I have come to the conclusion that Mr Brightside by The Killers might just be the best song of the past ten years

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It is fucking MEGA.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 10:43 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck sake.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 25 February 2005 10:48 (twenty-one years ago)

You have no taste.

This played last week at a club and it was MEGA.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

played at a club? wow. i think you started another thread about their other single, no?

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 25 February 2005 10:56 (twenty-one years ago)

best thread ever

― Rizz (Rizz), Friday, 25 February 2005 10:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"tripping the lame fagtastic"

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 25 February 2005 11:03 (twenty-one years ago)

You guys hate fun. And good tunes.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 11:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Shit I'm not even the biggest rock fan right now but i'd rather hear the bloc party than this.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Friday, 25 February 2005 11:10 (twenty-one years ago)

i have come to the conclusion that you are deaf. and i don't care.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 25 February 2005 11:12 (twenty-one years ago)

i have come to the conclusion that 'Beethoven's 5th' might just be the best of that long running series of dog-based comedy films.

― Lee (fsharp), Friday, 25 February 2005 11:24 (twenty-one years ago)

You guys just hate anything that sells more than 10 copies.

This song is fab.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 11:42 (twenty-one years ago)

The Killers suck complete balls.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 11:44 (twenty-one years ago)

You guys just hate anything that sells more than 10 copies.

it has to be somewhere under ten or above triple plat for me to fuck with.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Friday, 25 February 2005 11:46 (twenty-one years ago)

David Blunkett is the MP for Sheffield Brightside. If you listen to this song with the recent Kimberley Fortier press "scandal" in mind, it takes on a whole new meaning.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 25 February 2005 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I say, quite possibly. Not 10 years, but still.

― Mark G, Friday, 25 February 2005 12:44 (twenty-one years ago)

it's not even the best song of the last ten minutes

― coco, Friday, 25 February 2005 13:12 (twenty-one years ago)

It's not even the best song on "Hot Fuss", which is "On Top", which channels New Wave so well.

― AdrianB (AdrianB), Friday, 25 February 2005 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Anybody remember the original take of 'Mr Brightside'? with the horrible sounding guitars, no keyboards and bad singing?

This isn't the best anything, but it isn't the worst either. It is avarage.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Friday, 25 February 2005 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)

It's absolutely terrible. I hate the Killers and their pseudo-dangerous band name.

― mrjosh (mrjosh), Friday, 25 February 2005 13:23 (twenty-one years ago)

You guys must really be a drag to go out with.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 14:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Everyone who has differing opinions from me HATES FUN and is probably a TERRORIST

― Mickey (modestmickey), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm willing to vouch for this song. That first single was absolute shit, something about it physically pained me to listen to. But this one (esp. the Lu Cont remix) is pretty damn glorious. And at least you can look past the lyrics on this on and enjoy the tune with this one, a feat that was impossible with the glaringly terrible lyrics of Somebody Told Me.

Ten years is pushing it, tho, it wasn't even in the top 20 songs of last year.

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the guitar version more. I was disappointed when I heard the synthpop version.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

(I still like it.)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Heard it 10+ times, still can't remember a thing about it. (Unlike "Somebody Told Me," which, for all its idiotic affectations, was pretty undeniable).

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

This song just makes me want to break stuff. It rox.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 14:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I love this song.

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm no music critic, I don't write for any hip music website or anything but I happen to think The Killers are the shitty inbred cousin of Interpol.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

They're the emo Duran Duran.

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:58 (twenty-one years ago)

i have come to the conclusion that The Killers might just be hopeless fuckwhistles.

― zappi (joni), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

They're the emo Duran Duran.

Great.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:01 (twenty-one years ago)

The music sounds okay, the lyrics are ridiculous.

So, yes, Duran Duran..

except the lead singer is better looking.

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

The filmclip is the lamest pile of toss I've seen in recent times too. I can see what it's trying to do but it isn't doing it.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:04 (twenty-one years ago)

For me the lyric "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" will always define the Killers, no matter how good the rest of their output.

They're very slick. They look nice. They're pointless.

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:06 (twenty-one years ago)

The track on the NME CD was pretty good too.

― markG, Friday, 25 February 2005 15:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I heard them interviewed on the telly. I think that was what really pushed me over the edge.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.hollywoodcultmovies.com/assets/images/autogen/a_EricRoberts1.jpg

"I proudly endorse this nu-wave band."

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, "Say a prayer" is the next single...

Oh, I mean "Smile like you mean it" silly...

― MG, Friday, 25 February 2005 15:09 (twenty-one years ago)

A train carrying The Killers is heading south at 100 km/h while a train carrying The Bravery is heading north on the same track at 110 km/h. The trains are currently 1014 km apart. How long until the world of music will be a greatly improved place upon their collision?

― Hector Savage, Friday, 25 February 2005 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

'mr brightside' is overly-emotive adolescent tripe.

― 57 7th (calstars), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Well yes but so is most pop music, 57. (This particular example of it does suck rocks, though.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

If the Killers are the new Duran Duran, are Bloc Party the new Wham! ?

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

sometimes when I'm bored I like to pretend I'm wearing a suit and hold the lapels of my pretend suit and yell OIM MISTA BROITSOID

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm with Zarr. Mr Brightside is wikkid.

― dmun, Friday, 25 February 2005 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

It is just brilliant at any time of the day.

Morning - gets me outta bed.
Evening - great to switch on.
Night club - brings the floor alive.

― Zarr, Friday, 25 February 2005 15:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Hello Al, long time no see.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish there didn't have to be a chart pop version of interpol. It's a painful association to a band I've really liked and it sort of gets in the way of my enjoyment. get a life i know.

― -the-night-watch- (-the-night-watch-), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Better watch out or you'll overdose on The Killers. Imagine waking up one day and not being able to listen to anything by them!

(This is how many people already feel)

― mike h. (mike h.), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah every fucking teen clothing shop I walk past is blaring it.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Most of these new NME bands sound like the new Comsat Angels to me, if that's not too gross a slur on the Comsat Angels. I feel they could be aiming higher.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought this was by Shed 7

― coco, Friday, 25 February 2005 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Hello Al, long time no see.

-- the other kate (ffs!) (kate@eyecandyforthebrokenhearted.com), February 25th, 2005.

long time no see? I'm here all the time!

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, but I'm not.

plus i think i may potentially know you from some time back. Did you ever post on SSQ?

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Hatorade is just the price they pay, destiny is calling them.

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:55 (twenty-one years ago)

http://g.myspace.com/00043/60/84/43024806_l.jpg

― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:57 (twenty-one years ago)

have I mentioned that the lyrics read like one of Jon's crush threads?

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Has anyone else noticed this? My girlfriend had to point it out to me, I can't tell if it's obvious or not.

