delovely October 31st, 2008 06:40PM  
I've listened to this song a number of times and the gist I get from it is that Mr. Brightside is in love with a girl who's cheating on her boyfriend/husband/whatever with him.

He talks about how he's falling asleep and she's calling a cab and "they're going to bed and my stomach is sick and it's all in my head but she's touching his chest now..." He's picturing her going home to her boyfriend/husband and them being together.

Then he mentions "choking on your alibis" these are the lies she's having to tell her boyfriend/husband to cover up for her cheating

Mr. Brightside is a completely depressed lovesick guy pining away for his lover who chooses to stay with her boyfriend/husband, but he's choosing to look at the bright side of life because he feels it's his destiny to be with her.

lal November 17th, 2008 04:49PM  
Mr brightside, I think is a song about the injustice of being in love with someone but them not loving you back.

I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss
Now I'm falling asleep (the start of a dream, falls asleep)
And she's calling a cab (dreamt up)
While he's having a smoke(/)
And she's taking a drag(/)
Now they're going to bed(/)
And my stomach is sick(/)
And it's all in my head(it's all just a dream but it feels so real and he's so jelouse of the man who she loves)
But she's touching his-chest
Now, he takes off her dress
Now, let me go (let me wake up)

And I just can't look its killing me
And taking control

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea (saints, people who we look up too, turning them to the sea could be drowning all the good)
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis (so many alibis that it's obviouse that she's lying to him to keep from hurting him)
But it's just the price I pay (for being so easy to fall in love)
Destiny is calling me(price he pays because he believes that he will find love because it's his destiny)
Open up my eager eyes(so he looks for his destiny)
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside(because he's-sarcastically-mr optimistic-maybe she said something like he was never unhappy and that's what he thinks she expects from him)

it goes on to repeat the first verse... Then says

I never...
I never...
I never...
I never...

i also think that maybe the singer was a wingman, and he accidentaly falls in love with the girl he has helped another man to talk to. He's kissed her and he's telling the man to let him go from his occupation, he can't look because he see's her with him and it's killing him and taking control. He's so jelouse because if he hadn't have become the mans wingman then he wouldn't be restrained by rules telling him that he can't be with her and mr brightside, could mean mr optimistic about getting another guy a girl. and it's just the price he pays because he's signed up to something he can't easily shake off he has to open his eager eyes to find a girl for the man he's working for. I think that makes sense

anonymous November 17th, 2008 07:35PM  
i think that the guy and the girl had been in love,but he had done some things to cause them to split.("but its just the price i pay").but hes still very much in love with her,and she has moved on.now he found out that she slept with this guy and it causes him to run the images of how it may have happened and what they did through his mind over and over("And my stomach is sick And it’s all in my head") its tearing at him and he feels like hes losing it,but he cant stop thinking of it no matter how bad he wants to.("I just can’t look its killing me,And taking control") i dont beleive he actually saw them doing it or was spying on them,its just a run through of what hes thinking in his own mind

anonymous December 2nd, 2008 12:07AM  
Here it is lyric by lyric of my interpretation--

"coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine"-- he's saying he's like kinda coming out of his shell, like opening up, not being shy, and he realizes he's just fine

"gotta gotta be down because I want it all"-- he has to do anything to get what he wants, which to him seems like everything

"started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss"-- kind of like a snowball effect. It all just started out with him meaninglessly kissing a girl, he thought, but he realized he wants her and loves her and is now wondering how this all happened

"now I'm falling asleep and she's calling a cab"-- he's lying in bed, while she left, because you know they kissed but she's in a relationship (he's imagining), and she's calling a cab, going home

"while he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag"-- and her boyfriend I presume is smoking, and she takes a puff (once again he's imagining this happening, because he's lying in bed still)

"now they're going to bed and my stomach is sick, and it's all in my head"-- now they're "going to bed" gonna have sex, and he's sick to his stomach because he realized he loves her and doesn't want her with another man. but then he wakes up and realizes the part where she was smoking with her boyfriend and having sex and all that was just a nightmare

"but she's touching his chest now, he takes off her dress now let me go"-- and he's back imagining her and some other guy having sex. and "let me go" is like, he doesn't wanna love her.

"I just can't look, it's killing me"-- he can't bear to look at her and this other guy because he's just so much in love with her that it hurts to see her with someone else

"and taking control, jealousy, turning saints into the sea"-- jealousy can make someone so crazy that even a saint will commit a sin

"turning through sick lullabies"-- lullabies are supposed to be beautiful, but if your full of jealousy, you don't realize how great it is

"choking on your alibis"-- you're messing up your story, because it's a lie. your making too many different stories up.

