"Mr. Brightside" is the sort of iconic, catchy song that you can find yourself screaming at the top of your lungs at a party or even just humming to yourself, without ever knowing how it first entered your head. Perhaps this is why the song has held up so well over the last decade and still seems fresh, even on the thousandth listen. To mark the 10th anniversary of the release of this song, we thought we'd share its story, from birth to becoming a part of music history: Show The song originally sounded like this. The band passed out this version as a demo while playing shows in their hometown of Las Vegas. "Mr. Brightside" is actually the first song the band ever wrote. The song is inspired by a real-life girlfriend of Brandon Flowers' who cheated on him. In an interview with Q Magazine in 2009, Brandon Flowers elaborated that he caught his girlfriend cheating in the Crown & Anchor Pub in Las Vegas.
Here are a couple pictures of the British-themed birthplace in case you're not going to make the pilgrimage.
The lead-guitarist, Dave Keuning, originally composed the lyrics before meeting Flowers. After they started playing together, Flowers wrote more lyrics and the chorus. Keuning actually plays bass in the early demo. This is a very early review of their original demo. Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci were not members of The Killers when "Mr. Brightside" was written and recorded for the first time. There are two versions of the music video, one for the US and one for the UK. The UK version: The US version: Brandon Flowers discussed a bit of the song's history with NME in 2012.
And this isn't necessarily history but cartoon-artist, Roz Gibson, made an elaborate comic book to the song that gives it a whole new meaning. The song has received a strong and enduring critical reception. NME ranked it the fifth best song of both 2004 when it came out and then the fifth best song of the last 15 years in 2011. It also made various lists of "best songs of the decade" in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, VH1 and many others. Is Mr. Brightside about cheating?' According to Brandon Flowers, frontman of the Killers, their song “Mr. Brightside” was about a girlfriend who cheated on him, which he discovered when he saw her kissing another man at a pub. As for the title, it implied that, despite this heartbreak, he'd have to persist, and try to keep looking on the bright side.
Who is The Killers song about?It's about The Killers' lead singer's ex-girlfriend who cheated on him. Guitarist Dave In an interview with Q magazine, lead singer Brandon Flowers told the story of he found out about the cheating, he said: “I was asleep and I knew something was wrong. I have these instincts.
Why is the song called Mr. Brightside?According to a 2009 interview with Q Magazine, the meaning of “Mr. Brightside” has to do with Flowers' first-ever relationship, taking place when he was in his early twenties. One night he walked into a bar in Las Vegas to find his girlfriend at the bar with another man.
Is Mr. Brightside based on Moulin Rouge?The second one, based on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, was filmed for the song's re-release.
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