The Killers - Mr Brightside Song Meanings
Send "Mr Brightside" ringtone to your cell
Lyrics:
I'm coming out of my cage
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
See the rest of these lyrics
Mr Brightside Lyrics on KOvideo
 Top Rated Interpretation
DarkBlue04
July 10th, 2005 09:22PM
< Click a star to vote!
The key in this song is its title. By calling himself Mr Brightside, the speaker is commenting on how he is incurably optimistic - he always looks at the bright side of any given situation.
The song is about his propensity for getting overly involved emotionally with women he has only just met, and suffering heartbreak when his love proves to be unrequited. His "destiny" is to continually experience such heartbreak because he always opens up his "eager eyes" to the next possible paramour.
To get into a closer reading, look at the first stanza:
Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
Here, he is freeing himself from the emotional restraint that was protecting him from having his heart broken and allowing himself to become interested in a girl. The "all" that he wants refers to true love, the kind that you can only get if you are willing to give the entirety of yourself to someone else.
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss
Here, he's wondering how he's gotten to the point that he cares so deeply about her after just one kiss - the answer is because he allowed himself to invest that kiss with meaning that for her was not there.
The next couple stanzas basically tell the story of him seeing this girl that kissed him once hanging out with other guys - and because he feels so strongly for her, he becomes deeply jealous/angry. It's sort of like a situation where two people made out on a dance floor one night, and the girl felt like she was just having fun whereas the guy thought there was actually a connection.
Where we get the best crystallization of Mr Brightside's true nature and motivation is in the following stanza:
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside
Here, we should be getting that the "price" he pays is the intense feelings of jealousy, rage, and heartbreak that come from his penchant for getting too attached too fast. He asserts that it is out of his hands, that this pattern of behavior is simply part of his core personality by referring to it as his "destiny." His eyes are "eager" for the next girl that he will fall for, which is sure to happen because he is the perpetually optimistic "Mr Brightside" - always looking for and ready for love.
Lisa
June 27th, 2005 07:02PM
< Click a star to vote!
This song is about a guy who is in love with a girl who has kissed him, but now she is with someone else, he then kills either the boyfriend or both. He is now in jail.
Whether or not it is Jenny from the previous song, or not, is debatable..
I think that it probably is, but nevertheless i'll explain below -
I'm coming out of my cage (Jail)
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all (in jail for 'wanting it all')
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss (when he fell in love with her)
Now I’m falling asleep (dreaming - starts to tell the story of what happened)
And she’s calling a cab (for him that night, presumably)
While he’s having a smoke
And she’s taking a drag (the girl and her lover)
Now they’re going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it’s all in my head (the memory as he tells us the story)
but she’s touching his—chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, let me go (hold me back, i'm going to kill him/them)
I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control (stopping the situation with murder)
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea (he was a good person before this)
Swimming through sick lullabies (remembering the story in his dream)
Choking on your alibis (possibly strangled them/him?)
But it’s just the price I pay (jail time)
Destiny is calling me (to kill them/him)
Open up my eager eyes
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside
anonymous
July 4th, 2005 02:18PM
< Click a star to vote!
I didn't really think it was about what actually happened, but rather the song writer's imagination running away with him. I found the previous interpretations too literal, and prefer to think of 'the cage' as an emotional restraint rather than physical. The most important part for me was the line 'and it's all in my head', which I think signifys imagination. I thought it was about jealousy - the thought of his girlfriend being with another man. Eventhough this doesn't explain the title, It is just the feeling I get when I listen to the song. Don't forget that songs don't have to make complete sense - it's the gist that's important, and it can have different meanings to different people. (But it would be interesting to know what the song writer intended!)
anonymous
July 6th, 2005 06:49PM
< Click a star to vote!
I think this song is about a guy who really likes this girl, but he's too shy to tell her, and when he finally "comes out of his cage", she's already with another guy. I think the rest of the song is that the girl is still friends with him, and all he can do is just imagine what is going on between the girl and this new guy.
anonymous
July 9th, 2005 01:16PM
< Click a star to vote!
I Think the song means that this guy had a girlfriend that is cheating on him and he knows but until now he hasn't said anything because the truth hurts too much. I never really thought about this having to do with killing people.
Coming out of my cage (He's going end this relationship because he refuses to be cheated on)
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all (He wants the girl all to himself)
It started out with a kiss (It was supposed to be a one time thing)
How did it end up like this? (How did he fall in love?)