PRETEND YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THE SONG AND FINISH THE OBVIOUS RHYME
Now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head, but she's touching his ______

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:09 (twenty-one years ago)

OMG r00d!!

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

CHEST. NOW.

Keith Harris mentioned it in a blog post a couple days ago. I never thought of it before then.

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

post on feb 16th

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, but I'm not.

plus i think i may potentially know you from some time back. Did you ever post on SSQ?

-- the other kate (ffs!) (kate@eyecandyforthebrokenhearted.com), February 25th, 2005.

oh! yeah! so right, it has been a while.

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

PRETEND YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THE SONG AND FINISH THE OBVIOUS RHYME
Now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head, but she's touching his ______

I've probably heard this song at least fifty times in the last couple of months, but I don't remember ever thinking about this. Strange.

And yeah, rock single of the year so far, obv.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

obv :-/

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought of that. 1 Point to me.

― MG, Friday, 25 February 2005 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

"Mr. Brightside" is the only song that I'm potentially too embarrassed about enjoying to put on any end of year lists.

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmm. No I never thought of that, either. And I love the Killers, but best song of the last ten years? Um, no.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:39 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:39 (twenty-one years ago)

my crush threads are TERRIBLE

― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

is that photo of the guy with the earth crisis tattoo on his face floating around anywhere?

― lemin (lemin), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:45 (twenty-one years ago)

PRETEND YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THE SONG AND FINISH THE OBVIOUS RHYME
Now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head, but she's touching his ______

this is like my husband's favorite part of his favorite album (next to daft punk's discovery, lately anyway). We have dubbed this trick the 'miss susie' school of lyric-writing. I think this is a really fun album, I don't get all the hate.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:45 (twenty-one years ago)

me neither, i think its a fun album as well. nothing spectacular but decent enough. i'll forget about it shortly though.

― Chris 'The Nuts' V (Chris V), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

i'll rep for this in a "wouldn't turn it off the radio" kinda way, but really it's hardly the most/best anything of the past ten years.

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 25 February 2005 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I really want to like this song. I like everything about the Jacques lu Cont remix apart from the vocal, the subject matter is - sadly - right up my street ... but I can't. It's a horrible, shameful experience for all concerned.

― coco, Friday, 25 February 2005 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Ned, the guitar version = Placebo!

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 25 February 2005 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

is that photo of the guy with the earth crisis tattoo on his face floating around anywhere?

Silly me I thought that was a girl.

The Killers suck complete balls.

As opposed to...sucking stray bits of balls?

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Friday, 25 February 2005 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm talking about a different photo than the one jon posted. unless ... you are too and somehow the photo i saw over a year ago of a dude with "EARTH CRISIS" tattooed on his face was actually a girl. that would be even more fucked up.

― lemin (lemin), Friday, 25 February 2005 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, I see.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Ned, the guitar version = Placebo!

Yes, but *not good* -- there are (completely individual and biased) standards to be upheld here.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I would like this song only if Roxy Music had done it.

― S!monB!rch (Carey), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I find it quite epic and catchy in its radio pop sort of way. Definitely, better than most anything else that would be played on a Modern Rock Station, especially...

― Yoshinorimike (Yoshinorimike), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I heard this song blasting out of a Ben & Jerry's the other day. really.

It's a nice pop song, I don't know why some of you guys are all bent out of shape over it!

― daria g (daria g), Friday, 25 February 2005 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

God damn, stop compairing them to Interpol and Duran Duran.

― mxl, Friday, 25 February 2005 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Killers suck complete balls"

As opposed to...sucking stray bits of balls?

Well it was a joke, fans of the killers aren't good with those by the looks.

― the other kate (ffs!) (papa november), Friday, 25 February 2005 22:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Jacques lu Cont remix

THIS EXISTS?!?!??!?!

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Friday, 25 February 2005 23:23 (twenty-one years ago)

The whole 1 verse thing makes me nostalgic. I don't know if it's a particularly good thing, but the time being I like it.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 26 February 2005 06:07 (twenty-one years ago)

That Killers song about looking like a boyfriend is CLASSIK (32 matching messages)

Utterly fecking mega

-- Indie Innes (iindi...), January 27th, 2005.

Zarr = Indie Innes

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 26 February 2005 06:39 (twenty-one years ago)

(Photos of much wang action deleted for sanity's sake -- Mod.)

― Fat Anarchy on Airtube (ex machina), Saturday, 26 February 2005 06:53 (twenty-one years ago)

at any rate, i don't understand why people with intelligence and normally good taste are falling for the killers, i really don't..

beyond that, i wonder why the killers got so huge, in general.
what about that crappy 'imarobot' band, why didn't they get big?
were they like six months ahead of the trend?
pop culture is so fucked.

i also wonder if hot hot heat sell a lot this time 'round...
any predictions on them?

― reo, Saturday, 26 February 2005 07:19 (twenty-one years ago)

< will sell >

― reo, Saturday, 26 February 2005 07:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Will Self?

― mark grout (mark grout), Saturday, 26 February 2005 19:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I got the dick rhyme joke thing the first time i ever heard this jeez guys

― Anyone Who Can Pick Up A Frying Pan Pwns Death (AaronHz), Saturday, 26 February 2005 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

i could have spent the last three minutes listening to mr. brightside. im afraid i cannot get anything out of ilm anymore.

― artdamages (artdamages), Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, try the "Revolver" remix.

― mark grout (mark grout), Saturday, 26 February 2005 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Thin white duke (lu cont) mix is fabulous; particularly the bit around 7min when he drops the low end back in. I never! I fall for that huge stinky cheesewheel every time.

― irrigation can save your people, Saturday, 26 February 2005 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...

Yeah lu cont mix is so good.

I just realised that Mr Brightside = Shed Seven covering 'What Do I Do Now' by Sleeper, with slightly different lyrics.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Sunday, 13 March 2005 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Consensus be damned - last week I pilfered a friend's copy of "Hot Fuss" and actually listened to this song all the way through for the first time. I love it! I don't understand the hate for this band - don't people here like synth- and new wave-inflected disco-rock?

― Tantrum (Tantrum The Cat), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, when it's good.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I liked "Mr.Brightside" when I first heard it, and much less so now. The video doesn't help.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:54 (twenty-one years ago)

for some reason i get mtv2 on my television now even though i don't have cable and i saw this last night. is that felicity in the video?

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

The video is awful, and is one of the reasons I initially didn't give the song a fair try.

― Tantrum (Tantrum The Cat), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:57 (twenty-one years ago)

man it does look a lot like her, come to think of it.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 13 March 2005 19:57 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

I hated Somebody Told Me (Entertainment Weekly compared it to the Kinks, which is proof that they are the go-to band for sloppy writers) but think Mr. Brightside is pretty good from the few times I've heard it. It's the best thing on most radio stations.

