Arcade Fire: Modern Man Meaning

Modern Man Lyrics

So I wait my turn, I'm a modern man
And the people behind me they can't understand
Makes me feel like....
Makes me feel like....
So I wait my turn, I'm a modern man
And the people behind me they can't understand
Makes me feel like....
Something...

1. anonymous

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   Jun 9th 2023 !⃝

   This song seems to be about the loss of traditional masculine values in the pursuit of the progressiveness of the Modern Man. In the past, we were born builders, warriors, sailors, the danger-seekers, the risk takers, the edge of the blade. In that pursuit, we found ourselves growing duller, more infantilized. We became more tolerant of differences, in many ways a good thing, and in many ways, in that tolerance, we became complacent, soft, weak. We are begging the Modern Man for permission to be traditional men again. We are waiting on our number to be called. We understand that this world is the Modern Man's, but we also, deep down in our subconscious, understand that this is weakness, fragility, and it's not conducive to our natural inclinations. We are pleading with the Modern Man to tell us when it's okay, when it's acceptable, to act again. We spend our days in drudgery and depression, when our fathers and our fathers' fathers, just on the other side of the generational mirror were hardworking heroes, fighting to keep up, and we have found ourselves lacking. We're waiting in line for the Modern Man's cue, but we can barely understand why we need it. And at the end of the day, we don't know if we can handle it. We're a Modern Man.
2. anonymous

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   Jan 7th 2016 !⃝

   I think its about conformity and the state of western civ.
3. fish80

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   May 5th 2013 !⃝

   I think this song hits the soul. I believe "modern man" is technology, religion, socialism, evolution, politics basically. The artist is a modern man but doesn't see that he is. He thinks he is still a traditional man. He realize it later in the song that the modern man is wrong and made a mistake by trying to be one. So is being punished

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