The Killers - Somebody Told Me Song Meanings
Lyrics:
Breaking my back just to know your name
Seventeen tracks and I've had it with this game
I'm breaking my back just to know your name
But he...
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 Top Rated Interpretation
anonymous
December 8th, 2006 04:00PM
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The speaker in the song is hitting on a girl in a club. That's it. Let's Look at the lyrics:
"Breaking my back just to know your name
Seventeen tracks and I've had it with this game"
He's been talking to the girl for what seems like 17 songs (it is a dance club) and she still won't even tell him her name (Believe me, I have BEEN there).
"But heaven ain't close in a place like this
Anything goes but don't blink you might miss "
might mean that "heaven" , meaning his ultimate goal of sleeping with this girl, is not going to be achieved in a noisy dance club which is why he is trying to get to know her better and establish a repoire, so he can get her somewhere else, or perhaps he's just trying to get her number. "Anything goes but don't blink..." means that he's got to throw everthing he's got in his arsenal at her, she's sharp he has to keep on his toes to keep her from getting away.
"Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight
Never thought I'd let a rumor ruin my moonlight "
"bring it back down" is sort of slang for "reel it in" or "close the deal"
"Never thought I'd let a rumor ruin my..." She's confronted him with the 'ol "somebody told me you we a huge player..." line. This happens. you try and talk to a girl and suddenly some mysterious person as told her all sorts of bad stuff about you. Normally he can play it off but she's reall persistant with it and won't give him an inch.
"Well Sombodey told me that you had a boyfriend.." The "WELL" here his very important. It's sets the tone of the line as sarcastic. HE's responed to the aformentioned "player" accusation by saying some ridiculous rumor he suposedly heard about her. This is a common trick to hitting on girls, turn something they say about you around on them to make it seem silly. It's like if someone says "I met Michael Jordan" you say "Oh yeah, well my brother's cousin's sister's boyfriend once had a milkshake with Shaquille O'Neill"
"It's not confidential"- adding to the joke 'everybody knows about it'
I've got potential- can either mean he's starting to break the ice and get somewhere, or he's trying ot convince her to give him a chance.
"Pace yourself from me
I said maybe baby please "she's lightened up now but he's turned it around now telling HER to take it easy
"But I just don't know now "
When all I wanna do is try He's saying to her that he doesn't know if he wants her now that she's drug up all these rumors about him...but what he's actually thinking that all he wants to do is try and "bring it on back"
"A rushin', a rushin' around " basically just saying how he's going around in circles with this conversation."
Ok so maybe a little off there towards the end. but I think I'm MUCH closer that the "gay, crossdresser, butch-looking girlfriend" theories, which are a little too literal interperatations.
anonymous
January 2nd, 2006 10:40PM
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I don't think he is gay. I think this is about a guy (the narrarator) who went out with a girl named Jenny. And then after they broke up he went out with a girl (in Febuary) to get back at her. And now the narrarator is saying that Jenny is in a relationship that seems a lot like the one he was in (in Febuary). Meaning that Jenny is going out with someone just to make him jealous.
anonymous
February 12th, 2006 08:38PM
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Man you people who say he's gay are stupid! Look it's simple: he broke up with a girl last year in february, the girl he's looking at now is already dating someone, and he looks similar to his girlfriend. Its that simple. Also, I know a lot of people who look like they are the opposite gender of what they actually are. Some guys just look like gals and vice versa.
anonymous
June 16th, 2006 12:19PM
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My interpretation is completely different. I think it is about an ex girlfriend who has been spreading rumors about him. The rumors are believed by the people around him "heaven ain't close in a place like this." The reason I think it is about rumors is the "anything goes" and "never thought I'd let a rumor ruin my moonlight." He wishes he could go back to the way it once was "bring it back down tonight" He's trying to get across the point that the rumor is untrue by giving an absurd rumor, the rumor being he cheated on her, as shown in the last 2 lines of the chorus. He tries to move on and eventually she wants him back but he can't decide if he wants her back now because of what she has done.
anonymous
September 28th, 2006 11:26PM
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The setting of this song is at a nightclub. The narrator sees a girl that some of his friends know and he is interested in her. But somebody told him that she is a lesbian but he isn't quite sure. You know he is at a nightclub bc there is music playing, "17 tracks and I've had it with this game" and "heaven aint close in a place like this." he's interested in her bc he's breaking his back trying to know her name. There are rumors that she might be a lesbian, "somebody told me, that you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend that I had in february of last year." but he's not sure if they are true, "never thought i'd let a rumor ruin my moonlight." "but all I want to do is try" indicates that he doesn't care what somebody told him, and he wants to get to know the girl better, she may or may not be a lesbian. We don't know, in fact, no one does bc it is a rumor.
anonymous
October 9th, 2006 10:10PM
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It's about a guy who trying to find out the identity of a girl at a club/bar, she seems to be playing with him being mysterious, he hears of a rumour that she is lesbian and may or may not be dating his ex-girlfriend that he had in february.
anonymous
November 15th, 2006 03:44AM
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Actually, this song is about feeding cats meth for the thrill of it.
anonymous
November 26th, 2006 09:05PM
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He is making fun of emos
anonymous
December 11th, 2006 03:14AM
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uh. you guys are seriously overreading.
