We Exist

Arcade Fire

Producers

Arcade Fire, Markus Dravs &

Track 3 on

Reflektor

Oct. 28, 20131 viewer125.7K views

We Exist Lyrics

The second track on Reflektor deals with a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality.… Read More

[Verse 1]
They're walking around, head full of sound
Acting like we don't exist
They walk in the room and stare right through you
Talking like we don't exist
But we exist
Daddy it's true, I'm different from you
But tell me why they treat me like this?
If you turned away, what would I say?
Not the first betrayed by a kiss

[Chorus]
Maybe it's true, they're staring at you
When you walk in the room
Tell 'em it's fine, stare if you like
Just let us through, just let us through

[Verse 2]
They're down on their knees, begging us please
Praying that we don't exist
Daddy it's fine, I'm used to 'em now
But tell me why they treat me like this?
It's ‘cause we do it like this

[Chorus]
Maybe it's true, they're staring at you
When you walk in the room
Tell 'em it's fine, stare if you like
Just let us through, just let us through

[Bridge]
Let 'em stare, let 'em stare
If that's all they can do
But I'd lose my heart
If I turned away from you
Oh, Daddy don't turn away
You know that I'm so scared
But will you watch me drown?
You know we're going nowhere
We know that we're young
And no shit we're confused
But will you watch us drown?
What are you so afraid to lose?

[Verse 3]
Down on my knees, begging us please
Praying that we don't exist
You're down on your knees, begging us please
Praying that we don't exist
But we exist, we exist
Down on your knees, begging us please
Praying that we don't exist
You're down on your knees, begging us please
Praying that we don't exist
But we exist, we exist
We exist, we exist

[Outro]
Maybe if you hang together
You can make the changes in our hearts
And if you hang together, you can change us
Just where should you start?

[Video choreographed by Ryan Heffington]

About

The second track on Reflektor deals with a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality.

There’s a song on Reflektor called “We Exist”, which is about a gay kid talking to his dad (“Daddy, it’s true, I’m different from you. But tell me why they treat me like this?”). In dominant cultures there’s what’s normal, and everything else is abnormal. It’s one of the darker tendencies of humanity to think everyone should fit into a mould.
-Win Butler, Time Out Magazine

The music video tells the story of a pre-op transwoman. Finally summoning the courage to visit a bar, she is attacked. The realism of the video then disappears; there is a very camp dance sequence, and she is shown performing with the band (footage taken from their Coachella performance in 2014).