The Sprawl

The Arcade Fire has been around for a while and I've liked what I've heard, but I'm only really starting to pay attention to them now. I saw them perform this on Saturday Night Live the other night and I was knocked silly, by the song and the girl who sings it.

"They heard me singing and they told me to stop..."

She starts out with that line, and you can't help but think, "Yeah, because you can't freaking sing!" But then she keeps going, and that plaintive little peep of hers has soon won your heart. She's not a good singer by conventional standards and she's not exactly your typical glamor girl either, but when she's up there twirling around in her sparkly dress it's like watching your little sister sing into the bathroom mirror while she uses a hairbrush for a mic.

I grew up in Long Beach, and I wanted to get out of that town for a long time before I finally did it. I've tried to explain to people why I grew to hate Long Beach so much, why I was so desperate to escape and why living in Los Angeles is so, so much better. Well, I could write nine cranky paragraphs about what's wrong with my hometown, or I could just point you at this song and let them tell you everything you need to know.

Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small, that we could never get away from the sprawl...