Lyrics for Intervention as interpreted by newkicks

Intervention Lyrics
The king's taken back the throne,
The useless seed is sown,
When they say they're cutting off the phone,
I tell them you're not home.

No place to hide,
You were fighting as a soldier on their side,
You're still a soldier in your mind,
Though nothing's on the line.

You say it's money that we need,
As if we were only mouths to feed,
I know no matter what you say
There are some debts you'll never pay.

Working for the church
While your family dies.
You take what they give you
And you keep it inside.
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home.

Hear the solider groan, "We'll go at it alone"

I can taste the fear.
Lift me up and take me out of here,
Don't want to fight, don't want to die,
Just want to hear you cry.

Who's going to throw the very first stone?
Oh! Who's going to reset the bone?
Walking with your head in a sling
Want to hear the soldier sing.

Working for the Church
While my family dies,
Your little baby sister's
Going to lose her mind,
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home

Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone"

I can taste your fear,
It's going to lift you up and take you out of here,
And the bone shall never heal,
I care not if you kneel.

We can't find you now,
But they're going to get their money back somehow,
And when you finally disappear
We'll just say you were never here.

Been working for the church
While your life falls apart,
Singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart,
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home.

Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone"
Hear the soldier groan, "We'll go at it alone"

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edwartica
03-10-2007

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Does anyone think the fact that Win Smashed a guitar on SNL after playing this song have anything to do with anything?

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OliverCarle
03-11-2007

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To say it is an Anti-Bush song is just a mindless cop out. That is not their style. There is far more to it. You can't possibly deny the biblicial imagery given in the line "The king's taken (taking?) back the throne". The second coming ring any bells?
To say that they think themselves to be top of the pile (morganb3) indicates a kind of arrogance I would not ascribe to Win Butler or the rest of the band.
I personally think he is taking about the state of the whole world. He is asking why God allows such suffering. He is talking about turning his back on faith and trying to make it on your own.
I feel like the title "Intervention" is almost a call to action. Divine Intervention? It is a song about struggle and frustration and pain. What are your thoughts?

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wideawake
03-12-2007

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I think this song is critical of those who pervert religion. They "work for the church while my family dies" and "Say it’s money that we need/ As if there were only mouths to feed" That is, the role of religion is not only to feed mouths, but souls. I think the song is saying religious leaders are falling down on the job by grabbing for money and power rather than providing what we really need from religion.
The soldier images, then, are soldiers for the Lord or onward christian soldiers or whatever. "You’re still a soldier in your minds/But nothing's on the line" to me means the endless battling of culture wars and "persecution" of american christians is because these leaders must see themselves as fighting something, even if there is nothing on the line.
Of course, this isn't wholly separate from the bush admin, and that reading is compelling too, but this was my first thought. Especially given the religious overtones of the whole album.

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kmm
03-12-2007

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"To say it is an Anti-Bush song is just a mindless cop out. That is not their style."

I can't see how it wouldn't be, considering it was probably written right after the 2004 election. Of course there are probably about 20 other meanings to the song, but anti-bush is surely one of them.

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kidsmoke91
03-15-2007

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I feel like the song is about religion, seriously every song on Neon Bible is about religion, not in the sense that Arcade Fire is being religious but in the sense that while religion is good and all it doesn't solve problems. The parts about the soldier growning and then going alone has to do with the fact that people pray for the soldiers but it doesn't help them physically and instead end up having to do it themselves. "Working for the church while your family dies" isn't saying that Bush is evil and is ignoring his country it is saying people turn to God when they have problems, but their is no answer because God isn't there to solve the problems of single people, but instead people have to help themselves, but they don't. And just because he has something written on his guitar, doesn't mean the song is about that saying, Woody Guthrie had "this machine destroys facists" written on his guitar, but not every song was about the evil of facism.

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kidsmoke91
03-15-2007

Rated 0 
Oh yeah and an Intervention is something where you force someone to face their problems.

Also to say Arcade Fire isn't political... that is just dumb and I question anyone who thinks that Arcade Fire isn't trying to change the world.

And I like Neon Bible better than Funeral it is the perfect follow up album.

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antimetabole
03-16-2007

Rated 0 
Reading through these posts, I'd have to agree with everyone. "Intervention" doesn't have to be *just* about the Bush administration or *just* about religion or *just* about starving children in Haiti or *just* about anything else.

I will say though that I think this song is *mostly* about the bizarre relationship between religion and politics in today's society. What with neo-conservatism and religious fundamentalism, you can't talk about religion without also talking about politics or vice versa. These days it's easy to confuse the two.

The fact that we can't agree on whether "Intervention" is about politics or religion elegantly demonstrates this, I think :)

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edwartica
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
ok, this may or may not have anything to do with the song, but when they played this on SNL, win had "AK VID PA KANPE"; a Hatian proverb basically saying An empty sack doesn't stand up" -- i.e., A hungry person cannot do anything.