― Cunga (Cunga), Sunday, 1 May 2005 00:12 (twenty years ago)

I like it too.

― -rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Sunday, 1 May 2005 04:22 (twenty years ago)

I can honestly say that "Mr Brightside" was probably the best song of whatever month it was that I first heard it, like September 2004. So I can agree that it was the best song at least for one specific time frame. However, the best song of the past ten years is undoubtedly "Paranoid Android."

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Sunday, 1 May 2005 17:00 (twenty years ago)

When you hear "Mr. Brightside" as one of five songs a DJ plays in a set on an alternative rock station, there's a fairly decent chance that it will be the best song out of the five.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)

Last five songs played on KROQ in LA, as of 5.1.05, 11:25am

Jimmy Eat World - "Get It Faster"
Rage Against The Machine - "Guerilla Radio"
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Queens Of The Stone Age - Little Sister

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 1 May 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

Indeed, "Mr. Brightside" is better than those songs.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)

I like "Mr. Brightside" more but "Such Great Heights" and "Little Sister" rule. I'd probably include "I Wanna Be Sedated" but Jordan Catilano kind of killed it for me.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:54 (twenty years ago)

and "Guerilla Radio" has that great Tom Morello faux-harmonica break! I've never heard the Jimmy Eat World song. Man, KROQ is awesome I guess.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

yeah those are all great songs--haven't heard the JEW one (LOL) though.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

"I Wanna Be Sedated" is ridiculously overplayed but it beats "Mr. Brightside" over the head with a baseball bat.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

It's funny I enjoy a Ramones album but in the context of radio or pop culture I find their random hits more annoying than Gary Glitter's

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, they only play like three of them over and over every damn day.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

Last five songs played by BBC Radio 6

Idlewild - I Understand It
The Who - Happy Jack
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Magic Numbers - Forever Lost
Sons And Daughters - Dance Me In

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

haha

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

miccio otm re: Little Sister

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

and "Guerilla Radio" has that great Tom Morello faux-harmonica break! I've never heard the Jimmy Eat World song. Man, KROQ is awesome I guess.
-- miccio (anthonyisrigh...), May 1st, 2005.

KROQ mostly sux0rs monkey balls, but "Indie 103.1" here has pushed them to improve a bit. I got lucky on that pull though - coulda come up Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and that contemptible MCR/The Used cover of "Under Pressure." Which last track provides the double-whammy of performing two bands' worth of bukkake job all over one of the all-time great singles and making me loathe myself for scorning it since it's for such a good cause and all (yes, part of that good cause is reminding the world that MCR and The Used still exist, but still...)

There is a handy "last 5 tracks played" widget on the KROQ site though, so fun for the whole family.

But why are we having this conversation, anyway? "Mr. Brightside" isn't even the best song on Hot Fuss. (As all right-thinking people agree, that honor goes to the exuberantly shameless Cure knockoff "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine.")

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

unacceptable

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:32 (twenty years ago)

assume you're referring to the "Under Pressure" cover

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:38 (twenty years ago)

1. Linkin Park dis
2. MCR / Used dis

but what I was referring to

3. "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" > "Mr. Brightside" (or "Somebody Told Me" or "Smile Like You Mean It")

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Sunday, 1 May 2005 21:50 (twenty years ago)

Just so long as we're clear on our referents :)

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

it's a pretty good song. they are a shitty band, though.

― Aaron Zanders (AaronHz), Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:59 (twenty years ago)

by shitty i mean the singer needs to learn singing.

― Aaron Zanders (AaronHz), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

Tim F. got "Somebody Told Me" all summed up with:

"Unlike Starsailor, The Killers are perfect candidates for a Lu Cont makeover, perhaps because they sound like they should be making dance music instead of rock anyway, as the great-hooks-in-search-of-a-point conundrum of "Somebody Told Me" aptly demonstrates."

― deej., Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:19 (twenty years ago)

"Rock music" =/ "Dance music" ???

What was the "point" of the hook to "Double Shot of My Baby's Love?"

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:25 (twenty years ago)

He means "dahnce" obviously.

― deej., Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:36 (twenty years ago)

"great-hooks-in-search-of-a-point conundrum" = no conundrum at all

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:38 (twenty years ago)

Something being "in search of a point" sounds like a conundrum to me.

― deej., Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:40 (twenty years ago)

What is the "point" to the hook in "I Want to Hold Your Hand?"

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:41 (twenty years ago)

that he wanted to hold your hand

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:44 (twenty years ago)

Miccio is OTM, and its a very convincing performance, too.

― deej., Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:48 (twenty years ago)

x-post

There you go. The point to the hook in "Mr. Brightside" is that he is Mr. Brightside.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:49 (twenty years ago)

He wasn't talking about mr. brightside, he was talking about "somebody told me."

― deej., Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:50 (twenty years ago)

I'm not sure I get this rock-not-dance/dance-not-rock dichotomy. Seems Tim's problem with the band is they're just too bombastic

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:51 (twenty years ago)

and I don't think "Somebody Told Me" is pointless so much as clumsy

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:52 (twenty years ago)

Well, I don't think those two contradict each other or anything.

― deej., Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:54 (twenty years ago)

The point to the hook in "Somebody Told Me" is that somebody told him that you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that he had in February of last year.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:55 (twenty years ago)

the point of "somebody told me" is to sound flirtacious and decadent while (ironically enough) making people jump up and down and dance. I've seen it do its job.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 1 May 2005 23:57 (twenty years ago)

See, the problem is I think it fails in its mission, Tim E.

― deej., Monday, 2 May 2005 00:00 (twenty years ago)

What mission are you referring to, deej?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:01 (twenty years ago)

It is very hard for British people of a certain age like me not to sing "I'm Norman Whiteside" to this choon.

"Somebody Told Me" is banal and pish compared to "Mr Whiteside".

― Failin Huxley (noodle vague), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:02 (twenty years ago)

As miccio said, they're trying to sound decandently flirtatious while making people jump up and down and dance. The problem is, although it has all these great hooks, it just sounds like a mess, sloppy.

― deej., Monday, 2 May 2005 00:03 (twenty years ago)

these two aren't necessarily contradictory. its a very sloppy, herky-jerk flirtacious dance song.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:05 (twenty years ago)

It's excellent, and that is that.

― Czam, Monday, 2 May 2005 00:05 (twenty years ago)

I disagree. But that's why i heart ILM. Because people are wrong a lot, and i can tell them so.

― deej., Monday, 2 May 2005 00:06 (twenty years ago)

"although it has all these great hooks, it just sounds like a mess, sloppy."

