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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I think by calling himself "Mr. Brightside" the speaker is being sarcastic. The speaker of the song is extremely paranoid. When he talks about "coming out of his cage", I think this is referring to the speaker having trust/anxiety issues, and he decides to trust the girl he's falling for. He kisses her once, and when she doesn't seem to be as into him as her is her, he starts imagining situations with her and another guy. Hence the part where it says, "And it's all in my head, but she's touching his chest". When the speaker says "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea," I think this is also referring to his paranoia. His mind turns any man that's associated with the girl he loves into a threat, even if he's the nicest guy ever. For the rest of the song, the speaker talks about how messed up he truly thinks he is.
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In love with a prostitute…true story
I don’t know if the real story on how the song got made is the actual tale that the song is talking about, but here is my take on the meaning because I am living it;
I'm coming out of my cage
And I’ve been doing just fine
I had just finished a 5 year relationship and been on my own for a year, I had basically been having a grand old time going out with girls, casual sex and the things most blokes in their early 30s wish they could have done in their 20s early, except then we never had any money.
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
One day I am talking with a friend who constantly hires prostitutes and we are looking at site and looking at a beautiful 23 year old newcomer. I usually don’t care for fake passion shots and feigned orgasms, but there is something so incredibly sexy about the video of this girl that I decided to hire her. Why not, it’s a bit of casual sex without having to wine and dine somebody so I say what the hell
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss
The second I met her I felt the proverbial “love at first sight” and we end up doing something much more profound that just the safe casual sex I had planned….We exchange BBM PINs and over the course of a month see each other socially (but never have sex again during that time) and chat over the Blackberry daily.
Since she does not bring out her job and we only see each other over the weekends I tend to forget what is she actually does…
But then I go online and check some of the reviews she got from her previous clients…
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, let me go
And I start to torture me every night thinking of exactly the things the song is talking about…I imagine her with other men, moaning, screaming, being touch and licked everywhere; doing them the things she does to me
And I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control
And it does not stop
The feeling I have for her, while we tell each other jokes, or I make some soup for her, walking around shopping clothes for her niece and while at nights we make love is now polluted with those images and they simply cannot stop, they play over and over in my mind
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
And I begin to question if she really does love me as she says or am I just a safe haven and provider for her, why would she be with me when there are literally hundreds of men who would fall on her knees for her…I have seen the effect she has on men (and even some women) so I can understand why some clients of here become obsessed with her, take her out to lunch dinner whatever and pay her for her time…are they just as bewitched as me, because I can clearly cannot stop myself from loving her
But it’s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
‘Cause I’m Mr. Brightside
Knowing what she is and what she does, sharing her with other and knowing it is the price I pay for being with her, but I simply cannot stop myself…
I never...
I never...
I never...
I never...
I cannot believe this how far it is gone…. -
looking at the video its about watching your loved ones slowly slip away and all you can do is watch because you are scared of what will happen
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I thinl it means,when you meet a person and you fall so fast and so hard but to only find out the other one doesn't feel the same and their finding and exploring other options other people and you start imaging your love with another and your heart starts bleeding and breaking but your trying to be optimistic and positive that maybe just maybe the will come back to you and realize they love you the same way you loved them.
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This song is about Brandon's Relationship, and a remake of the original artist MACFLY. He says tells the story all the time about how he and Dave listened to this song before The Killers were created.
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Personally, I think that the line
"Jealousy, turning saints into the sea" is one of the most overlooked lines of this song.
To me, it screams that no matter how good of a person you are, how educated and loving you are, if you're a jealous person, then you're more likely to commit acts of foulness. Or, if you are jealous then it can turn the best people into the worst ones. -
I was just reading some other interpretations of jenny was a friend of mine and midnight show, and apparently the two songs plus a third are part of a story of a man who murders his girlfriend from jealousy. So, seeing that, I couldnt help but think of this song as the precedent, describing the jealousy that lead to the crime. But then, is it not possible that this is the after story? "im coming out of my cage" a jail cell? He is recounting the events because he says "its all in my head". Supposedly, with the other songs, we are meant to believe that after he murdered his gf, he dumped her body into the ocean. "jealousy, turning saints into the sea, swimming through sick lullabies"... I think it seems pretty legit lol but my original interpretation of the song lead me to believe it was about a guy who always had a really good attitude. You know, "mr. Brightside". His gf then takes advantage of this, believing that if she cheated he would gladly welcome her back. Possibly he has forgiven her for other faults. Now he realizes and says bitterly "but its just the price I pay, destiny is calling me, open up my eager eyes, cuz im mr. brightside."definitely sarcasm. And there was one video I watched where his face when he said "im mr. brightside" definitely portrayed bitterness.
