Win Butler said that the song was one of a few written entirely while in Jamaica. And most of the album, Reflektor, has obviously Jamaican undertones. But "We Exist" is one of the "least Jamaican-sounding songs," told Butler, and is instead a reaction to the island country's notoriously antigay culture.
"There is a very kind of homophobic undercurrent, even in a lot of popular music and dancehall music, where there is a lot of violence against gay people," said Butler. "And we were in Kingston, and we went to this kind of film event and met some gay Jamaican kids and just kind of talked to them and realized that they were constantly under the threat of violence. For me, I get kind of used to being in this sort of extremely liberal bubble - where we have Whole Foods and people are tolerant. And you can kind of trick yourself into thinking that the world is that way. For me, it was really eye-opening to hang out with these kids who, if they were going to dress differently or express who they were, there was this real tension."
Butler said his lyrics intentionally chide the religious right for trying to deny the existence of LGBT people.
advocate.com
"There is a very kind of homophobic undercurrent, even in a lot of popular music and dancehall music, where there is a lot of violence against gay people," said Butler. "And we were in Kingston, and we went to this kind of film event and met some gay Jamaican kids and just kind of talked to them and realized that they were constantly under the threat of violence. For me, I get kind of used to being in this sort of extremely liberal bubble - where we have Whole Foods and people are tolerant. And you can kind of trick yourself into thinking that the world is that way. For me, it was really eye-opening to hang out with these kids who, if they were going to dress differently or express who they were, there was this real tension."
Butler said his lyrics intentionally chide the religious right for trying to deny the existence of LGBT people.
advocate.com