But, you know, they're a rock band! Think of how IMMACULATE it is compared to, say, the Pop Group.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:07 (twenty years ago)

And why do I want rock music to be clean anyway?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:08 (twenty years ago)

Actually I love The Killers' bombast! The "problem" (if it is one, which I never said) with "Somebody Told Me" is that it doesn't hang too well together as a finished product, it's all these little moments of brilliance patched together in such a manner that, for me, each moment doesn't feel like it necessarily leads to the next - this is kind of enjoyable actually, and when I use "conundrum" I simply mean that it has me scratching my head with a smile on my face.

"Mr. Brightside" and "Smile Like You Mean It" probably work better as songs qua songs, but I probably like them (in their original form anyways) a little bit less (the aristocatty vocals in the verses of "Smile Like You Mean It" are pretty ace though, I wonder if Stereophonics cross-bred them with Interpol's vocals to get that illustrious deep romanticism on the verses to "Dakota").

The JLC remix of "Mr. Brightside" has the best of both worlds, retaining the song's conceptual unity while adding and outperforming the melodic and sonic bombast of "Somebody Told Me". Where it sails miles above "Somebody Told Me" is that the combination of the two here allows for a really wholehearted sense of emotional immersion, whereas the open and unleavened silliness of "Somebody Told Me" creates a slight distancing effect ("Somebody Told Me" is the "Robot Rock" to the "Mr. Brightside" remix's "Digital Love").

"I'm not sure I get this rock-not-dance/dance-not-rock dichotomy."

Rock music can be dance music obv, but the concept of "rock" and all that it entails tends to enforce a level of coherence that The Killers really have to strain for and probably don't need (the fact that "Mr. Brightside" and "Smile Like You Mean It" hang together represents a triumph of pathos over logic). So when I say that The Killers might be better off as a dance act, it's insofar as they would not have to meet these expectations.

The one band that *no one* mentions as being an obvious precedent for all this stuff, and who I had at times a sneaking affection for, is the Space Monkeys. They struggled with similar issues, though in a cruder, blockier manner compared to The Killers' relative eyeliner suaveness.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:12 (twenty years ago)

"Sugar Cane"! Woof.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:18 (twenty years ago)

I can barely even remember what that song sounded like!

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:19 (twenty years ago)

Arguable and merit-worthy possibilities for the "point" of the chorus to STM:

1. Providing an easily quotable title
2. Sounding vaguely like "Girls and Boys"
3. Glamming up the lyrics to fit the glam of the song
4. I dunno, being a chorus. Whatever. It works.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

"the concept of "rock" and all that it entails tends to enforce a level of coherence that The Killers really have to strain for and probably don't need"

I don't see that the Killers are "straining" after anything. And if I understand what you're saying properly, I think this is a narrow definition of "rock." Where is the "level of coherence" in "Surfin' Bird?" In Hawkwind? In the Fall?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

"Sugar Cane" is fucking brilliant. It's the halfway point in between "Semi-Charmed Life" and Screamadelica. Should've been bigger than "Fly."

That said, I can't think of a single thing it has in common with "Somebody Told Me".

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

"Sugar Cane" was as I recall a bit of a Sugar Ray-esque anomaly (ha ha x-post!). "Acid House Killed Rock & Roll" or "Blowing Down The Styles" or "March Of The Scarecrows" are more what I'm talking about.

Hmph perhaps I shouldn't have sold that album.

"And if I understand what you're saying properly, I think this is a narrow definition of "rock." Where is the "level of coherence" in "Surfin' Bird?" In Hawkwind? In the Fall?"

Er, okay, indie rock then. It was a flippant point anyways. Hawkwind is dahnce music obv.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

I definitely remember it sounding like 3EB only british (and 3EB + Screamadelica had no chance of doing better than "Fly")

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

haha but wait EMF's "Unbelievable" did better than "Fly" maybe. Perhaps it did.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:32 (twenty years ago)

Not really sure why saying "Somebody Told Me" sounds a bit like dahnce music is so controversial - it was in relation to why they work well being remixed so it's not like I was trying to hand down some universal law.

And yeah The Killers do strain for coherence - "Mr. Brightside" feels like it's trying to be a story, but it only becomes so by a certain sleight of hand (it seems to make sense until you try to follow the lyrics sequentially and logically). Again though, this isn't necessarily a bad thing!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:32 (twenty years ago)

I didn't sweat coherence too much on Killers songs (and I agree with your pathos over logic statement) cuz I heard them as distinctly post-Interpol, who have made Stipe-ian nonsense ok again as long as its clearly about sex.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)

Yeah I don't sweat it either! Are observations disallowed?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

It actually strikes me that the original (demo?) version of "Somebody Told Me" trumps the version that ended up on the album. Dynamics are better. There's an older version of MB floating around somewhere unless I deleted it on my hard drive that's just the opposite - the album version adds far more sheen and doesn't plod and drone as much.

I'm not that enamoured of the JLC remix, I reckon JLC is used as a prop by people who want to look like they hate pop while still being able to love "What You Waiting For", "Mr Brightside' or whatever. Not that I'm accusing anyone directly.

Anyway, I think the Killers have a sense of taut groove that a lot of their contemporaries lack, but it doesn't seem instinctive or indelible from their music, as a lot of their songs DON'T HAVE IT. "Somebody Told Me" does, perhaps not to the extent of say, Duran Duran, but there's elements of this "rock music you can dance to" (that said, that Soulwax album from last year really let me down on that unfulfilled promise, so maybe I'm overcompensating by liking The Killers). "Mr Brightside" sometimes strikes me as being better and sometimes as worse - maybe it ties up far too neatly at the end. Not sure.

(Oh, and "Sugar Cane" by the Space Monkeys was a great single, yes. "Fly" done CORRECTLY, indeed.)

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

no song has enabled me to totally divorce the words from their meaning as much as "Mr. Brightside". Probably why it's the best song ever.

haha but wait EMF's "Unbelievable" did better than "Fly" maybe. Perhaps it did.

I mean in 1998 I had no idea who Primal Scream were, but I knew that song was gonn be HUGE. And I SHOULD HAVE BEEN RIGHT GODDAMNIT

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:39 (twenty years ago)

it's not like "Fly" isn't awesome too.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:39 (twenty years ago)

Yeah I don't sweat it either! Are observations disallowed?

dude don't be defensive! I like your review a lot! I just don't get the dahnce/rock thing. I don't see how that would fix the band's "problem"

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

Interpol and Killers lyrics are not in the same league with early REM for chrissake.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

thank god for that.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:42 (twenty years ago)

yeah we wouldn't want anything good or anything

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:43 (twenty years ago)

BESIDE YOURSELF IF RADIO'S GONNA STAY
REASON; IT COULD POLISH UP THE GREY
PUT THAT, PUT THAT, PUT THAT UP YOUR WALL
THAT THIS ISN'T COUNTRY AT ALL

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:46 (twenty years ago)

Exactly.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:47 (twenty years ago)

no, exactly.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:49 (twenty years ago)

one of you guys gonna chomp your teeth now?

