Win Butler:
My parents live near the ocean, and I've spent a lot of time walking through the water at night, being around the water. If you've ever been in a boat when the weather is bad-- I don't know if you have-- but my family sails, and when weather comes in, all of sudden you feel out of control. Like when you're in a plane and you begin to feel turbulence, and you suddenly realize you're 30,000 feet up in the air. Those are the few times when I'm really aware of how out of control of the situation I am. And definitely, if you've ever been in the ocean and had a huge wave move over you, you become very aware that you're not in control.
Pitchfork:
So on Neon Bible, does the ocean represent a lack of control?
WB:
Yeah, in a way. I have this image of being on the ocean at night-- feeling that you're being moved by a wave, but not being able to see it. The natural fear in a situation like that, the sense of everything being beyond your control-- it's a self-preservation instinct or something. It's a different kind of fear.
