Arcade Fire - Ready to Start.

I looked into Indie artists that are similar to the song that we have chosen to do for our music video. Both songs are about the struggles with females. 

These are the lyrics:

Businessmen drink my bloodLike the kids in art school said they wouldAnd I guess I'll just begin againYou say can we still be friends
If I was scared, I wouldAnd if I was bored, you know I wouldAnd if I was yours, but I'm not
All the kids have always knownThat the emperor wears no clothesBut they bow down to him anywayIt's better than being alone
If I was scared, I wouldAnd if I was pure, you know I wouldAnd if I was yours, but I'm not
Now you're knocking at my doorSaying please come out with us tonightBut I would rather be aloneThan pretend I feel alright
If the businessmen drink my bloodLike the kids in art school said they wouldThen I guess I'll just begin againYou say can we still be friends
If I was scared, I wouldAnd if I was pure, you know I wouldAnd if I was yours, but I'm not
Now I'm Ready to Start
If I was scared, I wouldAnd if I was pure, you know I wouldAnd if I was yours, but I'm not
Now I'm Ready to Start
Now I'm Ready to StartI would rather be wrongThan live in the shadows of your sunMy mind is open wideAnd now I'm ready to start
Now I'm Ready to StartMy mind is open wideNow I'm Ready to StartNot sure you'll open the doorTo step out into the darkNow I'm ready!

The businessmen drink my blood - has connotations of the artist not fitting into the real world with other men. It shows that he feels like he is a loner, and doesn't belong around all of the materialistic people that he is surrounded by. 

Like the kids in art school said they would - has connotations of him thinking about his past, and how even as a child he didn't fit in and possibly got bullied by some of the other children in his class, for being different. This means that a lot of people might be able to relate to what he is saying, as they might of experienced the same sort of thing before.

And i guess i'll just begin again - makes you think that possibly he is opting for a fresh start, and wants to try and change his life and do things the way that he wants to do. He wants to try and start afresh. 

You say we can still be friends - this is the first part where the audience begin to realise that the song is about a girl, and it engages the audience into wondering who the girl is and also what the story behind the relationship is.

If i was scared, i would.
And if i was bored, you know i would.
And if i was yours, but im not. -The chorus tells us that he isn't the girls, meaning that he doesn't feel that she likes him, or it didn't work out, or something along these lines. It shows the heartbreak that he is going through, which is another thing that the audience might relate to. 

All the kids have always known, 
That the Emperor wears no clothes, 
But they bow down to him anyway, 
It's better then being alone. - Although the Emperor who wore no clothes is a famous children's story, this verse is just a connotation of what he really means. He is talking about the fact that everyone seems to conform to what they think they should be purely because they think that it is the right thing to do, and they don't want to defy from the rules. This might be telling us that he doesn't feel the same way, and likes to break the rules. 


Now you're knocking at my doorSaying please come out with us tonightBut I would rather be aloneThan pretend I feel alright - This now shows us that the girl is interested in him, and wants him to go with her out. However, we see that he doesn't want to, but we don't know the reasons for this. It shows that he is in a deep emotional state, and is expresses to the audience that he doesn't feel like he wants to try and solialise with anyone, just wants to be alone.
Now I'm Ready to Start - This tells the audience that maybe he is ready to move on with his life, and start living. He is ready to try and start moving into something happier for himself. 
Now I'm Ready to StartI would rather be wrongThan live in the shadows of your sunMy mind is open wideAnd now I'm ready to start - He is now sounding more positive about things. He is apparently breaking away from her shadow, which makes us realise that maybe the girl that he is talking about has always put him down and made him feel small. It shows us that he is rebelling against that, and doesn't want her to control him anymore. He wants to show her that he is done being treated like that, and is starting his own life the way he wants. 
Now I'm Ready to StartMy mind is open wideNow I'm Ready to StartNot sure you'll open the doorTo step out into the darkNow I'm ready! - The artist is saying to the audience, and the girl that he now does have his confidence back, and although it was once her knocking on his door, he doesn't feel that she will have the ability to keep up with him and do all of the things that he is planning to do with his life. He is going back to the fact that before, it was her in control of his life, and now it is him, taking the steps to change the way he has been treated, and do everything he didn't think was possible when he was with her. 

The song breaks the normal "break-up song" convention. Normally, it is female artists who sing about how in their previous relationship their male partner put them down and made them feel small. However, in this it is the male who has been in that sort of relationship with a female.