see that the people make the places, and when the people are gone, the places are still there but they're not yours."

    Driving around The Woodlands at night, the couple were pulled over by the local police for, "suspicious activity." The incident is detailed on this track. "It was a really strange experience, even before the cop incident," Butler told Q. "My parents moved away seven years ago. I no longer knew anyone there. I was like being a tourist, a strange mix of knowing exactly where I was and also feeling completely alien… A lot of the songs on The Suburbs are very much myself now looking back at that time, but also trying to put the pieces together, to reconnect with those feelings and those emotions before they're gone completely."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" Album

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.

Scott Stapp

Scott StappSongwriter Interviews

The Creed lead singer reveals the "ego and self-fulfillment" he now sees in one of the band's biggest hits.

Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.