anonymous November 27th, 2008 03:19PM  

I think this song is a take on a Cinderella type story, where the setting is a dusty, desert town (like Sam's Town) in 1961.

There are two lyrics that catch my attention in this song, 1.) "She said she'd always knew he'd come around." and 2.) "Out here the good girls die."

1.) It's basically saying that this girl had always liked this guy, but he never liked her back. Yet she always had faith that one day it would work out, basically that he'd realize he loved her and come around to his senses, and he did.

2.) It's not literally that the good girls die, they're all still alive. What they're saying is that the good girls die like on the inside. They're the ones that get their hearts broken time and time again by the guys, and always feel like dying because the right guy never seems to come along or he doesn't seem to want her.

That's my interpretation. It's such a GREAT song!

anonymous January 1st, 2009 01:39PM  

This is actually Brandon Flowers telling the story of how his parents got together, from the 'in 61', when they met.

anonymous February 1st, 2009 02:37AM  

The song is portraying the trailer park in which Flower's mother grew up and falling in love with "a slick chrome American Prince". The romance between them is a "Dustland Fairytale". Cinderella is supposed to represent Flower's mother and the line "now Cinderella don't you go to sleep, it's such a bitter form of refuge. Don't you know the kingdom is under siege and everyone needs you." is a shoutout to his mother who has cancer to hang on. Very deep lyrics.

anonymous February 9th, 2009 12:09AM  

This song is about Brandon's parents meeting in '61. His father was an alcoholic until Brandon was 5 years old, then "change came in the form of revelation, set his soul on fire," is about his father becoming Mormon and quitting drinking. His mom knew he'd come around. The kingdom under seige is his mom's cancer, and he is pleading with her to fight it, to stay alive.

goodgal May 22nd, 2009 10:54PM  

Brandon said this himself in interviews that it is about how his parents met. Another love story.

anonymous July 21st, 2009 11:02PM  

What about the fight scene? That has nothing to do with Breakfast at Tiffany's or Flower's parents meeting.

anonymous July 22nd, 2009 04:24AM  

It's about both his parents meeting, i.e in 61, and how they got together. 'A dustland fairytale' refers to his parents meeting in a trailer park where they lived. When flowers says about 'cinderella now don't you go to sleep,' it's about his mother, who ahs a brain tumour. It's a message for her to hang on for a little longer.

anonymous September 10th, 2009 06:15PM  

Hey everyone,
This song is a difficult one to interpret mainly because of all the metaphor's that he uses throughout the song but I think I have figured most of it out.
The first part of the song from the beginning to "I don't believe you" is all about his parents meeting and his own problems with his father. He is describing how his mother fell in love with his father because at that time he looked like she wanted him to and he serenaded her with the song "Blue River." So when he asks "Blue River what'd you do to me?" he is saying that if it were not for that song, he would have a better father.

The second part, I believe, is about his life at home. He looked at his mother as this beautiful woman that just needs a break from this like. The lines about the devil, are referring to him realizing that there was going to be a big fight coming between his parents. He turned the other way while they were fighting because at his young age he couldn't do much but, he had faith that his mother(the pawn) would win the fight.

The third part is about his father's conversion to the Mormon church and becoming a better person. His mother states she knew this day was coming. He continues on stating how is mother begins to act like nothing was ever wrong and the past years never existed. The song then goes into his view on his father's new beliefs. "Go gives us hope but we still fear we don't know" He thinks that God is there to give people hope but deep inside they fear they are wrong. "The mind is poison." Likely refers to the fact that his father thinks these thoughts are not pure. "Castles in the sky, sit stranded, vandelized. The drawbridge is closing." This could mean many things but I think that this is a reference to his mother's dreams. They have been torn at and the "drawbridge" to those dreams is not going to be open much longer. His mother is getting to the point of no return. This is probably him talking about their move to Utah

Yet again after stating his mother needs a break, he sings about the trouble he foresees. The lines leading up to "The Valley of the Great Divide", probably refers to him leaving everything behind and running away to live with his aunt back home in Nevada(home of the great divide mountains).

The next set of lines is describing Nevada as a horrible place where it does not snow, dreams are forgotten, and plants don't grow. Most importantly, it is the place where "good girls die." He believes that this is where his mother began to die when she met his father.

The final verse is the most touching and saddest of them. He sees his mom is closer to death. He is begging her not to go because everyone still needs her here. "Is there still magic in the midnight sun?" Could be a reference to her brown eyes. He is asking if she still has life(magic) in her eyes or if she left that spark of like in the eyes of his father back when he wooed her with his singing back in Nevada.

All of this is just opinion and some of the information may not be as accurate as I think it is. Hope everyone likes this look at it though. :-)