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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my friend actually interpreted this for me since I wanted to do a little project on this song. her interpretation was much different from most of these. she thinks that maybe the narrator is someone who is down for anything to get all he wants. So he frick fracks with some woman (I've got no idea about their relationship) and it just started with one kiss. He didn't see all this coming. In the next few lines she thinks that he's looking at the events as a different person. He is both men in this song. He doesn't know what's happening and views everything as a different person. He can't look because he can't control his actions. He doesn't know what he's doing and why. The jealousy inside him is making him uncontrollable. All the excuses this woman gives him are sugar coated lies. He doesn't know what to believe. So he doesn't and lets go completely.
The repeat is actually more of an acceptance. He's accepting everything he is doing, so he repeats it.
The "I never" part can be interpreted differently. I interpret it as him never feeling like this before. Never feeling like he didn't have control since he usually got what he wanted. She thinks that it means he never believed he would get what he wanted this way. -
To me, this song is about a guy who, as the song states, just kissed a girl who was in a relationship with another man. But even though it was "only a kiss" the guy started having feelings for this girl. When he says, "Cause I'm Mr. Brightside" he is saying that he is the better man for this girl. But Thai girl is still in a relationship with someone else without knowing the guy has feelings for, her since he says that it was only a kiss, anyway the guy is jealous but keeps saying that "it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss" or saying that he has no feelings for her even though he does.
Now, this is just my theory after listening to the song a good number of times. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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well it looks like DarkBlue04 paid attention in comp lit class. or is just the sort who thinks while listening to pop songs instead of shouting lyrics that roughly approximate what's being said (though i'm not judging that, that's fine, too).
one more thing to bolster DarkBlue04's interpretation:
the song lyrics repeat, with no variation. the real reason may be they couldn't write any more. but if they did it on purpose, they're very clever, because if you follow DarkBlue04's analysis, the repetition of the lyrics can be interpreted to mean he's doing it all over again.
"i never" just means being surprised.
so he's surprised, again, and again, and again.
---obiwankernobi -
It's a about a female who plays a game with this guy. Makes this guy think he is the only one. It was only a kiss? But he falls for her. He confronts her with sick lullabies. things or lies she says to make him feel better about her hurting him. Choking on Ur alibis. meaning she lies to him about where she is at so she can see other men. She touches his chest and he takes off her dress now. Its like him saying your going to have more than one lover at a time. So Let me go! I just can't look it's killing me. He can't believe she is this way. I'm outta of cage and I been doing just fine. It's just the price he pays dealing with her. She makes him jealous, he's a good guy and he's lost. But destiny Is calling me open my eagar eyes. Cause I'm Mr Bright side. Meaning she is like this. And something better is coming around the corner and the glass is half full instead of half empty. And he is better off without her
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it twas.....about ghetto cake and cheese!!!
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There are so many interpretations of this song; however, there are some things that don't change through out them. it is known that he loves this girl, whether or not they ever had anything before or not. It is also known that this girl loves someone else. Now, the first four lines:
I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta get down
Because I want it all....
I believe that this is showing he is troubled by this girl loving another man and that he's trying to keep to himself with it, be he is extremely upset about it. He is trying very hard not to go out and confront this other guy and deck him in the face.
next lines are:
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss,
It was only a kiss....
This is where I believe he first became upset. Now it is unclear whether or not he and the girl were already together, or that he had a major crush on her (I'm a fan of the latter), but either way, he feels deeply for her. His trouble started with either he seeing or hearing about the girl kissing the other guy and this starts to set him off. he is trying to figure how this could be and how she could like this other guy (almost like it were a friend, but that's only theory, but possible. I could relate).
Next:
Now I’m falling asleep
And she’s calling a cab
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag
Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it’s all in my head
But she’s touching his chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, letting me go....
this is where he really starts fantasizing about this girl and other guy. he can clearly see them together and it bugs him. he starts going into Worst-Case-Scenario mode and of course this bothers him so much that he's trying to forget about it and not think about it, but he can't.
And I just can’t look - it's killing me
And taking control
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Turning through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside
He continuously thinks about them and it's really starting to tear him apart, it's killing him, and taking control of his life. he's jealous of this other man and how he managed to get the girl he loves and it's turning him into a mess. She apparently has excuses but can't seem to get them out, (so it might be possible that they were together or really close friends). The price he pays is his pain, his jealously that someone else has the girl he loves and he is trying hard to cope with it, even he is coming up with that this isn't for him and that there is more, that he must try to look to a brighter side, who is himself.