"but it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me"-- but this jealousy thing is just what he has to get through, because he knows destiny will guide him and get him to where he's supposed to be

"open up my eager eyes, I'm mr. brightside"-- waking up from his dream of her and the other guy, or nightmare I presume is a better word than dream, and remembers it wasnt real. He still has a chance and now is excited and eager, and it shows in his eyes. He is looking on the brightside.

then it all repeats until the last lines "I never" which might mean like he's never loved someone so much before or he never thought this whole situation could be possible just because of a kiss.

malia061467 December 2nd, 2008 05:14PM  
isn't it obvious? this song is written about The Great Gatsby. this song clearly depicts Jay Gatsby's quest to achieve the one thing he's spent five years of his life trying to accomplish-getting the girl. Daisy.

anonymous December 5th, 2008 01:41PM  
It's about hookers , the age old problem of falling for your whore, been there done that.

anonymous December 10th, 2008 02:05AM  
Brandon Flowers wrote the song. Its the first song they worked on when he met Dave through a newspaper ad. Brandon wrote the words after his long term girlfriend had been messing around with another guy. There are quite a few songs about it. It doesnt have anything to do with the murder trilogy. Its one of those real life songs.

scarlet December 13th, 2008 01:52PM  
Saw video 1st time this morn. What I think it means is the woman is abused by Husb. He won't let her go & he gets perverted pleasre seeng her wth other men but too cocky to let her go to enjoy true love because he has selfish greedy lustful pride & he always wins chess game? He loves her for sex & the guy who is jealous really loves her and is jealous & doesn't want her to be lookd at by men because he really luvs her. The apple symbol verbal abuse thrown at her "you slut" & her sin because she married. He husb eats her sin the apple, he has a sick need to watch her sin. He pushes her to flirt wth other men & sinning because he treats her so bad and ignores her and even abuses by pushing her grnd. The fireworks represnt happy times with the ohter man, special occassions spent wth man she really loves but can't be with who give her hope, a Bright Side. The man who loves her can't have her because he's not her husbd has kep lookn on the brightside. She dosn't leav because she's lying around bored/lonely/depressed. Ha Right?

anonymous December 27th, 2008 06:01PM  
I always thought it was about a guy getting into the porno biz... He does look like a 70's porn star.

anonymous January 15th, 2009 08:23AM  
The title is tongue-in-cheek/sarcastic - not literal. The song is about jealousy. Perhaps she told him that she kissed another guy - it was only a kiss. But his imagination gets the best of him. He imagines her with this other guy doing all sorts of things. And that's just his nature, to look on the "brightside" of things. He's begging his imagination to let him go. He recognizes that it is running away with him - but how do you stop it?

anonymous January 17th, 2009 07:05PM  
In my opinion 'Mr. Brightside' isn't at all about him being all optimistic and positive, but completely on the contrary. When I hear of 'Mr. Brightside' I immediately think sarcasm. When someone calls them self "Mr. Brightside" or like "Mr. Sunshine", they're saying it sarcastically, as in they're everything BUT happy/optimistic. The tile of the song is ironic. The guy is totally insecure, pessimistic, and full of doubt.

example:
-"so how are you today?"
-"oh I'm just peachy! my car broke down, I lost my job, my dog died. yeah, I'm just another happy-go-lucky son of a bi*ch enjoying this wonderful freaking life. I wonder what other crap is just going to happen tomorrow; maybe a car will hit me and I can finally be free. Yup, that's me, 'Mr. Brightside', always thinking in the positive."

The song is about a guy who's falling in love, but is sort of a creep who's all clingy and stalkerishy. He "falling asleep", but he can't help but think that his girlfriend is going to sneak off the second he's does and meets up with some other guy and cheats on him. Then he starts to imagine her and this other guy fooling around; "But she’s touching his—chest." All this insecurity is building up in him and is "killing" him and the jealousy is "taking control." He knows "it’s all in my head" but he can't help it and its making his stomach "sick." "Jealousy, turning
saints into the sea," this is him saying how his envy is so strong is whole world is turning upside down (because saints are in the sky, but now they're in the "sea"). However, even though he feels jealous and insecure, he bottles it up and puts on a happy face for everyone(him being in denial); and thus making people see him as "Mr. Brightside".

Bottom line, basically the song is describing his inner demons/insecurities/jealousy/envy. Then he says "But it’s just the price I pay" as in feeling like crap on the INSIDE is the price he pays for acting all smily and happy on the OUTSIDE. "Destiny is calling me Open up my eager eyes" "‘Cause I’m Mr Brightside" this part here is trying to say his inner conscience (destiny) is trying to tell him to open up his eyes, which are always too eager and willing to see the bad in life rather the good, because he's "Mr. Brightside" (which we now know is sarcastic and really means 'mr. negative')----> translation:

-Destiny/little angle that sits on your shoulder/conscience: "hey mr. negative who's always insecure about everything, Open up your freaking eyes that are always too eager to see bad stuff and see that she's not cheating on you!!!"

