What does Spaceman mean?

The Killers: Spaceman Meaning

Album cover for Spaceman album cover

Song Released: 2008


Spaceman Lyrics

It started with a low light
Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed
And then they took my blood type
It left a strange impression in my head
You know that I was hoping
That I could leave this star crossedworld behind,
But when they...

  1. anonymous
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    Jan 29th 2009 !⃝

    Sometimes the interpretation it's just....easy...watch the video too...here we're only talkin' about aliens...

  2. anonymous
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    Jan 17th 2009 !⃝

    Couldn't it just be about an alien abduction? Seriously, you're all looking too deep I think!

  3. lostf8
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    Jan 14th 2009 !⃝

    This isn't just a song about a man. This is Brandon Flowers speaking to the listener in form of song.
    I believe at some point he botched a suicide and is warning his listeners that it is not worth it.
    "The public don't dwell on my transmission because it wasn't televised." His attempt at suicide was never discovered by the media so the huge story that would have broke about Brandon Flowers attempting suicide was never brought up.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. humber
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    Jan 9th 2009 !⃝

    If you listen to the album day and age you will be able to spot a continuous theme between the first four tracks. The first is losing touch and conveys emotions of how he is losing touch with life. The second is human and talks of dying, where the person questions his life and its meaning. The third is spaceman and if you follow the first two songs correctly you will be able to recognise how this song is the story of how he has been revived in hospital following dying(human) it started with a low light ( the light above a hospital bed often shown in movies when crossing between life and death ) ripped me from my bed and took my blood type. This is being done while he is not fully aware of what is happening. (hence the vagueness of what is happening and the seeming nonsensical lyrics). Hoping he could leave the world behind ( he was depressed as realised in losing touch track 1) but when they cut him open (hospital operation, he changed his mind.) you can continue breaking this down into the situation of a fight between life and death in hospital. The spaceman song maker and dream maker are all the same person. (God) and certain parts of the song represent an encounter with god. ( the killers show spiritual reference in many other songs also) track 4 shows how he has won his battle for life and is now enjoying life. (joyride)

  5. anonymous
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    Jan 4th 2009 !⃝

    It's about any life-changing mind-opening shocking event whatsoever, most probably psychedelic though.

  6. ERod
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    Jan 3rd 2009 !⃝

    This song is more about ronny (the drummer of the killers)...in an interview the killers admitted that ronny kinda believes in aliens so its just a fantasy story of someone being abducted...ALSO, when he says "The spaceman says everybody look down..." and "you're caught between the devil and the deep blue see.." that's because some believe that "aliens" might live under water too..
    i dont know where people got the whole suicide thing from..

    THE KILLERS ROCK!

  7. anonymous
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    Dec 17th 2008 !⃝

    I believe that this song actually contains aspects of depression and todays political unrest. I think the first verse is him referencing about how he is tired of this world but hangs on through it. Using his "references". But I think the chorus suggests that the "Songmaker" is the media, hollywood, or other outlets that say "it's not so bad", the "dreammaker" is a Politican or Leader, thats "gonna make you mad", ane the "Spaceman" is either God, or someone or something else, and says everybody look down, its all in your mind. Meaning that our problems in the world are not that big of deal, and are really our own fault and unneeded. Almost out of frustration.

  8. nattymaygusta
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    Dec 16th 2008 !⃝

    I think, that the boys are just having fun coming up with a story of being abducted from aliens. not some in depth thing.

  9. anonymous
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    Dec 7th 2008 !⃝

    In the beginning the man dreams of being an astronaut. The man is abducted by aliens, and he is probed and studied. The aliens disregarded bombs and satellites take him to space. This leads to the death of his child hood dreams; beings an astronaut. The aliens, (the storm maker, the dream maker and the space man), then say that it's all in his head and lands him back at home. No one believes him because it wasnt' televised. So he begins to belive them and he believes he's fine, but then he hears the voices of the aliens and he tries to justify the abduction. He remembers that they said the nile used to run from east to west and tries to use his global positioning system. He says he's fine but he goes crazy and replays the event over and over in his head.

    All of this is a metaphor, although, for the man trying to commit suicide.

    The low light, the ripping him from the bed, and the cutting open of his chest, the probing is actually the paramedics coming to get him after he tried to kill himself because he thinks someone in particular(a past girlfriend) doesn't care about him. After he did it he wanted to change his mind because a friend came to his side and started calling him by his own name, but he was already in his way to heaven. He was too far from the floor, he was too far from earth. The white lights of heaven were zipping him up. He was disregarding the bombs and satellites, which represent the machines trying to keep him alive. Then the people pulled him back from heaven. The person who cares about him,says that life isn't so bad. The perspon whom he cares about, is gonna make him mad, because she doesn't care about him. She won't make his dream come true. The paramedics says come back down from heaven, all this suffering is in the man's head. Now he's back in his normal routine and he's looking forward to his life, but he is still hurt that his certain someone isn't a part of his life. He then gives advice saying be hesitant about taking your life. He says that you have to think it over before you commit suicide. He is of course, tring to convince himself this. He says he's fine, but he hears her the person to which he cares at night and he starts justifying his reasons for trying to kill himself. He thinks it's okay to do it because no one cares. He tells(vocally adresses) the person how he feels about her but the person he cares about says she doesn't feel the same about him anymore. That they could have been together before,(The Nile used to run from east to west), but now it's different. She can't make his dream come true. The man tells her he's okay with it, but at the end he tries to kill himself again.