The whole "I Never" part is a little confusing and could mean different things. He might be trying to claim to himself that he never actually wanted her (which is a lie!), could be that he never thought it could turn out like the way he thinks it can. it's also possible that he's contradicting himself saying there's more out there, that he must be optimistic. my own opinion is that he is saying that he can't deal with it, that he can't believe what's happening, that he could never deal with it.
Of course this is only my own opinion and even some what the way I feel when I hear this song, I girl I really like is now going out with a good friend of mine and it's bugging me deeply because I'm sure the next time I see him, I might lose it and deck him for kissing her. I'm a jealous person, I know, but that's just how this song relates to me and is sorta who I am. -
when he says its all in my head hes just imaging that that shes cheating and he does not want her to ever go thous him saying hes mr. brightside and him saying i never is saying he will never cheat
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'#2 is right except the first part its about being an introvert and coming out with the more and more shows he plays he has to stick with his band his #1 priority to make it but he fell in love with a girl and got a kiss and she has boyfriends he hopes to be the only one, most of the songs on this first album were about his relationship with his girlfriend at that time but she wasnt committed to him its the ups and downs of the relationship
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I believe this song is about a couple who break up, and the guys doesn't know how good what he has is until it is gone. He sees his ex with another man and it drives him crazy. And He wants to get back with her so bad it hurts
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I think this song is about a guy who has just gotten over a relationship with someone else, and he feels like he's okay, but then he somehow meets a girl who is already in a relationship, and they kiss. He really feels a connection, and the girl starts cheating on her boyfriend with him. But he still has to see the girl with her boyfriend and it makes him super jealous, even though the girl is cheating on her boyfriend to see him.
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My interpretation was that he was in love with a girl, and tried to find out if she loved him too. After seeing her with another man, he is heartbroken, but stays optimistic (Mr.Brightside), satisfied that he now knows the truth.
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I think the song is about how the lead singer loves his friends girlfriend, and is jealous that he can't have her to himself.
I'm coming out of my cage (he wants to tell her that he loves her)
And I’ve been doing just fine (he hasn't been bothered about seeing his friend with his girlfriend)
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all (he thinks he hould be feeling sad because of how badly he wants her to himself)
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss (she kissed him once, but he didn't expect it to make him feel this strongly about her)
Now I’m falling asleep (he's going to bed and thinking about her)
And she’s calling a cab (she's going to go see her boyfriend)
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag
Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick (he hates the thought of someone else being with her)
And it’s all in my head (he's imagining the scenario)
But she’s touching his—chest
Now, he takes off her dress (the boyfriend and girlfriend are going to have sex)
Now, let me go (He doesn't want to feel like this anymore)
Cause I just can’t look its killing me (he doesnt want to see his friend with her anymore)
And taking control (how he feels about this girl is taking control of his friend ship with her boyfriend)
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea (his jealousy is making the good person he was start to hate his friend)
Swimming through sick lullabies (he can't get out of thinking the thoughts he's having about her)
Choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay (he desurvs this for feeling this way about his friend girlfriend)
Destiny is calling me (He thinks he is ment to tell her)
Open up my eager eyes (open his eyes to whats really going on)
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside (he's looking onto the "brightside" of the situation)
I never...
I never...
I never...
I never...(he never told her how he felt) -
The song is about a man telling us about how his girlfriend cheated on him.
He recalls the events that took place as it happened, he takes us on his journey of what happened and of how he has finally put it all behind him.
“I'm coming out of my cage”
: The cage could mean he was suffering, self-punishment, continuous rethinking of the situation, he withdrew himself after what happened, locked up his heart, his self-esteem. Coming out means he has begun to heal, he is ready to move on.
“And I've been doing just fine”
He has finally let go of the self-turmoil and he feels good now, after a long time.