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elcapitanloco
03-21-2007

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I think that while this could be easily interpreted as an anti-Bush song, its much more general than that.

To me, it seems that it is about someone who keeps up the appearance of rightiousness but lacks it. The person appears to be in a position of moral authority but is actually immoral and allows bad things to happen ("Working for the church while your family dies"). The person could make things right, but refuses to due so because its against the conventions of their position. ("You’re fighting as a solider on their side/You’re still a soldier in your mind/But nothing's on the line"). So, the song is an intervention, forcing the person to acknowledge and face their problem.

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becca deakid
03-26-2007

Rated 0 
this song has the most beautiful sense of complete hopelessness that I have ever heard.

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illt3ck
03-31-2007

Rated 0 
This site is full of a bunch of anti-bush douchebags.

Not ever song an alt / indie band with the word "war" or "soldier" is anti-bush.

Just like every Sufjan Stevens song isn't about God or religion.

GET OVER IT.

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stupefyme
04-02-2007

Rated 0 
too bad these lyrics are all wrong, or I just have a different version of this song.

Nonetheless it is a great song. Its so beautiful.

Don't take this song as just anti-war guys. Listen closely and read the lyrics. There is so much depth.

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neonbiblethumper
04-03-2007

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Maybe the first line "kings taking back the throne" refers to Elvis and the (attempted) return to 1950's values by Bush.

Seed is used in the Bible as a metaphor for faith. The seed is useless becuase it is misplaced (not in God).

The jester stole the king's thorny crown; maybe af is saying the king stole it back

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wideawake
04-03-2007

Rated 0 
neonbiblethumper: this is a minor quibble, but the only time I can think of a seed used metaphorically in the bible it stands for the Gospel - not faith. So I think the lyric implies either that the actual gospel message is useless or the one that is poffered by hypocrites. I'm inclined to believe the second because of the later biblical reference about hypocracy "who's gonna throw the very first stone."

illt3ck: most sufjan sevens songs ARE about God or Religion. And it's not unreasonable to think a song published in 2007 using war imagery is about the actual war, unless there's a compelling reason to think it isn't.

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NDBQuinn10
04-07-2007

Rated 0 
This song is plainly and obviously an anti-bush song. Lets break it down.

"The king’s taken back the thrown
The useless seed is sewn"
GWB is re-elected. His uselessness as president is back.

"You’re fighting as a solider on their side
You’re still a soldier in your minds
But nothing's on the line"
Many of the soldiers are poor and lower class who need the military for money. They are fighting for Bush's red state, big money, elite politics. Nothing's on the line is a reference to fighting a war with no meaning or purpose.

"Working for the church while your family dies"
The president is commander-in-chief. His family is the military. His working for the church is his claim and commitment to christianity despite being a "war" president and ordering the killing of thousands.

"Oh, who’s going to reset the bone?
Walking with your head in a sling
Want to hear the soldier sing"
Soldiers come back, often injured, and are never taken care of despite the military's "commitment" to their soldiers.

"We can’t find you now
But they’re going to get their money back somehow
And when you finally disappear
Will they say you were never here?"
Dead soldiers that fought so Bush and friends could make more money in Iraq. His disregard for troops to make a profit.

Arcade Fire is a very, very smart band who goes deep in its lyrics. These aren't typical lyrics, they're much more educated than that.

And P.S., this is the best song on the album... by far.

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lawgirl1
04-13-2007

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My mother, who has become with the release of Neon Bible a bigger Arcade Fire fan than even I, has a unique perspective about this partcular song. She was raised in the same religion as the Butlers, and left that religion upon marrying and leaving home. This particular song seems to her to directly reference this religion - members of the church are (or at least at one time were) required to perform a mission durning which they were not allowed return home, even for family funerals ("working for the church while my family died"). The church also required (and still does perhaps?) a strict tithing; without the requried tithing, members were not considered in good standing and could then not participate in church rituals. I do not know to what extent these practices remain, as I was not raised in this religion and my mother left it forty years ago. I do know that throughout my childhood and college years, church members attempted to contact not only my mother, but also me directly, trying to bring us back into "thier father's house." (Another song on Neon Bible mentions not wanting to live in my "father's house" anymore, which could also be applied to several religions who refer to the church, (or heaven) whatever it may be, as thier "father's house.") Of course, a primary goal to return us to thier father's house was to make sure that the tithe could be collected.

