Black Mirror Lyrics
I will walk down to the ocean
After waking from a nightmare
No moon, no pale reflection
Black mirror, black mirror
[Verse 2]
Shot by a security camera
You can't watch your own image
And also look yourself in the eye
Black mirror, black mirror, black mirror
[Verse 3]
I know when the time is coming
All the words will lose their meaning
Please show me something that isn’t mine
But mine is the only kind that I relate to
Le miroir casse
The mirror casts mon reflet partout
Black mirror, black mirror, black mirror
[Verse 4]
Black mirror knows no reflection
It knows not pride or vanity
It cares not about your dreams
It cares not for your pyramid schemes
Their names are never spoken
The curse is never broken
The curse is never broken
Un! Deux! Trois! Dis: miroir noir!
Black mirror!
Un! Deux! Trois! Dis: miroir noir!
Black mirror!
Black mirror, black mirror
Their names are never spoken, the curse is never broken
Their names are never spoken, the curse is never broken
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall
Black mirror! Black mirror! Black mirror! Black mirror!
Black mirror! Black mirror! Black mirror!
About
Neon Bible is, in some ways, an unwelcome and very welcome departure from Arcade Fire’s predominately indie and cathartic songs from before. The first line, if you’ve heard this album enough, refers to one walking to the ocean, a grand and open area. Much like this album, the ocean is huge and has a much bigger scope than what was before, land, or their previous effort Funeral. Funeral, which Pitchfork described as “the band looking inward” in their Neon Bible review, is the complete opposite of what Neon Bible tries to accomplish. Neon Bible is indeed looking outward rather than inward: instead of pain, catharsis, and emotions, we have themes on seduction, television, mass media, ads, religion, oppression, Orwellian worlds, escape, and generally a “what has the world come to?” kind of feel to it.
Throughout Neon Bible, the ocean is also used as a symbol for lack of control (“Ocean of Noise”, “Black Wave”, to name a few), which is touched on in “Black Mirror” as well.
Now for the song, we have the concept of “black mirrors,” or, really, screens. Phones, TV’s, computers, you name it, which are given a negative connotation based on the fact that you can’t really express your true self on them. Like the song “Reflektor”, phones and devices are controlling us instead of us controlling them.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.Black Mirror
- 3.Neon Bible
- 4.Intervention
- 9.Windowsill
- 10.No Cars Go