This verse is repeated, this could mean that this man, while telling himself and us he is over his ex, the relationship and the breakup, he is not entirely truthful with himself. In repeating the words he hopes it would make him feel the change that he knows he should feel – the need to truly let go. It’s an assurance like “I’m fine, I’m fine, I gotta be fine”
“Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all”
: Once again he tell us his got to get over it, He has too, there’s no option “gotta, Gotta” He has to continuously push himself to keep this strong “gotta move on” frame of mind if he wants it all. He wants it all, he wants to find true love, he cannot sit back and let this defeat him, he has to get up from his slump and move on, he has to keep his end goal in mind – to find true love.
“It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss”
: With this whole verse he begins letting us in on the story, we learn why this guy is actually coming out of his cage, what happen to cause this...
In brackets means in between telling the story to us, he shares his revelations.
“It started out with a kiss”
: He recalls when he fell in love, it started out with a single, magical, great kiss and then it grew into something so much more, he was in love, just with that little kiss which was not just "a kiss" to him, from it sprung his true love, well that’s what he thought at that time.
“How did end up like this?”
: Everything has fallen apart, it’s a rhetorical, baffling question, the perfect romance became rocky, it ended, how did he lose everything? In the third line of the first chorus he answers his own question.
First chorus
(“it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss”)
: He is now convinced with such a betrayal, even thou at first he thought it was true love, in reality it was not. It was actually, just basically what it was, a kiss - small, not necessarily insignificant, just not his density - she was not the one. He answers his question by assuring himself what he had hadn’t been true love, he was mistaken.
Second chorus
(“It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss”)
: The words are the same but now the meaning has changed. After telling us the story he hears himself and becomes irritated as he has opened up old wounds, he recalls what she told him, recalls what he thought.
He found magic in their first kiss, we’re unsure what she felt in it, but we learn that she cheated on him by kissing another guy and she defends herself by saying it was only a kiss. He finds this illogical so he sings this chorus as “It was only a kiss?! only a kiss?!” It is filled with the sound of disbelief and he is now not talking about their first kiss, he is talking about the kiss that betrayed their love, when she kissed this other man. He is baffled about how she could think it was only a kiss when it was in fact just how they started as well; it was the pinnacle moment, the genesis of their relationship. So he says you may think it was only a kiss but you have no idea what you have done and if you have no idea, if you cannot understand the severity of your actions, how can you be the one. They were not on the same wave length.
After this second chorus he has more confidence, he doesn’t have to coach himself to move on, he has just experienced a revelation and there is a sense of real release.
“It was only a kiss”
: Different sound in vocal, meant to seem like it is the girlfriends voice
I feel this is where the confusion lies; everyone thinks he's just repeating the verse when in actuality it’s more than that, - his girlfriend cheats and she wants forgiveness. He recalls how she pleads with him now. He seems more at ease, and relays this part with a tone of “can you believe the nerve of this woman” so anyway she tries to explain herself almost pitifully.
She’s like please forgive me it meant nothing it was only a kiss - that was all she did (well that’s what she tells him), he is not convinced that is why he tell us what she did but what he thinks probably happened also, either way whether it was just a kiss or sex he doesn’t care, he’s done with her because in his mind they started out with “just a kiss” and became something great, if she could not understand that, she couldn’t understand him, so even if it was just a kiss, by doing that small act he concludes it’s as good as sleeping with him so that is why it doesn’t matter.
(“It was only a kiss”)
: He repeats her words now, it’s filled with sarcasm. He's like yea right it was only a kiss, so we're just only a kiss, meaning insignificant, little nothing - he uses her definition of kiss as opposed his definition of kiss like in the first verse intro.
First chorus "it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss" tells us presently this is how he feels about the relationship that they once had, second chorus "it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss" was what he felt when they were together.
The repetition of the verse “Now I'm falling asleep, And she's calling a cab” is used to illustrate that in that verse, he is thinking of everything she is telling him (the other verses) while she is there explaining.
“Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab”
: He recalls the day they broke up
When they were together their relationship had become shaky, there was tension and they use to fight a lot, on one occasion when they fought, she left, probably to cool off or just get away.
“While he's having a smoke,
And she's taking a drag”
: This is that time they fought and she took off, probably she sought comfort in a friend, they smoking, she’s sharing her problems with him, probably about her rocky, once again freshly scarred relationship, she’s relaxing with this other guy, probably letting herself become vulnerable, might not be purposeful that she cheats, it just happens. They kiss, maybe do more... She only tells him it was a kiss.
“Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab”
: After it happens she feels guilty and tells her bf what happened, as she explains he visualizes something more, what could have happened, what might have happened, how would he know? Even though she says it was just a kiss his mind leads him to wonder something more worse...
“Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick”
: Now he has the images in his mind of what might have happened, left with this unsettling feeling that makes him feel nauseous, his world has just collapse. Now his thinking...
“And it's all in my head”
: He has no proof.
: But this is what he thinks really happened and if it didn’t it is as good as it really did, he doesn’t see a difference.
“But she's touching his chest
Now, he takes off her dress”
: He visualizes tortuous images of this guy and his girlfriend together, he imagines it as somewhat lusty and seductive. Although he has no evidence, since all that he thinks up is just in his head he knows he will never have peace of mind in their relationship anymore.
“Now, letting me go”
: As he visualizes them together, he seems to pause on the fact that she lets this happen, in that kiss, that one act which is not just a kiss, it’s a "KISS" - to him it’s everything. She allows this man to figuratively see her naked, if not really naked. He feels she bares herself, her soul, like how she did for him once, long ago or so he thought, he is confused, he's not sure if she felt what he felt when they first kiss now, but he doesn’t care because with this betrayal she has let him go, she let their love go, closing the book on their love and relationship, it’s when he realizes she has truly gone from him, there’s no coming back from this.
“I just can't look its killing me”
: He can’t handle it anymore, the thoughts are too painful for him to handle.
“And taking control
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea”
: His anger becomes too much to contain, he is too jealous, even if it was "just a kiss" as she puts it, it’s too much for him. It turns he's usually passive demeanor into something somewhat, rough and unforgiving like the sea, he was usually a forgiving person and probably overlooked many of his girlfriend's flaws but this act was unforgivable so he cannot afford her the same grace this time. My guess is she expected forgiveness that is why she told him, she knew he was soft.
“Swimming through sick lullabies”
: She tries to sooth him, by lulling him, probably begging him, asking for forgiveness, saying it was only a kiss, it’s not so bad please forgive me, lets, move on. It’s very painful, he seems disgusted by her attempt, she spreads it on so thick and he's so deep in it, probably in hope to drown him and make him forgive her but he swims through, he is not hearing any of it.
"Choking on your alibis"
: She tries to feed him all her reasons for why that one night happened, she probably tells him that she was not in her right mind, she was confused, basically saying like it was an out of body experience, it meant nothing, her body was there but her mind was somewhere else, it just happened, she regrets it and she wishes she could take it back. He seems to not be buying any of it, he’s choking on it meaning, he's not eating any of the crap she’s feeding him, and he chokes rather than swallows it.
“Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab”
: He is tired of listening to her bullshit now, “falling asleep” whatever she says has no effect on him, he seems bored with her attempts, he breaks it off and she leaves...
“But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
Cause I'm Mr Brightside”
: And now we at present time again, and basically he's like sooo yeaaa thats the story, now you know but,
It’s the price that someone who wants everything has to pay - it doesn’t come easy, sometimes we have to go through things that seem so real and perfect but they are not, if we know exactly what we want we Gotta be strong enough to get in the game, play and be played, go through it all and if it’s not real, let it go, dust ourselves off and get back in because somewhere out there, Destiny is calling, and he says he's has gotta be there to grab it, so giving up is not an option. It’s a new day, with new beginning who knows what life has in store, all he knows he’s gotta just keep on trucking because... He's Mr. Brightside, the glass is half full... Always ;-)
(“I never I never I never I never”)
: This is an even further revelation he has after he tells us the story, a combination of “Wow I never thought it would end”, “I never expected it to not work out”, remember the expression "Well I never", to more self-reflection of “Well I'll be damned" - I really have moved on haven’t I, I am over it, it’s not just talk, he doesn’t have to coach himself about moving on “Gotta, Gotta be down” anymore because he is “down” now, He actually has moved on and comes to the realization that he is actually MR. BRIGHTSIDE. - K.3 -
This is clearly a three way encounter. He's a rock star, he's trying rock star things that most of wish we could do (coming out of his cage). Somehow or another he's gotten himself involved in a sexual liaison where he is the "I" (I just can't look it's killing me...), a girl "she" who he cares about more than he expected, and the "he" is another guy involved in this three-way. He didn't think it through and jealousy (and remorse) becomes the dominating feeling throughout his encounter and indeed the entire song.
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