    The probing = tests by the paramedics.
    Aliens = God/Person he cares about
    Abduction = Suicide attempt
    No believing him = No one caring about him
    Storm Maker = Friend who cries over him
    Dream Maker = Girl he likes that doesn't like him
    Spaceman = Paramedic
    Voices of aliens = Voices saying he can't be with the gir
    Dreams of Astronaut = Dreams of being with the girl
    Death of dreams = Realization he can't be with the girl

  10. anonymous
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    Dec 7th 2008 !⃝

    I believe this song is more about a guy that tried to commit suicide and then he woke up in a hospital with people trying to save him. Then he "changed my mind" and decided that living was better, his "turning point."

    He goes on and talks about suicide: "You better look it over
    Before you make that leap."

  11. anonymous
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    Dec 6th 2008 !⃝

    I'm not to sure its all as simple as just being abducted.
    I think that is perhaps a song about coping with depression.

    The first verse is about what caused his depression, and the event itself. He says he was "hoping I could leave this star - crossed world behind" seems to be a reference to suicide although he changed his mind when he was "cut open".

    Then he has "gone to far from the floor this time" A reference to having his eye opened perhaps? or how he has gone to far. Then the "zipping white light beams" that disregard "bombs and satellites", a methaphor for us and how fast life can go by while we ignore the things that happen in our lives, both good annd bad.

    Then the "turning point . . . one lonely night" is when he learns to cope with it all.

    Chorus I am not sure about, the people in them could be a reference to the "voices" he heres later on or perhaps people in his life, or parts of himself, but there do seeem to be conotations with regards to mental health here. Maybe he sees himself as a spaceman, cut off from everyone else?

    The next verse in when he's back at home after coming back from hospital, feeling better and looking forward to life but still nervous. In the second part it appears he's giving advice, "stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, you better look it over before ou make that leeap" The person he is talking to can not decide between death "the devil" or life "the deep blue sea (the unknown)".

    After this he says he's fine reinforcing the fact things have changed, but he still "hears those voices at night" showing that he still struggles occasionally and goes through bad pathes.

    The "public doesn't dwell on [his] transmission, because it wasn't televised" If his transmission was a cry for help (the suicide attempt)then we can say that not many people know about it and a lot of them have tried to move on and forget about it.

    His global position systems" let him know where he is, I hinkk is meant in an emotional sense and because they are "vocally addresed" it shows that talking helps. As for saying the "nile used to run from east to west" he is saying that even though things seem as if they will never chang they will eventually.

    Well yer that's my interpretation, a little long but I thought I should provide some evidence instead of just disagreeing wih everyone else ;)

  12. anonymous
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    Dec 2nd 2008 !⃝

    I do believe they meant a person that starts to lose its mind, because he/she believes he/she was abducted, but they only narrate the belief of the person and the happenings of his/hers life. But the song clearly states that the person is losing its mind, as the chorus say: The star maker says it ain't so bad, the dream maker is gonna make you mad.
    The spaceman in this idea is either the abductor, who says to the person to look down (pretend it didn't happen), or someone with importance (government, etc).
    This metaphor I believe could give a wider sense to the song.

  13. SingSongRallyOn
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    Nov 27th 2008 !⃝

    Well i think this song doesn't neccessarily have anything to do with the Sam's Town album, because that one was great. I think, considering the beginning of the song, the guy thinks he was abducted by aliens, but no one really wants to believe him. just an idea.

  14. anonymous
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    Nov 27th 2008 !⃝

    I believe that this song is about a man who at one time wanted to become an astronaut. Then he is abducted by aliens. "It started with a lowlight/next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed." This is a pretty common description of abductions. The man says he dreamed of leaving this star crossed world. But that all changed when THEY cut me open. He speaks of a ship passing satellites and bombs. The second part speaks of how he is dealing with this event now. In the line about him hearing THEM, it seems he can't get over it.
    The star maker and storm maker lines refer to childhood ideas of the world and his new ideas of the world. The spaceman is himself, or who he wanted to be and the spaceman is trying to make him "look down" or ignore these events, because its his dream to become an "spaceman". It also seems that the song refers to society in the fact that the world doesn't care of his adventure because is wasn't broadcasted.

    I think the song uses strange circumstances to explain a common moment in a person's life. The moment when their childhood ambitions are questioned and destroyed by an adult experience.

  15. iheartjakeryan
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    Nov 16th 2008 !⃝

    I am not going to do the whole song but I think the chorus is about the public's reception to "Sam's Town". I think the starmaker is like the record company and their producers. The dreammaker is their fanbase as a whole. The spaceman is the band. The chorus goes "The starmaker says it's not so bad. The dreammaker is gonna make you mad. The spaceman says everybody look down, it's all in your head." I think this mean that the producer thought "Sam's Town" was good but the public didn't agree. The band saying that the album was a bad nightmare but this album is the real thing.

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