I have known this song for a while and have only realised today that it is almost certainly a reference to "Into the wild", which has now been released as a film starring Emile Hirsch. It all makes perfect sense, as it was an obvious "great adventure" of a man who cut himself off from society and (although i'm not sure about the book) the film is from the POV of Alex's sister, hence the older brother reference. The references to blood describe Alex killing wolves etc for food. Arcade Fire would be well aware of this true story as, being from canada, they are fairly close to the alaskan wilderness.
I have known this song for a while and have only realised today that it is almost certainly a reference to "Into the wild", which has now been released as a film starring Emile Hirsch. It all makes perfect sense, as it was an obvious "great adventure" of a man who cut himself off from society and (although i'm not sure about the book) the film is from the POV of Alex's sister, hence the older brother reference. The references to blood describe Alex killing wolves etc for food. Arcade Fire would be well aware of this true story as, being from canada, they are fairly close to the alaskan wilderness.