What does Midnight Show mean?

The Killers: Midnight Show Meaning

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Album cover for Midnight Show album cover
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Midnight Show Lyrics

I know what you want
I wanna take you a midnight show tonight
If you can keep a secret
I got a blanket in the back seat on my mind
And a little place that sits beneath the sky
She turned her face to speak
But no-one heard her cry
Drive...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    prongs666
    click a star to vote
    Dec 7th 2005 !⃝

    That actually makes a lot of sense making the CD into a story, but hearing it as a single, one would get a totally different interpretation, don't you think? I'm gonna go and listen and see.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 8th 2007 !⃝

    This trilogy is supposed to be about a jealous boy who killed his girlfriend. This being the second part I believe he is going through with the murder, and not so much a flashback. I think he’s just super paranoid thinking that his girlfriend is cheating on him when she might not be and he tricks her and kills her hinting at the “If you can keep a secret I can keep a secret” This is how I see it…

    "I know what you want"
    Both are together and he believes either she is going to break up with him or she doesn’t want him anymore
    "Im gonna take you a midnight show tonight"
    He said he’ll take her out and the “midnight show” is a metaphor for murdering her or the ocean
    "If you can keep a secret
    I got a blanket in the back seat on my mind"
    I think this refers to her and his secret. Hers being her affair and his being his desire to kill her.
    "And a little place that sits beneath the sky"
    the place is where he’s taking her to kill her
    "She turned her face to speak
    But no-one heard her cry"
    She might be trying to explain something but he’s probably about to kill her and doesn’t let her talk
    "drive faster, boy"
    talking to himself saying to get away as fast as possible from the crime

    "I know there's a hope
    There's too many people trying to help me cope"
    Seems that people are trying to tell him that she might not be cheating on him but he says to leave him alone
    "You got a real short skirt
    I wanna look up, look up, look up, yeah yeah"
    I’m not totally sure but I think he might be mocking her basically calling her a whore
    "We were just in time
    Let me take a little more off your mind"
    Tells her he knows about her affairs (if there is one going on)
    "There's something in my head….We were such a good thing"
    He thinks they were a good couple and can’t understand why she would do this to him
    "Make it go away without a word"
    The “it” could refer to his thoughts in the previous lines or his problem with his girlfriend
    "But promise me you'll stay
    And fix these things Ive heard
    Make it go away!"
    He either asks her to explain herself or tries to get her to stay long enough to murder her either way this is when he kills her

    "The crashing tide can hide a guilty girl
    With jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls"
    Whether its “can” or “can’t” he throws her body into the ocean still thinking she cheated on him and she’s the cause of his jealousy

    "I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier
    Of stars and atmosphere"
    I think the “Chandelier” the next line should go together hinting that he killed her under the night sky
    "And watched her disappear
    Into the midnight show"
    He watched her body disappear into the ocean or just watched her die.

    The whole last part with the “If you can keep a secret, I can keep a secret” goes to tell that if she can keep her affair a secret he can keep her murder a secret while continuing to say to himself “She said she loved me”

    Him saying to fix everything “I’ve heard” and “I know there’s a hope” makes me believe he never actually saw her do anything and just thinks she has cheated on him. But this is all just speculation. It’ll all probably make sense when “Leave the Bourbon on the shelf” comes out.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 27th 2005 !⃝

    Danger death and sex, the whole works.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 8th 2012 !⃝

    Well to many long interpretation.
    this it.. first,leave the bourbon the problems they have before all happens the discution about jealousi...
    then take it to the midnight show is all the way down to the party and all the foreplay with jenny and finally he kills her right in that song wich is the story of the Preppy Killer Robby Chambers... then Jenny was a friend... the last part wiht him been caught...and giving excuses about no motive etc.. more Explanations at tivieste@gmail.com jeje

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 7th 2012 !⃝

    I get it that having so much music laediry avaliable gives you an opportunity to listen to a bands catalogue whenever and wherever you want. I too have music on my computer, Ipod etc. for the same reasons. I just think it is just as easy to not give a bands music a chance because of the ever increasing volumes of music you can store and the ease to switch from one band or one song to another. What's to stop someone downloading a new bands song, listen to 10 seconds of it and then say screw this and go back to Master of Puppets.I've done it and have probably missed out on some great music which is my bad. I have gone through my music library and forgetten I had certain bands or songs on it but that's just me.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 6th 2012 !⃝

