Arcade Fire – Haiti

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Haiti, mon pays
Wounded mother I'll never see
Ma famille set me free
Throw my ashes into the sea

Mes cousins jamais nes
Hantent les nuits de Duvalier
Rien n'arrete nos espirits
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see

In the forest we are hiding
Unmarked graves where flowers grow
Hear the soldiers angry yelling
In the river we will go

Tous les morts-nes forment une armee
Soon we will reclaim the earth
All the tears and all the bodies
Bring about our second birth

Haiti, never free
N'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme
Tes enfants sont partis
In those days their blood was still warm

Send "Haiti" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by drinkmilk

Track duration: 04:07


Haiti song meanings
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46 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I love the emotion Regine has when she sings this song. It's so rare to see someone really feel every word they sing as it comes out of their mouth, and with Regine every emotion is right there on her face. Whenever she buries her face in her hands, oh gosh, it just kills me every time. Can't wait to see this band live, they're my absolute favorites.
    Flag uneanneesanslumiereon June 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Honestly, I think this song is key to Funeral. I got it in May, but for some reason it became my favorite on the album just three days ago.

    Rebellion (Lies) on its own sounds like it's trying to solve all the problems on Funeral. There will be no more oppressed kids and no more lies if we break free of society. But RL doesn't acknowledge this song at all.

    Haiti sort of expands the scope of Funeral so that it doesn't get "trapped in its own neighborhood". It acknowledges that there is suffering all around the world. And it makes all the rest of the album seem completely futile, creating a Funeral in its truest sense.

    Neon Bible wouldn't be the same without No Cars Go. It's the same sort of thing. It expands the albums horizons. I'm not exactly a concise person but you get the idea.
    Flag KnightofNion October 11, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment: I am a lower middle class graduate student living a married life, working an ass-kicking, spirit-lifting job (high school science teacher). I am also a native puertorrican. I get her, even though we here in the island have not experienced close to genocidical conditions in the pass 450 years, even though we have not experienced close to cataclismical events in the past month. I am a hispanicamerican living in the caribbean, and i am glad that a song like this exists. It reminds me that there is an intense afrocaribbean spirit close to my home. This is a great band, refreshingly poetic. My favorite song in the album is Haiti, and right next to it Wake Up (It reminds me that life is a dialectical roller coaster, full of sweetness, sadness, despair, growth, strife, and bits and pieces of what is quite frecuently called happiness).
    Flag adroveron February 21, 2010   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    My Opinion:Haunting these days, isn't it?
    Flag allyourproblemson February 10, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I_LOVE_CAMP: sorry about all the hate you've been getting, but I feel the need to put in my two cents... I've been on missions trips to "less fortunate countries" as well (Mexico, Costa Rica) and okay, it's a wonderful experience and probably incomparable to anything else. however, living in the community I do with the social conscience it has, I don't think I would ever go again - not because it's a bad thing, but because there are so many better things you can do that will help more. the cost of the plane ticket to Haiti, accommodations, food... it's a waste when you consider that you could instead send to the money with a reliable organization - and I mean really reliable, like you've researched exactly where the money goes - and use it to hire the citizens of that country (who are desperately looking for ways to support their families) to help rebuild their cities after the earthquake and also to help out in rural areas. in that way, the country of Haiti may be simultaneously rebuilt and strengthened, and helped to make it out of the hole in which they've been for far too long. it's not fair to storm them with foreign aid that only brings in foreign workers and foreign influences, when we could be paying the people of the country to do what needs to be done; it's a win-win. we should be helping them to get back on their feet in a way that's going to be constructive in the future, not just today.

    *phew* long post. sorry. I just felt that your sentiment was well-meant, but not well-placed.
    Flag predicateon January 19, 2010   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General Comment:Can't stop listening to this. Heartbreaking.
    Flag dthetreeon January 16, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Man, I was just nonchalantly listening to Funeral and realized this song was called Haiti and the words struck me(I know a little French). It's pretty eerie how a lot of it fits the tragedy that has struck there recently. It made me very sad and I hope the country's same spirit that prevailed then will once again. <3
    Flag jessieagogoon January 14, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think the contrast between the mood of the music and the mood of the lyrics actually correspond with the country of Haiti itself. While it may seem like a peaceful tropical place, it's actually plagued with these deathly problems that are almost unexpected, or covered up by the characteristics of the land.
    Flag Skylingon October 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yes, this song is about Regine's mothercountry. She's from Haiti and she's trying to raise awareness about the poverty there.
    Flag masharocks91on August 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yup, I agree with tuvia.

    Rien n'arrete nos espirits, "nothing stops our spirits"
    guns can't kill what soldiers can't see
    in the forest we are hiding...

    ...soon we will reclaim the earth

    because Haiti is the land of those who were murdered under Duvalier, they are connected to it, and one with it, so even when soldiers "claim" the land, the spirit, and bodies, of the people is still in it ("what soldiers can't see"), and because of this they'll reclaim it and overcome the regime.
    Flag evolutionariedon December 31, 2008   Link

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