"Speaking in Tongues" is the fifth single from indie rock band Arcade Fire's third album, The Suburbs. It did not appear on the original track listing, but showed up on the deluxe edition as a bonus track.Arcade Fire Release 'Speaking In Tongues' and 'Culture War'. Huffington Post Retrieved September 7, 2011.
There is a direct reference to T.S Eliot's The Waste Land: "Hypocrite reader, my double, my brother", himself quoting Baudelaire's To the Reader: "— Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère!"
The title itself is a reference to the Bible (Acts 2:4 ; 1 Corinthians 14:18) to a phenomenon called glossolalia, which is believed to be a divine language unknown to the speaker. It is also a reference to the 1983 album of the same name by Talking Heads, the former band of guest singer David Byrne.
Credits and personnel Win Butler – lead vocals, guitar Régine Chassagne – backing vocals, drums David Byrne – backing vocals Richard Reed Parry – guitar, string arrangements Tim Kingsbury – bass William Butler – keyboards, guitar Sarah Neufeld – violin, backing vocals, string arrangements Jeremy Gara – drums Owen Pallett – string arrangements Marika Anthony Shaw – string arrangements Arcade Fire and Markus Dravs – producers Craig Silvey and Nick Launay – mixing
Chart performance Chart (2012–13) Peakposition
References
External links Official website