    Sep12 Marc,I read it all, and it only took me 2 Red Bulls and a case of Pixt Stix. I want to add something, and don't know how to do it uwthoit throwing a bit of a molotov cocktail so I will try and be gentle. This is less of a critique of you personally and more of a critique at how we look at the Mass & Music in general.In light of such articles as:

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 10th 2012 !⃝

    It has always been my impression that this is the one where the main character (singer's POV) is killing his girlfriend (With 'Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf' as the first where he contemplates their break-up, and 'Jenny was a friend of Mine' the third where he lies to the police, trying to convince them he's innocent when he's really not). Here's my reasoning:
    "I'm gunna take you to the Midnight Show tonight" taking Jenny to a Midnight Show of something where they can be alone and intimate
    "If you can keep a secret" possibly where he explains he knows she's cheating on him (more of that later) or more likely the Secret just being where they're going and this is said in an endearing, almost teasing tone, instead of a darker one.
    "I got a blanket on the backseat on my mind" he's thinking about sex in the back of his car
    "She turned her face to speak, but no-one heard her cry" could be to do with sex, or where he is actually killing her and she is crying for help, but nobody came because their location is a secret ("A little place that sits beneath the stars")
    "Drive faster, boy." i think he is talking to himself here, telling himself to get away from the scene of the crime as fast as he can and urging himself even faster.
    "I know there's a hope, there's too many people trying to help me cope." i think this is where people try to help him cope with either her 'death' or the fact that she is unfaithful, the 'hope' being that be believes there's still a hope for their relationship to work.
    "You got a real short skirt, i wanna look up. . ." him commenting on how she's looking a bit, well, slutty and how guys want to look up it - and let's face it, if your girlfriend went out in a really short skirt you'd get a bit annoyed too.
    "We were just in time, let me take a little more off your mind." to be honest, this line is very confusing for me to decipher - the "we were just in time" could be him escaping from the crime scene, the 'we' being him talking to himself or of her dying just in time for him to get away - the "let me take a little more off your mind" is fairly obvious; he's talking about killing her, and the prospect of death makes many other things weighing on her mind seem insignificant in comparison.
    "There's something in my head, somewhere in the back said we were just a good thing. . ." a voice in his head is starting to say things to him, and he's trying to justify his action by telling himself that they were 'just a good thing' - the 'just' being very important as it makes fun of his dead girlfriend and how she's thrown away their 'good' relationship as if it were 'just' nothing.
    "Make it go away without a word." again, could be to do with either sex or murder - both make sense at this point, but the next line makes me lean towards sex.
    "But promise me you'll stay and fix these things I've heard." he wants her to reassure him that the rumors are false and she's not cheating.
    "A crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl." i believe this line is 'tide', so it could be him trying to get rid of her body in the sea, but it still doesn't hide her guilt to him.
    "Jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls." THIS is where the whole cheating thing comes from, where he notices she's getting her hair done ("curls") and putting makeup on ("gloss" - lip gloss) for seemingly no reason and he's starting to get jealous.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 10th 2012 !⃝

    It has always been my impression that this is the one where the main character (singer's POV) is killing his girlfriend (With 'Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf' as the first where he contemplates their break-up, and 'Jenny was a friend of Mine' the third where he lies to the police, trying to convince them he's innocent when he's really not). Here's my reasoning:
    "I'm gunna take you to the Midnight Show tonight" taking Jenny to a Midnight Show of something where they can be alone and intimate
    "If you can keep a secret" possibly where he explains he knows she's cheating on him (more of that later) or more likely the Secret just being where they're going and this is said in an endearing, almost teasing tone, instead of a darker one.
    "I got a blanket on the backseat on my mind" he's thinking about sex in the back of his car
    "She turned her face to speak, but no-one heard her cry" could be to do with sex, or where he is actually killing her and she is crying for help, but nobody came because their location is a secret ("A little place that sits beneath the stars")
    "Drive faster, boy." i think he is talking to himself here, telling himself to get away from the scene of the crime as fast as he can and urging himself even faster.
    "I know there's a hope, there's too many people trying to help me cope." i think this is where people try to help him cope with either her 'death' or the fact that she is unfaithful, the 'hope' being that be believes there's still a hope for their relationship to work.
    "You got a real short skirt, i wanna look up. . ." him commenting on how she's looking a bit, well, slutty and how guys want to look up it - and let's face it, if your girlfriend went out in a really short skirt you'd get a bit annoyed too.
    "We were just in time, let me take a little more off your mind." to be honest, this line is very confusing for me to decipher - the "we were just in time" could be him escaping from the crime scene, the 'we' being him talking to himself or of her dying just in time for him to get away - the "let me take a little more off your mind" is fairly obvious; he's talking about killing her, and the prospect of death makes many other things weighing on her mind seem insignificant in comparison.
    "There's something in my head, somewhere in the back said we were just a good thing. . ." a voice in his head is starting to say things to him, and he's trying to justify his action by telling himself that they were 'just a good thing' - the 'just' being very important as it makes fun of his dead girlfriend and how she's thrown away their 'good' relationship as if it were 'just' nothing.
    "Make it go away without a word." again, could be to do with either sex or murder - both make sense at this point, but the next line makes me lean towards sex.
    "But promise me you'll stay and fix these things I've heard." he wants her to reassure him that the rumors are false and she's not cheating.
    "A crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl." i believe this line is 'tide', so it could be him trying to get rid of her body in the sea, but it still doesn't hide her guilt to him.
    "Jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls." THIS is where the whole cheating thing comes from, where he notices she's getting her hair done ("curls") and putting makeup on ("gloss" - lip gloss) for seemingly no reason and he's starting to get jealous.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 30th 2011 !⃝

