“Mr. Brightside” Lyrics & Meaning (The Killers)

Have you ever had the feeling your significant other was cheating on you?

Or worse, you knew it for a fact?

It tears you up inside.

So what do you do?

Many turn to music. In fact, many turn to the song Mr. Brightside by the Killers.

If you’re Brandon Flowers of The Killers, you write a song and name it Mr Brightside.

There are a lot of ways people deal with this type of heartbreak. Flowers channeled it into one of the most popular songs of the 2000s.

Keep reading to learn exactly what the lyrics to Mr. Brightside mean, and how the song came about.

 

Mr. Brightside Lyrics And Meaning

Mr. Brightside by The Killers was a bit hit back in the day and is still popular today. It even made it onto Rolling Stones’ list of the 500 greatest songs of all time (number 114 in the latest update).

The song is based on a real-life event that happened to singer Brandon Flowers. But it almost didn’t survive an encounter with an album by the Strokes.

Brandon told NME what happened before he wrote the song in late 2001.

He and Dave Keuning had written a lot of songs at the time, trying to find what moved them. One time they went to the Virgin Megastore and bought The Strokes’ Is This It album, and put it on in the car.

The album sounded so perfect that the musician became depressed and decided to destroy everything they had written up to that point, only keeping Mr. Brightside.

The song was included on an ‘ideas cassette’ given to him by Dave. One of the ideas was the riff for Mr. Brightside. He added a chorus and some lyrics. But it was not until they tried it for the first time with drums that they knew how special the melody was.

The romantic disappointment suffered by Brandon Flowers, the vocalist and leader, gave life to what would become the group’s franchise song and, also the dawn of its success.

 

Mr. Brightside by The Killers Lyrics

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 and she’s calling a cab
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, but she’s touching his

[Pre-Chorus]
Chest now, he takes off her
Dress now, let me go
And I just can’t look; it’s killing me
They’re taking control

[Chorus]
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay, destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes, ’cause I’m Mr. Brightside

[Verse]
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 and she’s calling a cab
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, but she’s touching his

[Pre-Chorus]
Chest now, he takes off her
Dress now, let me go
‘Cause I just can’t look, it’s killing me
They’re taking control

[Chorus]
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis
But it’s just the price I pay, destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes, ’cause I’m Mr. Brightside

[Outro]
I never…
I never…
I never…
I never…

 

Mr. Brightside Meaning

Flowers has said that the lyrics are about a girlfriend of his, whom he caught with another guy at the Crown & Anchor Pub in Las Vegas. He gave it the title Mr. Brightside, because he considers himself an optimist and tries to see the “bright side” of things.

“All the emotions in the song are real. When I was writing the lyrics, my wounds were still fresh. I’m Mr. Brightside! I think this is why the song has stuck around, because it’s real,” he said.

Inspired by a personal story, very typical of the singer and leader of the band, he talks about lack of love, jealousy, deception, and the inexplicable feeling that comes with seeing a lover get involved with another.

The beginning of the song starts with the lyrics “Coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine. Gotta, gotta be down because I want it all.”

This can suggest that he has been “in a cage” emotionally, not letting anyone into his life, and being afraid of getting hurt. But now he’s been opening up and everything is okay. Actually, it is more than okay because now he wants it all – he’s completely in love and wants to enjoy the relationship to the fullest.

The text then continues “It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss.” Here, he is remembering their first kiss together and reveals that he had no intention of staying with the girl. But from that one kiss, the relationship evolved and now he’s in love.

“Now I’m falling asleep and she’s calling a cab.” Some time has passed and he’s going to bed alone, without her.

She is calling a cab (probably a late-night ride, since he’s falling asleep), suggesting she’s sneaking out (or simply going out late from her home) to meet someone. Late-night meetings while the partner is asleep usually suggest cheating.

The following lines support such a claim as they go “While he’s having a smoke and she’s taking a drag, now they’re going to bed, and my stomach is sick.”

She is with another guy, they are smoking together, and after cigarettes, the two of them are going to bed, explicitly implying a romance. “And my stomach is sick” suggests that he knows about it and it’s making him nauseated.

And just before the chorus begins, he says “And it’s all in my head” implying that he’s either dreaming or more likely, simply laying in bed and thinking about it.

While laying in bed just before falling asleep, people often experience dreamlike thoughts that come from the subconsciousness. In other words, he strongly believes that she’s cheating.

The pre-chorus explains what he’s thinking his girlfriend is doing “but she’s touching his… chest now, he takes off her dress now.” There is a pause between the words “his” and “chest” leaving us with a different rhyme in mind at this moment.

“Sick” rhymes with a more vulgar word for the male reproductive organ and many people believe that this is exactly what he meant but did not want to put into song (for various obvious reasons). Instead, the singer shifts to the word “chest” to sound more polite.

“Let me go, I just can’t look, it’s killing me, they’re taking control.” Obviously, his imagination now goes on like a burning fire and the more he thinks about it, the more he’s getting sick. He wants to stop but he can’t as “they’re taking control.”

The chorus goes “Jealousy, turning saints into the sea. Swimming through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis. But it’s just the price I pay, destiny is calling me. Open up my eager eyes, ’cause I’m Mr. Brightside”.

Jealousy is the main theme of the song and here he admits he’s jealous. His lullabies are sick thoughts about his girlfriend having an affair.

“Choking on your alibis” may imply that this has happened before, that he has confronted her and she had “alibis” which he did not believe to be real.

Finally, as he recollects everything – her cheating on him, him not believing her alibis, his late-night sorrow, and sickness because of that – he suddenly becomes “Mr. Brightside”.

He has finally come to terms with the situation, and while being sick at the moment, he’s happy because he’s gotten closure that the relationship is doomed. His destiny is calling him. Accept it and move on.

The second verse is completely identical to the first one, but now as we have a perspective on what’s going on, the second verse can be interpreted differently.

“I’m coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine. Gotta, gotta be down because I want it all.” He’s no longer in his cage of negative thoughts and constant sickness, he’s doing fine now.

“It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?” A kiss is a nice and romantic gesture with which people show affection. But how did it come to this – from affection and kissing to breaking up? And then he recaps everything that has happened, remembering how it came down to this.

 

Mr Brightside Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

The Killers‘ Mr. Brightside is a great song about a terrible experience. Unfortunately it is an experience almost everyone goes through at least once, and often many, many times. Like Phil Collins. The lyrics to In The Air Tonight have the same meaning, essentially.

Perhaps the universal experience is why this song has endured. It is also why it made our list of great songs about detectives.

Of course, it’s a great song, but many other great songs do not stand the test of time. Maybe this one does, because it speaks to a pain that humans have always felt, and always will feel.

Whatever the reason, this is a song that deserves all of its accolades!

Another song that received ton of accolades was the biggest hit from Third Eye Blind. Unfortunately, this song was so overplayed that many people grew to hate it and its upbeat happiness. However, the meaning of the lyrics for Semi-Charmed Life is much darker that most ever knew.