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:50 (twenty years ago)

Music names that involve Kurt Schwitters

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:52 (twenty years ago)

One of the coolest things the Killers guy does is that yodeling thing on "Midnight Show."

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:55 (twenty years ago)

"I'm not that enamoured of the JLC remix, I reckon JLC is used as a prop by people who want to look like they hate pop while still being able to love "What You Waiting For", "Mr Brightside' or whatever. Not that I'm accusing anyone directly."

B-b-but the JLC mix is a better pop song than the original!

"What Ya Waitin' For" is a bit of a misnomer in this regard shorely - the reasons the original work and the reasons the remix work are entirely different. I love them both but I could totally understand loving one and hating the other.

"I just don't get the dahnce/rock thing. I don't see how that would fix the band's "problem""

It wouldn't, it would just neutralize it - no-one, not even rockists, ever expected songs by The Prodigy or Hardknox or whoever to "make sense"; the fact that they coasted along on good rockish dynamics was enough. This is true of a lot of rock too but then I wasn't trying to make a binary as such, just a point of comparison. There's a dance remix of "Somebody Told Me" which makes the point really aptly, the narrative progression of the tune loses all of the perceived awkwardness of the original because it's in a context where things like "narrative progression" are totally subordinated to groove and dynamic. This also means it loses some of it's OMGWTF quality as well - part of the enjoyment of "Somebody Told Me" is simply the fact that it doesn't gel in the places you expect it to.

That said, I reckon The Killers have the potential to be their best when that sense/dynamic tension is subsumed within a larger "pop" unity: where the song feels meaningful despite the fact that it may under closer inspection not be at all, where the overall surge and drama of the song feels unified a la "The Walk" or "Girls On Film". Where the original "Mr. Brightside" falls down for me a bit is that it's trying to get by on only one type of expansiveness, which is its emotive melodic efficiency (tense build up verse, big chorus 1, bigger chorus 2 etc.). The JLC Remix reincorporates the sonic expansiveness and openness and even slight gonzoness of "Somebody Told Me", but instead of just being there for its own sake as on STM, it's put to work in the service of the emotive structure which the original "Mr. Brightside" put in place.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 00:59 (twenty years ago)

B-b-but the JLC mix is a better pop song than the original!

I don't get this at all, but maybe its because I fell in love with the original long before I heard the remix (which I do enjoy)

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

they're about equal, with the original edging it out a tiny bit.

I could see how people who were left unsatisfied by the original would be totally satisfied by the remix, though. I just felt no such unsatisfaction.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:02 (twenty years ago)

Maybe I just like synthesisers a lot.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

plus my preference is based on a real pop-rock bias on my part. The remix is slow and meditative with great synths which is enjoyable but I prefer the crash-boom-bang rush of the original.

x-post yeah i think there's a dahnce vs. rock preference thing going on here. Both are fine examples of their respective trade.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

Yep, Tim, I think you're blinded! The original is a much tighter, more focused pop song. Crashing and thudding, like Miccio sez. I don't want it to hover menacing in a cloud of synths, it's supposed to CLAW god-damnit.

(Of course, I like my pop songs to be taut and economical in scope, and broad in their sonic arrogance, which the original "Mr Brightside" does in spades. Oh and last time I went out, the JLC remix of Gwen cleared the floor. Nobody danced!)

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago)

oh yeah 'taut and economical' is key for me too. The original does high-kicks all over the place and has a big TA-DA and gets its job done in like 3 minutes.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:14 (twenty years ago)

Does Morrissey yodel? I'd probably like him if he yodeled more.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:44 (twenty years ago)

check out "Last Of The Famous International Playboys"

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:48 (twenty years ago)

also "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side"

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:48 (twenty years ago)

I will listen for the yodels the next time those songs come on the radio, then!

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 01:56 (twenty years ago)

Interesting that Mr Brightside's current "Hot 100" position is actually higher than its "Modern Rock" placement, which I suppose means that the majority of its radio spins are now coming from places other than Modern Rock stations.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

or d/ls.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

I said this recently:

I liked "Somebody Told Me" last summer, but it always seemed a bit too novelty, like a retread of Blur's "Girls and Boys" -- and not just in the gender juggling, but also in the vapid indie-gone-Euroclub spirit. "Mr. Brightside" is more affecting: it's sprightly but yearning, stately but smudged, with an almost baroque feel at times (okay, so they rip off "Ode to Joy" at the three-minute mark). It just works. I wish I could recommend the Jacques Lucont remix, considering how much I liked what he did with Gwen Stefani, but his ethereal rendering robs the song of its urgency -- in the original the fake-out non-rhyme of "sick" with "chest" coincides with a desperate tug forward, but in Lucont's hands it just floats there.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

I think "Mr. Brightside" is the rare radio single that holds up well to being overplayed. Best of the last 10 years? No. Likely to be the most fun rock song in any block of currently-popular music? Abso-frickin'-lutely.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Monday, 2 May 2005 15:29 (twenty years ago)

I was able to get synth-phobic indie rock college students to dance to this track! I love dancing to it, and I know lots of people who love it as well, people who i would consider "popists" in the sense that they like to listen to the radio. And I like the original too! w/ all respect edward o., i don't think people are "afraid" of short pop versions; for a long time I liked the original mr. brightside more than the remix.

The JLC remix is just like a New Order song; I'm honestly not sure which version I like better (of "mr brightside") although now I'm leaning towards the epic grandiosity of the remix; it just seems like a better fit for the bombastic (in a good way) emotive qualities of the original (which might be what tim's saying? I'm not sure).

― deej., Monday, 2 May 2005 15:41 (twenty years ago)

JLC remix is NOT a dance remix. It's a re-edit if anything, or an extension of the original. I don't think simply beefing up the drum makes it dance music, as the complete lack of DJs playing it probably shows.

I love it, and never liked the original, because I guess I am not emotionally moved in the slightest by the original, which just has that crappy 2 cent indie sardonicism thing going on, making it unclear whether you're supposed to hate the singer or like him.

The remix whitewashes this nicely.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 2 May 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

the remix whitewashes the song, all right. not in a good way, tho.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

don't you people miss the dramatic harmonic changes of the original?

(okay, i guess not.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 16:07 (twenty years ago)

actually, i just realized, jlc's "what you waiting for" is great precisely because he adds dramatic harmonic changes to the original, whereas with "mr. brightside" he takes them away.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)

Now that i've been listening to the remix so much, the original just seems too fast - the lyrics kind of seem glossed over. it's strange i feel this way as normally i hate lyrics in general, but this song hits a nerve. maybe also i just like lots and lots of yummy synths.

now "Somebody Told Me", there's a song whose lyrics all the catchiness in the world can't make up for.

