Lemondrop

There's plenty of entertaining stuff on the Internet, but true innovation is very rare. It just seems like everything is so similar to -- or inspired by -- everything else.

But then something comes along like the new video for Arcade Fire's "We Used to Wait," a song from their recently released album "The Suburbs." It's amazing. Like, mind-blowing, tell-all-your-friends, post-to-Twitter, email-your-mother amazing.

The interactive film, as it's being called, takes you down memory lane in a hip, Arcade Fire sort of way. Remember when they did the trailer for "Where the Wild Things Are," and you kind of got the chills and were all excited to see the movie, but then it turned out to really suck? Well, this is just like that, only it's awesome.

You enter your childhood address at The Wilderness Downtown (the name was taken from lyrics in the song), and the website, which is one of the first sites on the Web using the new HTML5 standard, creates a custom video mashing-up Google Street View images from your old stomping grounds with the video's original footage.

Throughout the song, different-size windows pop-up over your screen -- kind of like fireworks, as Flavorwire said -- and the video's hero, a kid wearing a hoodie, seems to be exploring your own hometown. At one point, which coincides with lyrics in the song, you write a letter to your childhood self. It sounds all corny and nostalgic, but considering that's kind of the theme of the song (and the whole album, really), it works.

I tried it (they suggest downloading the Google Chrome browser for the best experience, and it's a good idea to do so) with both of my childhood addresses, which happen to be very different; one is in northern Illinois, smack dab in the middle of cornfields and dairy barns, and the other in the suburbs of Chicago, smack dab in the middle of oversize new construction and community pools. Check out the screenshots below. I circled my house in both, and while the rural version was more "beautiful" and serene, the suburban one, considering it showed my house as if I were standing right on the street, really dialed-up the nostalgia.





When you think about the technology behind this, it's pretty amazing. It's been a while since I've been truly excited about a music video. Sure, Lady Gaga's "Telephone" was pretty exciting, but that was more for its choreography, shock value and Tarantino homage. While that was kind of like R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion," which was recognized for its artistic value and its message, this is more like Michael Jackson's "Black or White" -- innovative in terms of both technology and styling.

Go make your own video here, then share the link in the comments below. Trust us, it's worth your time.