Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait Lyrics and Video

We Used to Wait by Arcade Fire, Music Lyrics and Video

We Used to Wait is the first UK single from Arcade Fire’s third album The Suburbs, following “Ready to Start“, which was the first US single.
The song is also part of the experimental project “The Wilderness Downtown” to tout the strengths of Google’s Chrome web browser. It figures prominently in the location-based audiovisual web experience and the name of the project is taken from a line in the song.

Here is the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire performing the song live at Madison Square Garden in New York on 8/5/2010. Part of the UNSTAGED series presented by American Express.

Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait Lyrics

I used to write,
I used to write letters I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night
Before the flashing lights settled deep in my brain

But by the time we met
By the time we met the times had already changed

So I never wrote a letter
I never took my true heart I never wrote it down
So when the lights cut out
I was left standing in the wilderness downtown

Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last

It seems strange
How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what’s stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive

We used to wait
We used to waste hours just walking around
We used to wait
All those wasted lives in the wilderness downtown

oooo we used to wait
oooo we used to wait
oooo we used to wait
Sometimes it never came
(oooo we used to wait)
Sometimes it never came
(oooo we used to wait)
Still moving through the pain
(oooooo)

I’m gonna write a letter to my true love
I’m gonna sign my name
Like a patient on a table
I wanna walk again gonna move through the pain

Now our lives are changing fast
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
Hope that something pure can last

oooo we used to wait
oooo we used to wait
oooo we used to wait
Sometimes it never came
(oooo we used to wait)
Sometimes it never came
(oooo we used to wait)
Still moving through the pain
(oooooo)

we used to wait (x3)

We used to wait for it
We used to wait for it
Now we’re screaming sing the chorus again
We used to wait for it
We used to wait for it
Now we’re screaming sing the chorus again

I used to wait for it
I used to wait for it
Hear my voice screaming sing the chorus again

Wait for it (x3)

Song Information

Released August 1, 2010 (UK)
Genre Art rock, alternative rock
Length 3:28
Label Rough Trade Records, Merge Records