Religious hypocrisy seems to be a motif on this album (e.g. Intervention). It doesn't make sense for them to be inconsistent and suddenly make one that is earnestly religious.
The irony of lines like "She can sing like a bird in cage" and "So that they can see themselves inside my little girl". Many poets/lyricists from Robert Frost to Kurt Cobain have written lines that could be interpreted as earnest to the casual reader, but are actually filled with sarcasm. Win Butler and his bandmates are too smart to write lines like that and not be sarcastic.
The alternate title and alternate lyrics mention Joe Simpson by name:
No!! It isn't innocent for the following reasons:
Religious hypocrisy seems to be a motif on this album (e.g. Intervention). It doesn't make sense for them to be inconsistent and suddenly make one that is earnestly religious.
The irony of lines like "She can sing like a bird in cage" and "So that they can see themselves inside my little girl". Many poets/lyricists from Robert Frost to Kurt Cobain have written lines that could be interpreted as earnest to the casual reader, but are actually filled with sarcasm. Win Butler and his bandmates are too smart to write lines like that and not be sarcastic.
The alternate title and alternate lyrics mention Joe Simpson by name:
fluxblog.org/2007/02/sound-is-not-asleep_14.html thetorturegarden.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html