― lemin (lemin), Monday, 2 May 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

actually, i just realized, jlc's "what you waiting for" is great precisely because he adds dramatic harmonic changes to the original, whereas with "mr. brightside" he takes them away.

This is the main problem with the remix, I agree, but you could argue that the remix isn't about being dynamic--to me it's the epic album-closer to the original's gate-crashing album-opener, and as such doesn't need to do anything except just lie there, being epic and whatnot.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 17:06 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i suppose. i'd still rather listen to the original, though.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)

jaymc, what length is the jlc remix of mr brightside you heard? Because there's a shorter version going around which sounds like crap, and it seems like you're describing it rather than the longer one, perhaps.

― Lethal Dizzle (djdee2005), Monday, 2 May 2005 17:41 (twenty years ago)

this song fucking rules. i mean he nailed the vocal on the record, but did you see SNL? ewwwwwww....

i still haven't heard this remix, can someone gmail it to me?

― Aaron Zanders (AaronHz), Monday, 2 May 2005 17:43 (twenty years ago)

http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2O8PUWJZVHVZK1E9CZL58EGW2I

― Lethal Dizzle (djdee2005), Monday, 2 May 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

He didn't seem like he nailed it when they were on The Tonight Show either. It wasn't THAT bad, though.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:17 (twenty years ago)

is this the dub mix? jlc did 2 different versions didn't he?

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:18 (twenty years ago)

the one i have is 5:18.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:20 (twenty years ago)

Oh, the JLC version is up over 8 minutes. get that one, although i'm notsure how they differ.

― lemin (lemin), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:29 (twenty years ago)

omg you guys, this version is soooo much better. i've been duped!

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

the eight minute one is vastly, vastly superior.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

yeah I felt the same way the first time I heard the eight minute version. The five-minute one is totally pointless by comparison.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:31 (twenty years ago)

wait, but this one looks like it's 12 minutes? (the one djdee ysi'd.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:33 (twenty years ago)

Yeah for some reason apparently some ppls computers think its 12 minutes long? Winamp reads it for me as being 8:xx though.

― Lethal Dizzle (djdee2005), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, does that with mine.

The slow buildup of the 'I neverrrrrr' bit until the bass comes back in blows the original out of the water.

― Fergal (Ferg), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:45 (twenty years ago)

can you ysi that 5 minute version too? I think i heard a sample of that verison, and it sounded quite airy...

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:48 (twenty years ago)

Reminds me of Altogether Now by The Farm, still rather wonderful though.

― elwisty (elwisty), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)

The 5 minute one is, as far as I can tell, JLC's dub mix of it while the 8 minute version is an actual remix of the song. I've only found a 128 kbps of the 5 minute so I can't compare them too well, but the 8 minute version is gorgeous. My favorite version of an admittedly great song.

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Monday, 2 May 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

I'm sure I'm the 50th person to say this, but just in case, isn't the verse of this song just a little too much like that (far superior) tune "Born Slippy" from the Trainspotting sizzoundtrack? Guess I'll have to go home and do a compare the next time the assy Killers video comes on VH-1.

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Monday, 2 May 2005 20:22 (twenty years ago)

Reminds me of Altogether Now by The Farm, still rather wonderful though.

No. This song nicks Beethoven, that song nicked Pachelbel.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 2 May 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

I've never heard the 5min remix, maybe that's one of the main causes of people's indifference?

I agree with Ronan, the 8min version at least is not "dahnce" music really. My reference points when I heard it were The Cure's "Plainsong", Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", The Blue Nile's "Headlights On The Parade", New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle", and generally speaking extended mixes of 80s pop songs (not to mention prog rock what with the shiny keyboards).

One of the clinchers for me in terms of why the remix seems to work better is the way that the changing backing music for the two verses (identical lyrically and almost identical vocally) seems to give totally different meanings and/or resonances to those lines: the first verse being angry and the second being winsomely wounded stiff-upper-lip fragile.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 2 May 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

The 5 minute version got spread around ILX a lot from JLC feeding frenzy on the YSI/gmail thread.

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Monday, 2 May 2005 22:19 (twenty years ago)

It was like an STD, no joke; its why I initially didn't care about the thing, until I heard the er "real" version.

― Lethal Dizzle (djdee2005), Monday, 2 May 2005 23:16 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

I just heard the JLC mix again and am struck by how the first two minutes sound like "Smalltown Boy."

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 13 June 2005 13:28 (twenty years ago)

I have decided that it's time for the Killers to go away now, thanks.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 13 June 2005 13:41 (twenty years ago)

Alex, you need them to touch your chest so your stomach can feel small

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 13 June 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

I'll pass, thanks.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 13 June 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

I'm getting kinda sick of "Mr. Brightside," but a lot of it's because I wish radio would start playing "Smile Like You Mean It." There was a piece on NPR a couple weeks ago where they interviewed various radio programmers and asked them to predict what the summer jams were gonna be. One dude said "Brightside," and I was like, nooo, don't drive it into the ground.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

I don't listen to much alt-rock radio, so my exposure has been minimal, but I don't hate "Mr. Brightside" as much as I used to.

The chorus is awful - it sounds so thin and reedy, the OC version of danceable or something - but I really like the verses (excellent adolescent emo tripe) and the overall production isn't quite as edgeless and annoying as the first single.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 28 August 2005 07:20 (twenty years ago)

I'm tired of this fucking group

― joe schmoe (joeschmoe), Sunday, 28 August 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

I did a quick skim of this thread, and I'm pretty sure no one has yet mentioned how the vocal melody is 90% made up of singing one note and occasionally singing a halfstep below that note. It's not a particularly exciting vocal arrangement, which may be part of the reason people aren't feeling it.

I still like this song, but man, talk about overexposure..

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Sunday, 28 August 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

That's kind of a classic hook, though, to stay on one note like that while the chords change. The intervallic range of a particular melody doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how well the melody works.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 28 August 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

I think "Mr. Brightside" is the rare radio single that holds up well to being overplayed.

having now heard it at a minimum of 200 times, i BEG to differ.

― Kim (Kim), Sunday, 28 August 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

three weeks pass...

i dig this song; reminds me of my childhood in the early 1980s. it took me about 20 listens before i started appreciating it though.

― richard wood johnson, Wednesday, 21 September 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

my ex-boyfriend wrote lyrics from this song on the wall of our apartment when we broke up = dud. he was, the song is, and so is writing lyrics anywhere.

― jxnx (jxnx), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 18:49 (twenty years ago)

The live performance of this at the MTV Music Awards was rather lacklustre (but then they all were - I found myself in the curious position of explaining Coldplay to my boyfriend and saying "they actually usually sound better than this") and I was reminded of how much I prefer the JLC mix.