One partiular line in Intervention - "We can't find you now, but they're going to get thier money back somehow" - reminds me of an incident when I was a child where church members, during an unsolicited visit to our home, refused leave the property. When my parents threatened to call police to arrest them for tresspassing, the church members insisted that, since my mother was a church member and was required to tithe by virtue of so being, the property also belonged to the church and they could not be required to leave. This incident occured nearly twenty years after my mother had left the church, and after her address was located via pressure upon other family/church members.

I don't mean to disparage this particular religion, as the local church has been very meaningful for and helpful to my grandmother (still a member) and great grandmother as well (a member to her death). And some of these practices may have been scaled back or abandoned over recent years as the religion grows and receives more attention.

While I agree that the song can be interpreted with wider reaching political and religious meaning, and the strange bedfellows created when you mix the two, I think that this particular song reflects upon a particulary personal matter or indident related to the Butler's own upbringing. The beauty of it, and the power behind it, is that it is just as important either way.

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papajohn3289
04-20-2007

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Think of the term "soldier" in reference to the song by The Killers, "All These Things That I've Done." In that song, he talked about being a soldier of God, and how he wasn't one, but had faith (soul) nonetheless. I think Arcade Fire is using that same method, but in the fact that people are putting their faith too much in the Church and not enough in their friendship with God.

The song says "You're singing Hallelujah while there's fear in your heart!" He criticizes people for praising God because of the Church, as they make the followers fear God, forcing them to do good in fear of being condemned to Hell if they aren't, and therefore, every spark of friendship and love with God, dies. He is treated as an object of fear, and the illusion, according to Arcade Fire, is caused by the Roman Catholic Church.

...And they're right. Think about it. It's really a beautiful, unbelievable song when you really think about it. The Church does put an illusion of love that's overpainting the real underlying fear. People are afraid to die because they're afraid of what God will think of them, but that's not what they're mind is telling them. Arcade Fire really made an inspirational song with this one.

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kervin86
04-29-2007

Rated 0 
I think this is actually an anti-religion song, saying that religion consumes our lives and it asks us what for.

The biggest clue for me is the line "The useless seed is sown". This likely a reference to the bible parable about a farmer spreading the seed. The parable says that christians should spread the word of god to all. The line is saying that many are doing this, but they should not as it is useless information.

What about "Working for the church while your family dies/while your life falls apart", to me this sounds like people putting all their time into the church but forgeting to live their lives.

I think the soldier refers to the common man/woman and the line "Hear the soldier groan, 'We'll go at it alone'" is saying that they are ready to give up god and live a life free from religion.

Alot of the lines are very opressive as well giving a sense that religion is not freeing like many say it is but more of a jail, and that we stay there not through love but through fear of a life without god.

This is just my interpretation, you may have your own.

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Minyobi
05-06-2007

Rated 0 
I never really inteded to leap into this one. I mean, 2 year discussions is just not my style, but I just have to.

If you ask me, the song is about a soldier who returns home to find his life as he knew it in complete shambles, to the point where he just wants to run away from it all.

Maybe I am completely off my rocker, but I always saw the first few lines as the "man of the house"/king returning to his 2 bedroom castle to find a new mouth to feed and the bills not paid.

But that is just me. I never really vibe with the more accepted interpretations of Arcade Fire songs.

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joelovesindiemusic
05-08-2007

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im just waiting to find another AF song that is as good as this one. its brilliant. his voice is so powerful.

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The Drizzle
05-14-2007

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"Singing, “Hallelujah,” with the fear in your heart"

That is the best line of the whole song. Adds to the probability that it is an anti-religion or even anti-Bush song.

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shazzamafia
05-16-2007

Rated 0 
Love it

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pandora_ash_avalie
05-16-2007

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tgdavies, it means that they're looking at people logically, only caring for their needs like food and water and ignoring their emotional health.

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pandora_ash_avalie
05-16-2007

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tgdavies, it means that they're looking at people logically, only caring for their needs like food and water and ignoring their emotional health.

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richardexplosion
05-18-2007

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At first I thought this was just putting down the common Christian, but I can see how it could be anti-Bush too.
I am a Christian, but I am really enjoying Neon Bible because it makes really good points about how a Christian shouldn't act.

So many fathers (and mothers too) are so caught up in the church that they aren't even focusing on God or their family.
If you're actually following the Bible you'll end up loving your family and protecting them at all costs.
I'm posotive the Bible has multiple verses talking about the family but I don't feel like looking them up right now.

I think the main theme of the Neon Bible is fake Christians. It seems the Win is pretty bitter towards Christians and with some of the lyrics (even from Funeral) I can't help but think that his parents are the reason for his bitterness.

Like Crown of Love when he says, "because your hands are not upon me. I shrugged them off before my mom walked in my bedroom."

But yeah, I'm fine with him talking crap about Christians. I do it all the time.
As long as he doesn't disrespect God or the Bible (which I don't think he has) then I'm fine.

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