The Killers: Mr Brightside Meaning
Song Released: 2003
Mr Brightside Lyrics
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss
Now I’m falling asleep
And she’s calling a...
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OK. This is what the song is about, as explained by Mr Flowers himself. He had a girlfriend, his first love and being an obsessive person was completely besotted with her. He went by her apartment one day and saw her car 'touching bumpers' with a guys car. He later saw them together in a bar. The song is about that. How he was crushed by this event and how jealousy is a very powerful and dangerous emotion. It is not about murder. The 'murder trilogy' consists of 'Leave the bourbon on the shelf', Midnight show' and 'Jenny was a friend of mine'. And if it was the Cure who wrote this song how the hell have The Killers got writing credit and not been sued? Because the Cure didn't write it.
Thats all! -
I think that this song is about someone breaking up with there girlfriend wo seems to be getting on ok "coming outta my cage and I been doing just fine"
But then gets starts to think of what his ex is up to and gets jealous "jealousy turning saints into the sea" and "now there going to bed and my stomach is sick and its all in my head but she's touching his chest...." and so on. -
My interpretation:
This is about a guy who likes this girl so much. But then, this girl is in love with someone else. So the guy got really jealous when he saw the girl she loves with someone else. When he saw the two of them together, he realized that maybe they were not meant to be...
That's is the reason why the title is Mr. Brightside... He looks at the brighter side of things. -
Basically, the meaning of this song is:
A Boy who fancies a girl,
and the boy ends up watching another boy pull the girl he fancies. -
Once again I forgot to add something, it's nothing big but I feel stupid for leaving it out. I don't think that the whole "Cause I'm mr brightside" thing is sarcastic at all. I think he just really is an honest to goodness optimistic person who tries his best to see the bright side in things, but I think it starts to get hard to do that when his life is getting so fucked up over this girl, but he's trying to see the best in the situation,cause that's what people expect him to do. He is Mr. Brightside after all.
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I think it is either about a guy who's in love with his best friend who's a girl,and they kissed one time(it started out with a kiss)but then their friendship gets all weird(how did it end up like this?)but the singer wants her,as more then just a friend(gotta gotta be down because I want it all.) and he's jealous of the other guys he sees her with(jealously turning saints into the sea,twirling through sick lullabyes..etc.etc.) anyways,either that or I've heard that brandon once said it was about an ex who cheated on on of them.
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Alright, well, somebody may have already put this exact same response, but I was too lazy to read through all the other posts, so here goes:
Unkay, I believe the line, "Comin' out of my cage and I've been doing just fine," refers not to jail, but to his recently rejuvinated self-esteem and how he has been carrying himself as of late. "It started out with a kiss how did it end up like this" -- the singer questions how something so simple as a kiss could manage to get himself caught up in someone so badly. The next couple of verses explain his thoughts on this girl and the man that she is now with. I believe the part "and it's all in my head, but she's touching his chest now, he takes off her dress now, let me go" refers to him simply imagining [all in my head]all of these things that the two could be doing with eachother [takes off her dress, touching his chest]. He wants these thoughts to stop haunting him [let me go]. The next few verses express the singer's inner jealousy that he has recently been hiding; but to carry on with the burden of knowing that someone he once liked (loved?) is now with someone else, is the price he pays for trying to look at life with a positive attitude (being "Mr. Brightside").
That's my interpretation. If it is completely wrong, you have my green-light to go ahead and shun me. -
Gosh, that was a lot to take in. I think "coming out of my cage" is just an emotional thing nothing to do with jail or a murder trilogy.
This song isn't specifically about Brendon Flower's ex, it's about how everyone feels when they are cheated on or feel as though they have been cheated on.
Dave Keuning wrote the verses of this song and brendon wrote the chorus. This was before the whole band was together, so I highly doupt is a part of a murder trilogy.
Have you ever been to a club or a party and there's that girl that's making their way though all the guys, flirting, kissing them. I believe that this girl in the song was one of them, she came up to the narrator, flirted, kissed him. He knows it didn't mean anything yet in the back of his mind he can't stop thinking about her so he tells himself "it was only a kiss, only a kiss" and wonders how he could get so attacthed. This is when he gets jealous.
I could be wrong but this I the way that I see this song. -
For all of you who have posted and said that this song is about jealousy and Flower's ex girlfriend, you are correct. That was the motivation behind the song.