    What if it's not literally a murder, just the feeling or the love thingy that was killed in these songs and in leave the bourbon on the shelf I think the speaker is trying to get over the pain of losing jenny by himself, cause he told jenny to leave the pain on the shelf so he could get over it all by himself, that's what I think.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 7th 2011 !⃝

    Oh I just thought of something else (the last post is me too)... So maybe mr. brightside comes AFTER jenny was a friend of mine... "im coming out of my cage and ive been doing just fine"

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 7th 2011 !⃝

    With all this mentioning of the singer killing his girlfriend from jealousy I cant help but this of mr. brightside... I know one person thought it could be part of the story, but nobody else...?
    How interesting, I never realized the story in their songs, and I actually did kind of think 'the killers' was an unoriginal band name but thanks for letting me know its not :)

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 29th 2011 !⃝

    Maybe Brandon Flowers is a murderer..... :)

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 14th 2011 !⃝

    This song is part of a murder trilogy,although, in this song she is getting raped

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 1st 2011 !⃝

    It is said this murder trilogy of songs is about the "Preppie Killer" - Robert Chambers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Emmet_Chambers

  15. JoeStrummersGhost
    click a star to vote
    Sep 2nd 2010 !⃝

    The song is the Second part of the murder trilogy with LTBOTS being the first and Jenny was a friend of mine the last. Midnight show is thwe song that deals with the murder itself. He suffocates Jenny "I took my baby's breath beneath a chandelier of stars and atmosphere and watched her disappear" and throws her body in the ocean "a crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl". This is made clear by the fact that LTBOTS is about Jenny cheating on him and Jenny was a friend.. is clearly "Guy", as the character is named, trying to lie to the polce.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 6th 2010 !⃝

    They are called The Killers for a reason. It's not just an unoriginal name, it's a story.

  17. anonymous
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    Jun 26th 2010 !⃝

    Some of you guys seriously need to do some research.

    There obviously is a murder trilogy, and this is the song where he kills her.

    The Killers were going to make an actual movie, about 20-25 minutes in length if I do recall, about the Murder Trilogy.

    LTBOTS is first, followed by Midnight Show, then JWAFOM. LTBOTS is the reasons for killing Jenny, Midnight Show is the murder, Jenny is when the cops question the killer.

    No, it's not about a guy raping a girl in his van. Sorry. To say it's not a murder story when the band has publicly stated it is is ignorant and asinine.

    Look here: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000938150

    Brandon has said the death is not by drowning, but it does have to do with water. Somewhere I heard a 'baby's breath' is a sort of strangling device, so perhaps he strangles Jenny, then dumps her body into the ocean, hence 'a crashing tide can hide a guilty girl.'

    As for the rest, it's pretty obvious.

    Come with me to the 'makeout place', but don't tell anyone about where we going, so I can kill you, and no one will know.

    As for 'drive faster', it could either be him thinking to himself to GTFO of there, or the girl saying to "drive faster" to the makeout place, which is sort of ironic since she's about to meet her death.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 28th 2010 !⃝

    I have no idea if this is really about a murder (I'm not sure where this whole 'murder trilogy' came from, if that was Brandon's line or if someone just came up with the idea on here), but I just wanted to say that baby's breath is a type of flower. They are tiny white flowers often put together with red roses, so the line 'I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier' may have nothing to do with choking/strangling....it could refer to flowers. Just thought I'd put that out there.

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