"Keep the Car Running" is a song by

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band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member ...

. It is the second single released from the band's second album, ''

Neon Bible ''Neon Bible'' is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007, in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006, through the band's ...

'' in the UK (while "

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" is the first in the US). This song was #22 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. In October 2011, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' placed it at number 61 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". The single was released on 19 March 2007, on 7" vinyl with the B-side, "Broken Window", in the UK under Rough Trade Records. It peaked on the

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at number 56. The single was released in the US on 8 May 2007, under

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

. It is alternatively titled "Keep the Car Running/Broken Window". It peaked at number 32 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The band performed the song during their 24 February 2007 appearance on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''.

Track listing

#"Keep the Car Running" – 3:28 #"Broken Window" – 6:27

Personnel

*Win Butler – vocals, mandolin *Régine Chassagne – vocals,

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

*Richard Reed Parry – electric guitar, background vocals *Tim Kingsbury – bass guitar, background vocals *Will Butler – keyboards, background vocals *Jeremy Gara – drums *Sara Neufeld – violin, background vocals *Owen Pallett – violin *Marika Anthony Shaw – viola *Melanie Auclair – cello

Charts

Certifications

Covers

*The song was covered by the Foo Fighters on 17 August and 18 November 2007 during their European

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Tour at

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London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The band played it once during a set for

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's ''

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'' and previously during a concert for

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's Six Weeks of Summer concert event in Brighton.BBC Radio 1 website
17 August 2007 Dave Grohl announced to the audience that he had played the song earlier in the day but was unhappy with it as he felt he did not perform it well enough, so he felt it was his duty to retry it. He said during the first recording that he listens to the song every morning when he wakes up. The song can be found on The Foo Fighters' " Let It Die" single. *It was performed live by

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, joined by Win Butler and Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, on October 14, 2007 in Ottawa. *The Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra released a Latin-flavored cover. *The song was frequently covered by

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during their 2009 tour.

References

{{authority control 2007 singles Arcade Fire songs 2007 songs Rough Trade Records singles Songs written by William Butler (musician) Songs written by Win Butler Songs written by Régine Chassagne Songs written by Jeremy Gara Songs written by Tim Kingsbury Songs written by Richard Reed Parry