For everyone who seems to think it's part of the murder trilogy, think about the difference in the feel of "Mr. Brightside" and "Midnight Show" and "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine." In Mr. Brightside, he's just lovesick and heartbroken. In the other two songs the narrator is clearly psychopathic. It is true that jealousy is a common factor in all three songs but that's about all they have in common. -
I thought this user's interpretation (Lisa=user) was interesting (below) but I submit my own take on it below hers.
LISA'S INTERPRETATION
I'm coming out of my cage (Jail)
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all (in jail for 'wanting it all')
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss (when he fell in love with her)
Now I’m falling asleep (dreaming - starts to tell the story of what happened)
And she’s calling a cab (for him that night, presumably)
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag (the girl and her lover)
Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it’s all in my head (the memory as he tells us the story)
but she’s touching his—chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, let me go (hold me back, I'm going to kill him/them)
I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control (stopping the situation with murder)
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea (he was a good person before this)
Swimming through sick lullabies (remembering the story in his dream)
Choking on your alibis (possibly strangled them/him?)
But it’s just the price I pay (jail time)
Destiny is calling me (to kill them/him)
Open up my eager eyes
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside
MY INTERPRETATION
I'm coming out of my cage (Coming out of a long-term relationship--not the most healthy.)
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all (Getting over someone/getting back on track)
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss (You start thinking about the begining when you get to the end of a relationship)
Now I’m falling asleep (He is losing touch with her at some point in the relationship)
And she’s calling a cab (She is moving in different direction than him)
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag (the girl and her lover) --Agree there.
Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it’s all in my head (the memory as he tells us the story) Agree there, too.
but she’s touching his—chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, let me go (He need to let her go/get over her and the memory of a failed relationship)
I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control (literal)
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea (he was a good person before this) -Agree
Swimming through sick lullabies (remembering the story in his dream) -Agree here.
Choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay ------(All the negatives that go along with love lost.)
Destiny is calling me (His new life 'without her')
Open up my eager eyes (Let me look to the future/movingh on)
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside
Good Sh-=; Good band. -
I'm totally coming out of left field but just for a different view......i like to believe it's about a threesome. the guy is madly in love with his girlfriend and will do anything to make her happy and she wants another man to join in and so he does it to appease her but then ends up having a hard time with it. he can't watch. but he believes it's what he has to do to make her happy and keep her. and he actually believes it will.
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Hey, just before I say what I think this song means, I love the killers and this song is class! I'm not even sure if this makes sense in my own head, but what the hell.
I think this song is about Jenny again, and after he has been questioned by the police in 'Jenny was a friend of mine' he is now telling the police what happened. The 'i never' part at the end is I think him not finishing the story and he is just shouting that he 'never' did any thing to Jenny. -
A lot of these already posted seemed to have hit the nail right on the head for me. I'm gonna go ahead and agree with the emotional restraint when he says that's he's coming out of his cage, that makes the most sense. But look at it this way, I don't think that he was actually with the girl that he kissed. She belongs to another guy. Thats why he says I just can't look, its killing me. If he was with the girl, he wouldn't be looking at the other guy kissing her, he would probably be kicking that guys ass. And in the video it's obvious that the girl is with the old rich guy, and she is playing games with the lead singer. She hooks up with him, and then runs back to her rich boyfriend/husband whatever he is, and then starts getting with other guys throughout the video. So he basically hooked up with a girl that is already devoted to someone and then he can't take it when he sees her with anyone else, because he's fallen in love with her. And that's the price he pays for falling so hard. The rest of the song is definately about jealousy, because that's what it does to you I know. It makes you physically sick, it makes you dream and constantly contemplate what she's doing. Hence the " Now I'm falling asleep" he's dreaming about it, and it possibly might now even be happening, that's just the impression he gets from his jealousy, " and its all in my head". Btw another kool thing I saw in the was the checkers game, it means more than it appears I think, if you look closer, you see that the girl is actually blending in with the checkers board, it symbolizes the two of them playing a game of checkers to see who wins her, and ultimately, he loses her. Then at the end of the video, after talking to her, he walks away, symbolizing that it's over, he knows she can't change and he's gotta move on. Great song wow. I can relate in so many ways.
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This song has a lot of meaning for me as the exact same thing happened to me. The story is that this guy's girl has left him, he still loves her with all his heart. He sees her in the arms of another man and begins to imagine them fucking and everything after he sees them kiss.he can't take it, it drives him crazy and he finds it hard to restrain himself from getting violent but he somehow manages to stay in control. It's about jealousy and anger and love and I should know, I went through it. He's telling himself its his imagination "and its all in my head". He loves her, she's moving on and he can't stand it because he needs that girl.
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