Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels)

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The correct title of this article is Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels). The substitution of the # is due to technical restrictions.

"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
Tunnelscover.jpg
Single by Arcade Fire
from the album Funeral
B-side "My Buddy"
ReleasedJune 20, 2004
RecordedAugust 2003 –early 2004
Studio Hotel2Tango (Montreal, Quebec)
Genre
Length4:48
Label Merge
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire singles chronology
"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
(2004)		"Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)"
(2005)

"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" is a song by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire, and the first track on their debut album Funeral . It is the first of the four-part "Neighborhood" series found on Funeral. It was the band's first single, released several months before the album as a 7" vinyl record on June 20, 2004, to a pressing of 1500 copies. The B-side to the album is a recording of the song "My Buddy" by swing musician Alvino Rey. Rey is the maternal grandfather of Arcade Fire members Win and William Butler. [2]

Contents

Arcade Fire re-issued the single on November 29, 2019 as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event. [3] The song was covered by the musician Ane Brun for her deluxe version of her album It All Starts With One in 2012. [4]

Background and composition

According to Win Butler of the band, the guitar part was accidentally recorded with a microphone meant for vocals on the other side of the recording room instead of the intended guitar microphone. This take was kept on the final version. [5] Critics described the song as "a sumptuously theatrical opener" with strings, an organ and a piano. [6] The lyrics describe "grieving against a town buried in snow", with a young man who escapes his neighborhood to meet his girlfriend in the town square to plan their future as grown-ups. [7] [6]

Critical reception

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The Arcade Fire "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" (2004)
30 second sample from Arcade Fire's first track off of Funeral.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In August 2009, the song was named #10 on Pitchfork's "Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s". [8] In a 2012 Beats Per Minute article on The Essential Arcade Fire, it was named the band's most essential track by writer Lucien Flores. [9] Flores writes, "'Tunnels' has all the elements of a great Arcade Fire song: a head-bobbing rhythm section, lyrics that harken back to an imperfect past, a seamless blend of instruments, and a cathartic coda."

Track listing

7" single

  1. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - 4:48
  2. "My Buddy" (Alvino Rey Orchestra, live radio broadcast, 1940) - 2:32

Personnel

Arcade Fire

Additional musicians

References

  1. 1 2 "The 50 Best Alt-Rock Love Songs". Spin . February 12, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (Vinyl)". Discogs. June 20, 2004. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Murray, Robin (October 11, 2019). "Arcade Fire To Re-Issue Debut Single 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)'". Clash . Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Free Download: Ane Brun, 'Neighbourhood #1'". Rolling Stone. April 3, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  5. ↑ Young, Alex (September 18, 2014). "13 Things You Didn't Know About Arcade Fire and Funeral". Consequence. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Moore, David. "Arcade Fire: Funeral". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  7. ↑ Chigley, Jesus (February 28, 2005). "Album Review: Arcade Fire - Funeral". DrownedInSound. Archived from the original on July 5, 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  8. ↑ "The 200 Best Songs of the 2000s". Pitchfork . August 21, 2009. p. 11.
  9. ↑ Flores, Lucien (August 2, 2012). "The Essential Arcade Fire". Beats Per Minute .
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