Now I'm falling asleep (going to have a dream)
And she's calling a cab (to go cheat on him)
And she's taking the drag (The girl and her other lover)
And my stomach is sick (He can't handle it)
And it's all in my head (His imagination)
Let me go (stop the pain or something along those lines)
And taking control (He has to do something)
Jealousy
Turning saints into the sea (Making people go crazy)
Turning through sick lullaby (Probably him imagining his lover with another man)
Choking on your alibi (Not believing her alibis- or where she says she was when she was really out with another man)
But it's just the price I pay (to love someone- this is the price)
Destiny is calling me (he knows this is the right girl)
Open up my eager eyes (Even though she is cheating, he is still eager to see her because he loves her so much)
I'm Mr. Brightside (he looks on the brightside because maybe if he shows her how much he loves her she will stop cheating or whatever)
The only part I don't get is the "I never" part. Maybe it means that he could never break up with her.
anonymous
July 18th, 2005 02:25PM
< Click a star to vote!
Moulin Rouge!
anonymous
August 8th, 2005 01:40PM
< Click a star to vote!
One of the people on the band wrote this song about Brandon Flowers's ex-girlfriend who cheated on him, I know that for a fact!
anonymous
August 14th, 2005 11:28PM
< Click a star to vote!
The video says it all. He's in love with a club dancer/prostitute. I knew that before the video was shown.
carlyandbrad
August 31st, 2005 09:27PM
< Click a star to vote!
What is with you people thinking this is about murder? It is obviously a song about a guy and his girlfriend. The singer's girlfriend kissed another guy and now he doesn't trust her and keeps imagining her cheating on him and it's driving him crazy and bringing him down.
I think in the song he is talking to himself trying to get over it so he can go back to who he really is "Mr. Brightside". I think that everything he actually talks about is all in his head. As much as I would like to write the entire song out for you all ....i wont. It's just a song about imagined infedelity and the effects that it has on people in relationships.
anonymous
September 17th, 2005 09:31AM
< Click a star to vote!
I think song has the same storyline as the movie "Moulin Rouge" and The Cure didn't write the song.
I was watching an interview with the band, and Brandon Flowers (the lead singer) said that Mr. Brightside was the first song he wrote.
brian
October 15th, 2005 02:54PM
< Click a star to vote!
This song is about a guy wanting a girl. He's out of his cage so he's himself and he needs to act cool because it wants it all. He's known this chick for some time now and it started with a kiss just a kiss. But he isn't sure and when his mind just runs off with itself and he sees her with someone else and their getting closer and closer it's killing him and it's just taking control. He's jealous, and this can make even the best of us go bad, he's trying to tell himself it doesn't matter, he doesn't want to deal with this situation but he feels it's destiny he's made for her. and He sees all this going on and he helpless to do anything so all he can do it just look on the brightside
Boo-Yay The killers ROCK!!!!
Jules
November 22nd, 2005 03:45AM
< Click a star to vote!
My god, some of you are obsessed with rape and murder. This was the first song that flowers wrote, so it has nothing to do with Midnight Show. It is about the way that jealousy makes you feel, his ex cheated and he could not confront the person, so the jealousy just tore him up. He said in an interview that it bothered him that much, he was physically sick. So sorry guys, no rape, murder, killing Jenny or getting out of jail.
SpoonerFisch
November 27th, 2005 07:54PM
< Click a star to vote!
I think this song is about pure jealously. It's self explainitory.
I'm coming out of my cage
And I’ve been doing just fine
Gotta gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all [[He wants her all to himself]]
It started out with a kiss [[he liked her when they kissed]]
How did it end up like this [[she's with someone else]]
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss [[That's what started him to fall in love with her]]
Now I’m falling asleep
And she’s calling a cab [[as he's sleeping, thinking of her, she's with the other guy just leaving after their night together]]
While he’s having a smoke [[he's satisfied]]
And she’s taking a drag [[she took a puff off his cigarette]]
Now they’re going to bed [[they're going to sleep together]]
And my stomach is sick [[it makes him sick thinking about it]]
And it’s all in my head [[he's remembering what he had though about them together]]
but she’s touching his—chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, let me go
I just can’t look its killing me
And taking control [[he's heart broken]]
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea [[Jealousy is taking over]]
Swimming through sick lullabies [[remembering his ideas of them together]]
Choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay [[he thinks he derserves to lose her]]
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes [[he wants her]]
‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside
In the video, the girl obviously secretly loves him back, but keeps going back to the old ugly guy.. when Brandon Flowers is sweet to her and loves her.. and he's so hot.
Jellybean
November 28th, 2005 09:14AM
< Click a star to vote!
I know this goes against most of what's been said so far but I'm not saying that there's only one meaning. My personal experience of the song made me think that it's about a guy who is having an affair with someone who is already going out with someone else. It was just a kiss and now they're having a full blown affair, and although he's in the wrong because he's cheating, he is still jealous. He knows she goes home to the other guy and he even sees them together but he can't say anything and the pain turns him into something awful (saints into the sea) and also someone more mature (destiny opening up his eager eyes). In the end destiny has opened his eyes to a life lesson: you can love someone but you can't always be with them.
ed
November 29th, 2005 12:43PM
< Click a star to vote!
