In an interview, Win Butler talks about the lyrics:
He remembers that growing up in Texas, "I wasn't Texan at all." He didn't identify with the don't-mess-with-Texas sense of self. On top of his "feeling like a foreigner," everyone around him was born-again Christian while he was being raised Mormon. ("My mom's family was Mormon and my dad's family was super not Mormon.") Butler played sports but was really into dance and art. He didn't fit easily into any single group. That's what "Normal Person" is about, and "We Exist" comes from someplace alike.
"'Normal Person' is talking about similar territory where it's like this overwhelming pressure to be normal and to fit into a certain mold," he says, "and you can feel that pressure because you are gay or you can feel that pressure because you're goth, or because you like wearing pink or you don't wear name-brand shoes, or you're into hip-hop and you're a white kid or you're into rock music and you're a black kid. There's just incredible socializing pressure that's on kids and adults. And I think that both of those songs are reactions to having felt that feeling. I felt that a lot in my own life. I think it's a pretty universal feeling."
advocate.com
He remembers that growing up in Texas, "I wasn't Texan at all." He didn't identify with the don't-mess-with-Texas sense of self. On top of his "feeling like a foreigner," everyone around him was born-again Christian while he was being raised Mormon. ("My mom's family was Mormon and my dad's family was super not Mormon.") Butler played sports but was really into dance and art. He didn't fit easily into any single group. That's what "Normal Person" is about, and "We Exist" comes from someplace alike.
"'Normal Person' is talking about similar territory where it's like this overwhelming pressure to be normal and to fit into a certain mold," he says, "and you can feel that pressure because you are gay or you can feel that pressure because you're goth, or because you like wearing pink or you don't wear name-brand shoes, or you're into hip-hop and you're a white kid or you're into rock music and you're a black kid. There's just incredible socializing pressure that's on kids and adults. And I think that both of those songs are reactions to having felt that feeling. I felt that a lot in my own life. I think it's a pretty universal feeling."
advocate.com