"somebody told me that you had a boyfriend
that looks like a girlfriend
that I had in feb..." etc.
"it's not confidential
that I've got potential..."
what he means is that the girl whom he's talking about has a boyfriend who isn't much of a man, and that he'd do a better job, hence the potential thing.
he's just dissing her current boyfriend, toots.
xtine.
anonymous
January 9th, 2007 03:45PM
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I agree with the person above. He is saying her current boyfriend is not manly enough for her.
anonymous
March 2nd, 2007 09:09PM
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The narrator is insulting some girl's boyfriend by implying that he (the boyfriend) is effeminate. Saying that a man looks feminine is a common insult.
anonymous
March 13th, 2007 08:54PM
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In my opinion the real meaning of the song is that rumors are the most stupid thing in the world . This is about the absurdity of rumors.
That rumor can't be real . It is sure sarcastic . If it wasn't sarcastic he would say something like your boyfriend looks like my ex girlfriend" but he specifies exactly when , it says "that I had in FEBRUARY of LAST YEAR" How could any body tell you a rumor like that :" hey you know what?" the woman you like had a boyfriend who looks like the girlfriend that you had in February of LAST YEAR" . (And consider that being February the second month of the year , this person should have a good memory because he had this girl between 11 and 23 months ago, depending on which month the rumor was spread ). This is sure an example of an absurd absurd absurd rumor. Like "your mother had an horse who peed on my chrysanthemums in Kazakhstan".
The singer maybe says it to discredit the boyfriend of the girl he likes or to express some rage, but anyway it's really really ironical.
so people , " beware of RUMORS". (Sorry for my mistakes, I'm Italian, but this could be a good interpretation).
VVH
freetibet
December 13th, 2007 09:39AM
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You have to remember how these guys write lyrics. They write about 1/3 of what they mean (think Bush, for example). And don't forget the hint in Mr. Brightside: "it's all in my head, but..."
Also the context of Somebody Told Me is his struggle with the pain of loneliness, rejection & jealousy in the wake of a breakup with someone who's "gotten back out there" faster than he has.
So "looks like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year" is a two-tiered, bitter, "sour grapes" dig at his ex's new boyfriend. The first dig is that she looks like a girl. The second is a weak, desperate attempt to paint him as used goods ("that I had last year")-- weak, but it's the best a straight guy can do to a straight ex-girlfriend. (were the roles reversed, it could be a little stronger)
The Killers are not the kind of lyricists that will spell this out for you. That's what makes them a great band on a level beyond mass appeal (which they also have for very good reasons).
Peace!
ShortMama234
February 5th, 2008 05:57PM
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I think that this song is about jealousy. So many might interpret it as a confusion of sexuality, but I think that it's much more metaphorical than that.
When the singer says 'somebody told me that you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year,' I think that he is speaking metaphorically about the relationship, not necessarily the physical appearance of the person he's talking about.
Maybe what he is trying to tell this person, whom he might have dated in the past ... That besides him, she is dating the same person over and over again. Maybe ... maybe not.
anonymous
May 10th, 2008 04:18PM
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My interpretation of the song is that he once went out with a girl, who he has now split up with.
He has now found out that the ex-girlfriend is going out with a new bloke and to save him feeling jealous somebody told him that the girl's new boyfriend is feminine and weak etc. And looks like a girlfriend he once had.
He is now saying that he is better than this new bloke and can do so much better himself. But even with this he still gets upset and lets it ruin he's night out.
anonymous
June 9th, 2008 02:11PM
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I agree with the lesbian interpretation.
anonymous
October 11th, 2008 01:13AM
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Maybe the "somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend..." part means that the girl he broke up w/ was so desperate and she dated some guy who wasn't that great and kinda girly just so she could get back at him.
anonymous
December 10th, 2008 06:57PM
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It's about a guy who's jealous and pissed. So he doesn't like the guy the girl he's interested in is dating, and therefore he says he looks pathetic and like a wuss, "you had a boyfriend, who looks like a girlfriend that i had in February of last year", meaning: "stop dating that pathetic excuse for a man and go out with a real man like me". =p
After all, "I've got potential".
dizzyupmeems
December 23rd, 2008 04:34PM
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I agree with the first one, but it also has something to do with him not believing the rumor because rumors can be rediculous somebody told me you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year...
I heard that on a radio talk show that was discussing this song. So I think that the Chorus has double meaning, but you nailed the rest of the song.
sexy4jack
March 24th, 2009 05:18PM
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Ok. you guys are really dumb. One of their band members was reported to have had sex with another guy. He came to a party with a guy who looked like a girl. That's why the line says "you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend".
anonymous
April 5th, 2009 09:11PM
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He has spotted a girl he is interested in 'having'. Based on the rest of the album he is intending on murdering her. It's a very dark song. Especially 'Heaven ain't close in a place like this' He'd rather be somewhere with her where he can basicly kill her. Just like Jenny in Track 1 ;)
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