Why Arcade Fire's St. Win Destroyed His Guitar
On Wednesday we mentioned to a friend that we were sort of warming up to the new Arcade Fire record, This Music Will Make The Blind See. Yesterday, giving it another listen, we got to the lyric "Don't want to live in America no more," and said, "You know what, fuck this shit." Our verdict is still at "disappointment." Anyway, Win Butler was in this week's Onion, talking about the famous "Saturday Night Live" guitar-smashing incident (an act only slightly less juvenile than the aforementioned lyric). His explanation?
It was kind of in the moment, but it kind of fit with the song ["Intervention"], too. About halfway through the song, my string broke, and I was cutting my finger. At one show in London, a couple of strings broke, and the last half of the song, I was kind of miming playing the guitar. I thought it was a cool image with the song, like an emperor's-new-clothes thing—this obviously destroyed guitar and me still strumming along. I hated that guitar, to be honest. It was time for that guitar to leave this world, and what better way to go?
Well we hope we leave this world the same way. Of course, you know, he could have just put the damn thing down and walked away.
Win Butler of Arcade Fire [A.V. Club]
Earlier: Arcade Fire Invents Frightening New Rock Music Technique On 'SNL'
Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible": Transcendent Or Extraordinary?