*another clear evidence of this is their music video. now does he really look like he's all happy and positive -______- C'mon people open up your superficial ignorant minds and see the song for more that what it may seem like on the surface; dig deeper into the meaning!! >:[*

anonymous January 17th, 2009 07:18PM  
The guy has a crush on this girl, but shes a slut who sleeps around or flirts with others. However, hes is so retardedly optimistic and in such deep denial he still likes her, but can never have her.

anonymous January 18th, 2009 03:01PM  
Based on the lyrics but ALSO taking the music video into account as well, I think the song is about a man in love with a prostitute. (in the music video they appear to be in some sort of brothel or whorehouse) But he can't take it because she is always "working" with other guys. in the music video he has to watch her cuddle up with several guys.

anonymous January 21st, 2009 08:35AM  
This song is about a guy who falls in love with a prostitute, all he can do is watch as she makes moves on other man. but he cant bare the thought.

anonymous February 9th, 2009 06:45PM  
What this song is really about it a girl cheating
Brandon wrote this song after his girlfriend cheated on him

lovingkillers February 12th, 2009 03:16AM  
Brandon's nickname was or is Mr. Brightside. He woke up one night, with a funny feeling, and went to a bar where he found his girlfriend with another man. This is a true story I read in an interview he gave.

anonymous February 27th, 2009 11:09PM  
I think that the first stanza of the song has a close relation with the five stages of dieing. "coming out of my cage" refers to actually trying to meet someone.

"doing just fine" is the singer going through denial that he isn't cut out for being someone's love.

"gotta be down" is grief, sadness, depression, etc.

"want it all" is bargaining, after which comes acceptance (the chorus)

"it started out with a kiss" begins the entire story, explaining that all his problems started out with him falling in love with a girl he barely knows.

"how did it end up like this" is also rather literal, the singer is trying to figure out how his life has gone to shambles.

"it was only a kiss" is realizing that it wasn't anything huge, just a kiss.

the rest of the song is pretty much self-explanitory, except for the chorus.

"Jealousy, turning saints into the sea" doesn't mean that he's becoming no longer good, but I think it means he is becoming bitter (I think that a better analogy could be made if this is the case, but it fits)

"swimming through sick lullabies" things that he's told to put him at ease, but really are only making him worse.

"choking on your alibis" litterally choking on the other person's alibis -- a variation of choking on one's words, only specifying it as an alibis.

"just the price I pay" the price of not having learned when he was younger

"Destiny is calling me" well, if your being ultra-literal, he could be receiving a phone call from a girl named Destiny, possibly to reveal something situational related, or he could start realizing he isn't meant for her and she isn't meant for him.

"open up my eager eyes" revelation of the above fact.

"'cuz I'm mister brightside" the final stage of death is acceptance. He's looking on the bright side of things, and accepting.

anonymous March 4th, 2009 01:06PM  
I see this song as a moment that every man goes through when one of his mates tells him that hes just seen his ex with another guy. From that moment your head just thinks up all these thoughts of what she is doing with him. Coming out of my cage, is coming out of the heartbreak of the relationship, meaning that he is starting to move on and get over her. But then he finds out shes been seen with someone else. Hes jumping to conclusions and telling his friends that hes thinking the worst of her being intimate and having sex with this man, his pessimism makes his friends say in sarcastic voice ''well your mr brightside aren't you''. In a quite a few killers songs you get the feeling that brandon was a very pessimistic person and heard him say in early interviews that he was worried that people wouldn't like sam's town, he is seen as arrogant now by critics which could be just him trying not to be so pessimistic!!

anonymous March 6th, 2009 10:51PM  
Call me crazy, but I picture the singer as a roommate of a young married couple, and he's commenting on what they do. All the while, he wishes he could have such a relationship with another. Consider the first line, "coming out of my cage." He could've had a break-up and is getting ready to find another. He could be saying that he's ready for a new relationship and hopes that it will work out better than previous attempts (ergo, being Mr. Brightside, an optimist.) Just trying to be an optimist myself, thinking it could be a positive song...

carrie March 11th, 2009 10:10PM  
i think this song is about a man who has cheated on his girl. when she finds out she is so hurt so just cheats on him back.HE FINDS OUT. the words [how did it end up like this it was only a kiss] is him regreting his mistakes.[coming out of my cage and im doing just fine] is the act that he is putting on to the world, hes playing the victime when he knows it was his unfaithful kiss that started the mess he finds himself in.