This song has a lot of meaning for me as the exact same thing happened to me. The story is that this guy's girl has left him, he still loves her with all his heart. He sees her in the arms of another man and begins to imagine them fucking and everything after he sees them kiss.he can't take it, it drives him crazy and he finds it hard to restrain himself from getting violent but he somehow manages to stay in control. It's about jealousy and anger and love and I should know, I went through it. He's telling himself its his imagination "and its all in my head". He loves her, she's moving on and he can't stand it because he needs that girl.
prongs666
November 29th, 2005 04:14PM
< Click a star to vote!
Oh wow... It is definitely about jealousy, but why is everyone stuck on Jenny? It doesn't specify if he is mad that the guy is with his girl or the girl is with his guy, so it's very confusing...
anonymous
November 29th, 2005 06:06PM
< Click a star to vote!
A lot of these already posted seemed to have hit the nail right on the head for me. I'm gonna go ahead and agree with the emotional restraint when he says that's he's coming out of his cage, that makes the most sense. But look at it this way, I don't think that he was actually with the girl that he kissed. She belongs to another guy. Thats why he says I just can't look, its killing me. If he was with the girl, he wouldn't be looking at the other guy kissing her, he would probably be kicking that guys ass. And in the video it's obvious that the girl is with the old rich guy, and she is playing games with the lead singer. She hooks up with him, and then runs back to her rich boyfriend/husband whatever he is, and then starts getting with other guys throughout the video. So he basically hooked up with a girl that is already devoted to someone and then he can't take it when he sees her with anyone else, because he's fallen in love with her. And that's the price he pays for falling so hard. The rest of the song is definately about jealousy, because that's what it does to you I know. It makes you physically sick, it makes you dream and constantly contemplate what she's doing. Hence the " Now I'm falling asleep" he's dreaming about it, and it possibly might now even be happening, that's just the impression he gets from his jealousy, " and its all in my head". Btw another kool thing I saw in the was the checkers game, it means more than it appears I think, if you look closer, you see that the girl is actually blending in with the checkers board, it symbolizes the two of them playing a game of checkers to see who wins her, and ultimately, he loses her. Then at the end of the video, after talking to her, he walks away, symbolizing that it's over, he knows she can't change and he's gotta move on. Great song wow. I can relate in so many ways.
Viddy
January 8th, 2006 07:51PM
< Click a star to vote!
For all of you who have posted and said that this song is about jealousy and Flower's ex girlfriend, you are correct. That was the motivation behind the song.
For everyone who seems to think it's part of the murder trilogy, think about the difference in the feel of "Mr. Brightside" and "Midnight Show" and "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine." In Mr. Brightside, he's just lovesick and heartbroken. In the other two songs the narrator is clearly psychopathic. It is true that jealousy is a common factor in all three songs but that's about all they have in common.
anonymous
January 9th, 2006 11:21PM
< Click a star to vote!
Gosh, that was a lot to take in. I think "coming out of my cage" is just an emotional thing nothing to do with jail or a murder trilogy.
This song isn't specifically about Brendon Flower's ex, it's about how everyone feels when they are cheated on or feel as though they have been cheated on.
Dave Keuning wrote the verses of this song and brendon wrote the chorus. This was before the whole band was together, so I highly doupt is a part of a murder trilogy.
Have you ever been to a club or a party and there's that girl that's making their way though all the guys, flirting, kissing them. I believe that this girl in the song was one of them, she came up to the narrator, flirted, kissed him. He knows it didn't mean anything yet in the back of his mind he can't stop thinking about her so he tells himself "it was only a kiss, only a kiss" and wonders how he could get so attacthed. This is when he gets jealous.
I could be wrong but this I the way that I see this song.
anonymous
January 16th, 2006 07:24AM
< Click a star to vote!
OK. This is what the song is about, as explained by Mr Flowers himself. He had a girlfriend, his first love and being an obsessive person was completely besotted with her. He went by her apartment one day and saw her car 'touching bumpers' with a guys car. He later saw them together in a bar. The song is about that. How he was crushed by this event and how jealousy is a very powerful and dangerous emotion. It is not about murder. The 'murder trilogy' consists of 'Leave the bourbon on the shelf', Midnight show' and 'Jenny was a friend of mine'. And if it was the Cure who wrote this song how the hell have The Killers got writing credit and not been sued? Because the Cure didn't write it.
Thats all!
anonymous
February 14th, 2006 06:35AM
< Click a star to vote!
To me this song is about a girl who cheats on her boyfriend and because it was only a kiss he thinks he should get over it, but jealously takes over everytime he sees her with another guy even though nothing is happening and his imagination takes over and he keeps picturing her "hooking up" with these guys, and slowely it eats away at him. The song title ties in because he wishes he could be Mr. Brightside.
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
Next Page >
Submit your interpretation
More The Killers Song Meanings
Email me when this band is updated
Discuss this group in the The Killers forum
Home
| 
