Mr. Brightside can be about a man losing a woman to another man as well as a man losing another man to a woman
Think about it, it's very plausible, if not possible. The interactions between the other man and the woman never make it clear who is letting him go.
- This troper came to this conclusion too, but took it a step further - it can be about anyone losing anyone. Leting go the fact that it's a guy singing, it could easilly be telling the story of a woman losing a man to another woman (or vice versa), or even someone missing out on a chance with an unrequited crush.
- My personal stupid idea: it's about Odin right after gaining his powers of insight... and realizing he's going to have to see every mortal he loved leave him for another.. The price he pays is seeing all things, including ones he'd rather never see. Basically, the song is about the price someone pays for knowledge. Stupid theory, yes, but still.
- It might clear things up a bit if you watch Miss Atomic Bomb's music video. Seems like it and Mr. Brightside are in the same timeline.
Spaceman Is About Schizophrenia
Or some other mental illness, or maybe even something like overdosing on drugs. That's always been the vibe I got off it, and the Killers do seem to write about some crazy stuff...
- I've always felt it was about recovering from a drug overdose, specifically the lines "And you know I might have just flown too far from the floor this time" and "That was one lonely night"; they certaintly seem to be indicating a massive high. And the repeated "I'm fine, but I hear those voices again sometimes"; the singer is making a recovery, but can still occasionally go through withdrawals.
"Somebody Told Me" is a warning that Brandon's friend is about to have an Unsettling Gender-Reveal.
Most people assume that the person being addressed in the song is a woman the speaker is hitting on, but this is never made explicit. "February of last year" is an oddly specific time frame; most short relationships aren't that memorable. For the speaker to remember the time frame that clearly
something must have happened to burn it into his brain. The addressee is a man who, until now, was unaware that he even
had a
boyfriend.- I always assumed the song was about a transsexual. The girl's boyfriend looked like the speaker's ex-girlfriend because he in fact used to be that girlfriend. Given that The Killers first played in a transsexual dive bar, it makes sense that such subjects would be on Brandon's mind.
- Huh, I always thought that this one was about a man getting revenge on a woman Saw-style for something obnoxiously, incredibly petty. No real evidence, but ehh....
- I thought that the song was about a guy who's fighting with his girlfriend because found out she's cheating on him with a girl, and he's The Beard
- I always just assumed it was a petty insult to a girl at a club who didn't return the singer's affections. He's bending over backwards to get her to notice him, so when she doesn't he says "Yeah? Well, your boyfriend looks like a girl and everyone can see it!"
Sam's Town is a story about a love triangle.
The story takes place in small town America, probably sometime in the early 80s or late 70s (
Sam's Town). The Girl is engaged to a man she doesn't really love but feels indebted to, because he rescued her from a life of poverty (
When You Were Young); the Boy is an old flame of hers but still hopelessly in love, no matter how much his common sense is telling him to move on (
Bling). The Girl's Fiance has noticed that she's not nearly as passionate as she used to be, and he's not sure whether to blame her or himself (
For Reasons Unknown). On the eve of their wedding, the Boy starts reminiscing about the times he and the Girl spent together (
Read My Mind), and when night falls he decides to go to the Girl's house, where he witnesses the Fiance shooting himself up with heroin (
Uncle Johnny). While the Fiance is knocked out, he convinces the girl to sneak out with him to the beach (
Bones). The next day, the Boy finally works up the courage to confess his love to the Girl (
My List). She reciprocates, and the two of them head off to an uncertain but promising future (
This River Is Wild), while the Fiance resolves to go to rehab (
Why Do I Keep Counting).
"When You Were Young" is about Jesus.
The last two lines of the song are "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus / But more than you'll ever know." The pause between the lines obscures their connection, but the message is still, "He looks more like Jesus than you'll ever know," implying that the addressee has actually met Jesus and didn't recognize him.
"Just Another Girl" is about Dianna's character
It seemed like the meaning in the music video - imagining the ex as himself and stuff- and the way the two look at each other when put together (around 4 minutes) would also suggest this, and I just realised: the lyrics at one point say "Jason's getting married in the blink of an eye/ I got an invitation but I didn't reply/ Tell your little brother".
Dianna Agron has a younger brother called Jason. It might be about her, not the ex-girlfriend character, because of that, though. Is she the girl?
"Runnaways" is an Alternate Continuity song to "Heat Of The Moment" by Asia
They both follow a lot of the same chord progressions and tempos, and both are about young people being blinded by passion and making decisions which lead to heartbreak as a result. However, while "Heat of the Moment" is the boy telling the girl that he left her because he knew she wasn't thinking thinks through, "Runaways" is about if boy went along with her, only to regret it years later.
