What does Mr Brightside mean?

The Killers: Mr Brightside Meaning

Album cover for Mr Brightside album cover

Song Released: 2003


Mr Brightside Lyrics

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...

  1. anonymous
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    Mar 18th 2010 !⃝

    I thought it was al in his head and that he was just paronode. Because in one stanza he says,"It's all in my head but she's touching his chest now he takes off her dress." I thought he was dreaming it all up.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  2. anonymous
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    Mar 6th 2010 !⃝

    I looked up the guy who wrote the song and why. He caught his girlfriend with another man. The backround toward the end shows memories of the singer and his girlfriend (White haired woman in blue dress). I believe that she is seeing another man, and the singer catches her. The man who wrote the song was sleeping an dhad a weird feeling about his girlfriend and went to a hotel. There, he caught her with another man. The line, "And it's all in my head", refers to him having a weird feeling while he's asleep. "It's killing me, and taking control" refers to his feeling leading him to the hotel. This is what I feel the video is getting at. That he catches his girlfriend cheating.

  3. anonymous
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    Jan 31st 2010 !⃝

    Hmm no offence but I believe you all have it all wrong. I think I read an article about it being his girl cheating with his best friend. But what you are all doing is taking it in little pieces analysing the tiny things making it not possible for you to see the big picture. I think he had a best friend who was a girl but he had secret feelings for her. But instead of telling her he introduced her to his other mate not imagining it would lead any where thus the line " it was only a kiss " but now they are together he cant imagine them together and how he is jealous. Just my opinion. ( please don't be too harsh I'm only 13. ) The reason I believe I know this is I have done the exact same thing.

  4. anonymous
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    Jan 16th 2010 !⃝

    I think that with a song so amazing like Mr Brightside, everyone feels differently about it.
    I actually read somewhere that it is the first part of a murder story.
    The first song is Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf, then Mr Brightside, then Midnight Show, then Jenny was a Friend of Mine. The first is him missing her, then him seeing her with someone else, then killing and stashing the body and then the police interview. Its fictional, PS, don't read too far into that.
    Also I read that in Mr Brightside, the real life antagonist might be Matthew Gray Gubler (who plays Simon in Alvin and the Chipmunks) because he was linked to this Jenny girl shortly after her and Brandon Flowers broke up.
    So yeah.
    n__n

  5. anonymous
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    Dec 10th 2009 !⃝

    I just saw the interview with lead singer and a few of those below were right. The song was written when Brandon went to a pub one night and saw his girlfriend kissing another guy. Hate to burst everyone's bubble...no prostitutes, nothing but pure dejected love!

  6. hindutimes
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    Nov 24th 2009 !⃝

    Oh and I have experienced this sorta thing, and it's just a fuckin' thorn in the heart multiple times! you can't do anything because you're weak, you don't seem better, your not too good enough for her! all those kinds of stuff but I'm coping with it, best to do is be friends with her- that's what the status is with me now, hopefully more lots of fruitful relationship will come to me eventually.

  7. hindutimes
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    Nov 24th 2009 !⃝

    Lisa's first interpretation is plain stupid.

    It's about a guy caring and thinking about a girl who just thought it was just for fun or who suddenly lost interest in him gradually- Mr. