“Here Comes the Night Time” by Arcade Fire

There are three different premises which “Here Comes the Night Time” is based on, all of which are derived from Arcade Fire’s observations while spending time in Haiti. One is that, in the capitol city of Port-au-Prince, people make somewhat of a serious effort to get home before it gets dark outside. According to Win Butler, they do this in the name of avoiding dangerous criminals at night.  

Second would be the track trying to capture something of the native energy and sound of Haiti, as displayed in the country’s world-famous carnivals. And lastly is the idea of missionaries from foreign missionaries lands having the moral authority to go to Haiti to evangelize the people – a notion which Butler, all things considered, finds ‘absurd’.

Lyrics

So with all of that being noted, the first verse would point to the aforementioned practice of people wanting to get home before it gets dark. Indeed, once again based on Butler’s notes, significant portions of Port-au-Prince don’t even have electricity. Thus it would behoove citizens to head inside before the night hour, when all hell has the potential of breaking loose.

The second verse and most of the third is when the band addresses the issues of foreign missionaries. And basically what they are putting forth is somewhat of a common criticism of such individuals, that they are more intent in disciplining the people than getting them to heaven per se. 

But even beyond that, the missionaries’ concept of heaven and by extension religion in general doesn’t seem quite correct in the eyes of the singer.

And it is along those same lines that the concept of native music is introduced. Or rather let’s say that the music of the people serves as a symbol of their culture in general. And this is something which the foreign religious workers try to supplant. But let’s also just say that Arcade Fire does not agree with that methodology. 

And the reasons why is because they see these preachers as being hell-bound hypocrites and furthermore agents of a judgmental, self-righteous outside culture.

Meaning of the title (“Here Comes the Night Time”)

Meanwhile it is not as clear exactly what the title means. It is arguable that “the night”, as presented, is representative of imminent danger. So the coming of the night could point to the aforementioned criminals. Or it can allude to the religiosity threat which the missionaries pose. Or looked at more positively, it may be symbolic of the onset of party time, i.e. carnival.

Conclusion

So all lyrics and explanations considered, what this song actually reads like is one of those impassioned criticisms of colonialism from days past. 

Here we have a group of agents, the foreign missionaries, trying to impose their belief system on some poor natives.  However, the narrator of the whole ordeal feels as if the natives are even more righteous than the missionaries. So what transpires is the researcher, that again being Arcade Fire, ends up defending the indigenous culture in general.

And being that they are in fact musicians, the aspects of said culture they identify with the most isn’t so much its religion as it is their music.

Facts about “Here Comes the Night Time”

This song is from Arcade Fire’s fourth studio album, “Reflektor”. The track was never released as a single, so its official release date is the same as the overall project, which was on 28 October 2013.

Even though it may not have come out as a single, this track still played a pivotal role in promoting “Reflektor”. That is to say that it served as the title and highlight of a star-studded 30-minute special during the wee hours of 29 September 2013, right after Arcade Fire was featured on Saturday Night Live. The band also used that opportunity to debut a few songs from the album to a national audience. 

And said special, with Roman Coppola as its director, did in fact turn a few heads.

In addition to the standard version of this song, there is also a reprise entitled “Here Comes the Night Time II” featured on “Reflektor”.

Arcade Fire employed a handful of percussionists from a Haitian band called RAM to assist them on this song. Furthermore Arcade Fire actually performed this song in Haiti during February of 2016.

Arcade Fire, as a collective, are credited with writing and producing this track. 

And production-wise, they were buttered by J. Murphy, M. Dravs and M. Lawson. And concerning what the band was doing in Haiti in the first place one of its long-standing members, Régine Chassagne, traces her ancestry to said nation.

Summary

In all, the band is using the lyrics of this song to do one primary thing. And the said primary thing is the criticism of missionaries for believing they are more righteous than Haitian natives. In doing so, the band also gives a shoutout to the rich Haitian native culture.

The “Reflektor” Album

“Reflektor” gave birth to five singles. These singles are as follows:

• “Reflektor”
• “Afterlife”
• “We Exist”
• “You Already Know”
• “Get Right”

“Here Comes the Night Time” in conjunction with the above songs and others contributed to the great success of the whole project. For example, it was considered one of 2013’s greatest albums. The album even received a Grammy nomination.