I increasingly find the singer hottt, though.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 22 September 2005 04:58 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

.. to be covered as a b-side by....

One music industry source who's had sneak preview of the cover told NME.COM: "It's a fairly faithful cover, but McFly's version strips out the synths, adds some rather weedy vocal harmonies and is more pop punk-lite than The Killers' stomping 80s-tinged arrangement."

They added: "Killers fans will probably cringe, and it won't fill indie disco dancefloors as efficiently as the original."

'I Wanna Hold You' hits the shops on October 17.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 6 October 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

neat.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 6 October 2005 14:58 (twenty years ago)

six months pass...

LOLZ!!!

― Alex in Baghdad, Friday, 5 May 2006 21:07 (nineteen years ago)

The JLC remix is so much better than the original. And "Somebody Told Me" is better than either.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 6 May 2006 00:23 (nineteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

hee

― Curt1s Stephens, Saturday, 7 April 2007 19:22 (eighteen years ago)

I just started relistening to this song a few days ago. It still kicks so much ass.

― Tape Store, Monday, 9 April 2007 03:17 (eighteen years ago)

^ homo

― JW, Monday, 9 April 2007 05:57 (eighteen years ago)

WHATEVS!

― Tape Store, Monday, 9 April 2007 05:59 (eighteen years ago)

I still stand by my assessment that all of the Killers songs I've heard (with the exception of Somebody Told Me) sound like a rocker from the Chameleons. The obvious exception being the high pitched voice, but even then, I find the singing style similar.

― Cunga, Monday, 9 April 2007 06:19 (eighteen years ago)

Cunga just made me regret reviving this thread.

― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 9 April 2007 06:22 (eighteen years ago)

"hey let's go watch 'the o.c.' and call each other emos"

― That one guy that quit, Monday, 9 April 2007 10:09 (eighteen years ago)

I liked it most in the Lifestyle Sports ad, That was when most Irish people heard of them too. I think.

― I know, right?, Monday, 9 April 2007 10:18 (eighteen years ago)

The first Killers album was actually quite nice. Sort of a cross-in-between postpunk and New Romanics, like Magazine or something. I don't like this Bruce Springsteen thing about their most recent one though.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:27 (eighteen years ago)

The Killers are way too mainstream.

― Camenend Bob Dole, Monday, 9 April 2007 14:38 (eighteen years ago)

Didn't mind the first album, but it seems to me it was a 'cheat' in terms of what it half-successfully suggested the band were about. Then: Mr. Flowers w/cropped hair & leering 'tache (where'd the eyeliner go, Brandon?) unleashing new album that is basically a vehicle for Mormon rhetoric & propaganda... nah, I passed on it.

Even ignoring those (IMO considerable) downsides, what I heard of the singles said to me, here is a band who already sounded like an okayish, 'fun' parody now sounding like a lukewarm parody of themselves (i.e. a parody of a parody, dig?). Also, sundry Bowie allusions -- an insult to the Dame, who I would hope, like me, has now decided these feckless dorks are a waste of space.

― chrissie_, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:25 (eighteen years ago)

The exchange at the beginning of this thread is priceless.

― HI DERE, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:54 (eighteen years ago)

Gay panic, I call it.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 9 April 2007 15:58 (eighteen years ago)

this song rules
next single was even better
unfortunately the new singles have all been pretty bad and no fun. by which i mean 'no homo'

― A B C, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 06:29 (eighteen years ago)

Cunga just made me regret reviving this thread.

I'm not saying they're as good as the Chameleons! Just because two bands share the same tent doesn't mean they both belong on stage, especially at the same time.

― Cunga, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 09:01 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe it's just "Up The Down Escalator" that sounds vaguely similar now that I think about it.

― Cunga, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 09:03 (eighteen years ago)

Sound more like Magazine than Chameleons to me.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 20:37 (eighteen years ago)

three months pass...

I GOT SOUL, BUT I'M NOT A SOLDIER!

(wrong song)

― Tape Store, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 02:03 (eighteen years ago)

i wish the killers didn't make a second album.

― Jordan Sargent, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 03:13 (eighteen years ago)

I think it will probably be remembered as one of the better mainstream songs of this era.

― Richard Wood Johnson, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 03:27 (eighteen years ago)

I like "When We Were Young." It almost made it onto my top 10 list last year.

― Tape Store, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 03:37 (eighteen years ago)

when you* were young

― Tape Store, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 03:37 (eighteen years ago)

"I got soul but I'm not a soldier" made me cringe so hard that I nearly crashed my car when I first heard it

― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 03:53 (eighteen years ago)

absolutely fuckin shit song. and i don't normally get that animated about sonfs i don't like

― Charlie Howard, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 04:01 (eighteen years ago)

five months pass...

STILL AWESOME

― Tape Store, Saturday, 19 January 2008 07:14 (eighteen years ago)

this vs. "All My Friends"

― Tape Store, Saturday, 19 January 2008 07:15 (eighteen years ago)

as i was reading this thread i was thinking "what happened to tape store?" and apparently the answer is "only posts to mr brightside thread"

― J0rdan S., Saturday, 19 January 2008 08:00 (eighteen years ago)

both songs you mention are awesome tho i don't get the connection besides both being good

― J0rdan S., Saturday, 19 January 2008 08:01 (eighteen years ago)

"all my friends" is so boring. do not get the hype/hoopla at all.

"mr brighside" isn't as good as "read my mind," "when you were young," or "somebody told me"

― The Brainwasher, Saturday, 19 January 2008 08:04 (eighteen years ago)

ppl kept writing about "read my mind" as sam's town's brightside and when i heard it i was pretty underwhelmed. it doesn't have nearly the chorus of their other songs you mentioned

― J0rdan S., Saturday, 19 January 2008 08:07 (eighteen years ago)

Conversation I had..

Friend, singing: I got SOUL, but I'm not a SOLDIER

Me: You know what's funny? That's the only part of that song I remember AT ALL

Friend: haha, me too

Me: And it had a video where they dressed as cowboys and threw boomerangs at hotties

Friend: You have summarized that video well

― The Reverend, Saturday, 19 January 2008 08:35 (eighteen years ago)

I rather like their cover of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town"

― Bimble, Saturday, 19 January 2008 08:46 (eighteen years ago)

Wow, this record is 2 years old already :(

It's still awful.

― Pashmina, Saturday, 19 January 2008 10:08 (eighteen years ago)

three years moar liek pash, and yup still awful.

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:45 (eighteen years ago)

It's the only song of theirs I unreservedly dig.