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The song is talkling about an ex-girlfriend or ex-lover. Most likely she broke up with him, and he still loves her. Every night when he goes to sleep he cant help thinking about her and imagines her with other men. He can't stop the thoughts, no matter how hard he tries, and it's killing him. He remembers the start of the relationship ("it was only a kiss), and wonders how she was able to hurt him so badly. Anyone who has been through this has no doubt about the meaning to this song.
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ok so song is talking about an ex that the lead singer has caught cheating lol no deap meaning read q magazine lol night
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I agree with all of you guys but he says in the end:
"I'm Mr. brightside" and then repeats "I never, I never, I never, I never" which I think he refers that he is never Mr. brightside -
I see it more as a guy who likes a girl, although she is obviously interested in somebody else; this induces an intense feeling of jealousy in the guy.
'I'm coming out of my cage'- this means that he is becoming more confident within himself because of this woman.
'And I’ve been doing just fine'- he feels he is making progress with the girl he has strong feelings for.
'Gotta gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all'- this is saying he needs to show this passion and interest for the girl, as he wants the true love and thus having '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'- him and the girl have a kiss that invokes positive feelings of attachment from the guy for the girl. Although, she feels that it is a casual kiss that means nothing to her. He gets carried away with his feelings resulting in a sickening jealousy.
'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'- here he is obviously describing a series of events, although I think he has seen the girl and another guy out together or someting and he is imagining the worse thing that could happen. I think this girl has a bit of a rebel attitude to life, prehaps being sexaully promiscuous. I think the 'my stomach is sick' is powerful in giving us a sense of the physical aspect the thought of them having sex is having on him, such a adverse response that is making him feel terrible, indicating a strong emotional attachment to this girl. I think he gives such intricate details is because these thoughts are circulating in his head.
'now let me go'- could be a plea in a vain sense to try and get him to overcome his strong feelings, or alternatively directed at the girl to 'let him go' and stop messing him about.
'I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control' - he doesnt want to imagine what they are doing anymore and that he needs to regain a sense of power over his own emotions by servering his emotional ties to this girl, or even trying to harm the opposing guy.
'Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis'- saying that jealousy is such a powerful emotion and can transform the most docile of individual into a monster, prehaps even hurting his competitor to try and feel better. The 'sick' suggests he is trapped into imagining his girl having sex with the other guy and he cant escape those thoughts. The alibis could be dates they have arranged but shes cancelled possibly to be with this other guy.
'But it’s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
Cause I’m Mr Brightside'- Saying that, its expected he would fail in his conquest and getting involved emotionally, will lead to heartbreak for him and he awknowledges that. The destiny part, I think means move on to better things and maybe a different girl that will induce the same emotions in him. Opening his eyes, could be directed at finding real love and he is excited for that. The 'Mr Brightside', is illustrating how much of a positive person this guy is, he is optimistic and knows he will find someone eventually. In the end he accepts that the original girl wasnt for him.
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This interpretation considers the video heavily.
In the video, Brandon and the dancer are really the same man. The Eric Roberts character is quite secure in his relationship with the girl, and finds it arousing and amusing when she fools around, because he knows she will always come back. He's into this, and he also enjoys the sense of power he has over the other men she's involved with, since he can yank her back whenever he wants. He deploys her, and he recalls her, on his whims. Brandon plays the romantic, soulful, outwardly-facing part of the other man, the part that likes the hearts, the flowers (rim shot), the loooonging and waaaaanting and cannot haaaaaaaave part, the resentful part that thinks he wishes the girl would leave the other guy. The dancer - who is dressed similarly to Brandon, but a big darker and harder - is the part of him that is very turned on by the entire situation and just wants to f*ck her, very, very hard.
Really, there may not even be two men. Eric Roberts, Brandon, and the dancer may be aspects of the same man, all representing different impulses when confronted by the idea of the girl being with other men. -
I think he is paranoid about his girlfriend leaving him and he starts to create fantases about her cheating but it's all in his head kinda proves this. Then it goes on about her cheating which means he can't accept his own jugdment so he needs proof
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Definitely doesn't like being the "other man"
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It's about a guy who has an affair with the girlfriend of a friend of his, and he falls in love with her. He can't stand it when he sees them together and hears her lie to him about where she has been. He can't get the image out of his head. The only way he can console himself is by telling himself she isn't the right girl for him and his true love is just around the corner.
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