― Noodle Vague, Saturday, 19 January 2008 11:52 (eighteen years ago)

I never understood the love for Mr. Brightside. It's okay, but sounds so clumsy and hamfisted to me. By contrast, there are a few total gems on that debut disc: Jenny Was A Friend, Smile Like You Mean It, and On Top being the best of them (with Somebody Told Me and Mr. B being okay, and the rest being awful).

― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 19 January 2008 12:25 (eighteen years ago)

"Smile Like You Mean It" I think is pretty good. For a while when it was current I actually thought it was a different band. Everything else I've heard by them has been rotten, as in actively bad, not mediocre.

― Pashmina, Saturday, 19 January 2008 13:21 (eighteen years ago)

I rather like their cover of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town"

-- Bimble, Saturday, January 19, 2008 9:46 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link

Fuck that. THE version of Ruby is "Oh, Ruby, nechtěj mi lásku brát" by Pavel Bobek.

http://www.pavelbobek.cz/albums/008_Antologie/Ruby.mp3

Fades out before the chorus :((

― MRZBW, Saturday, 19 January 2008 15:15 (eighteen years ago)

thirteen years pass...

Seems a lot of people agree withe op, https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-killers-mr-brightside-claims-record-breaking-260th-week-exactly-five-years-on-the-official-singles-chart-top-100__32800/

― Dan Worsley, Friday, 2 April 2021 06:15 (four years ago)

Wow, that is quite something. I actually heard "Somebody Told Me" about an hour ago on LA radio, hardly ever on the radio these days.

― Bee OK, Saturday, 3 April 2021 03:52 (four years ago)

The Brits love it. Good drinking song, I guess.

― HuskerDoolittle, Saturday, 3 April 2021 05:55 (four years ago)

It's so ubiquitous that I often forget it's not by a British band

― Party With A Jagger Ban (dog latin), Saturday, 3 April 2021 09:34 (four years ago)

The Brits love it. Good drinking song, I guess.

― HuskerDoolittle

Yes, quite satisfying to holler along to while pissed, filling in any gaps in the lyrics with "da-da-dah!".

― chap, Saturday, 3 April 2021 11:53 (four years ago)

two years pass...

*huge bongrip*

What if...

You replaced the cocaine 16th hi-hat note 00s drum style with...

an original semi-improvised drumming from Megadeth's (since 2016) drummer (who seems like a nice Belgian dude who'd never heard the song before):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbUYVcaF_l0

― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 20 July 2023 16:55 (two years ago)

two months pass...

Happy 20th anniversary. It will never leave. It is eternal. It is "Louie Louie." It is "Sweet Caroline."

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 29 September 2023 17:31 (two years ago)

https://i.ibb.co/9c7sM5P/IMG-4336.jpg

― 龜, Friday, 29 September 2023 17:51 (two years ago)

big michigan football fan here, and playing "mr. brightside" between the 3rd and 4th quarters has become a tradition. it might have replaced otis redding's "i can turn you loose" (famously used in the blues brothers), though they might still play that one in addition to mr. brightside, i haven't been to a game since the tradition started

― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Friday, 29 September 2023 19:14 (two years ago)

Went to a Twins game this summer and they played it, huge pop from the crowd

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 29 September 2023 19:18 (two years ago)

two months pass...

Twenty years of madness. Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/music/mr-brightside-killers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.D00.pIAN.UFJKJ9aB0xMF&smid=url-share

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 6 December 2023 19:20 (two years ago)

beautiful thread arc

I was struck on relisten how it reminds me of born sloppy and also sex by the 1975… real bridge to the 21st century type shit

― Vapor waif (uptown churl), Thursday, 7 December 2023 14:30 (two years ago)

When Rock N Roll Pt 2 finally got struck from sports stadium rotations, it left a bit of a void, so just in case any Gary Glitter-esque scandals come to light from the Killers crowd, I nominate Buzzcocks' Thunder of Hearts as a drop-in replacement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRVHV_QsMZo

Similar themes and chorus, and less smarmy and preening, though I guess smarmy and preening is exactly the attitude you'd want when your team scores a goal -- on the other hand I'd argue "Okay, right, you win, but always remember / Don't say you've not heard, when you die, you're dead forever" is an even better one for when the opposing team is ahead.

― Philip Nunez, Thursday, 7 December 2023 18:23 (two years ago)

When Rock N Roll Pt 2 finally got struck from sports stadium rotations

i've heard it in u.s. stadiums/arenas well past the allegations, though i think hardly anyone here even knows who gary glitter is, it's just the "hey!" song

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 7 December 2023 18:27 (two years ago)

just had a look at the top youtube upload for "The Hey Song" and 95% of comments are wistful nostalgic memories.

― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 7 December 2023 19:45 (two years ago)

a few comments are about "heard he did some bad things but he made some great music so it's not all bad!"

― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 7 December 2023 19:46 (two years ago)

Cancel culture is out of control!

― omar little, Thursday, 7 December 2023 20:39 (two years ago)

saw one that was like "rock stars have all done terrible things! if you don't listen to anyone who's been cancelled then you can't listen to anyone! and anyway there are plenty that have done worse!"

― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 7 December 2023 20:45 (two years ago)

"I listen to both kinds of music! Gary glitter *and* l0stpr0phets!"

― omar little, Thursday, 7 December 2023 20:49 (two years ago)

The Killers released “Mr. Brightside” 20 years ago and hardly anybody cared.

sometimes you read a story and it feels like the first line invents a version of reality in order to facilitate the thesis, and this is one of those times...

― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 7 December 2023 20:56 (two years ago)

my recollection is that this song was basically inescapable for at least a few months ... am i wrong?

― alpine static, Thursday, 7 December 2023 21:02 (two years ago)

I guess it was, but several months after release ...

The premise of this song becoming a "Don't Stop Believin'" or "Sweet Caroline" for a younger generation is interesting enough ... you really don't need that lead to make it work.

― alpine static, Thursday, 7 December 2023 21:11 (two years ago)

i remember hearing "somebody told me" first and then "mr. brightside" coming along in its wake. didn't realize that "brightside" was actually released first.

but yeah, as the article points out, it became a massive hot 100 hit and was an alt rock radio hit for some time beforehand

― kissinger on my list (voodoo chili), Thursday, 7 December 2023 21:11 (two years ago)

Of course it was huge in 2005. I karaoked it then and my version went top ten in 14 countries

― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 December 2023 21:33 (two years ago)

I also heard Somebody Told Me first. It was definitely an omnipresent single for a while before I first heard Mr. Brightside.

― peace, man, Thursday, 7 December 2023 21:57 (two years ago)

five months pass...

Now officially the biggest UK single of all time that hasn't got to #1 in the charts

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-killers-mr-brightside-overtakes-oasis-wonderwall-for-uk-singles-record-3754740

― groovypanda, Thursday, 9 May 2024 10:29 (one year ago)

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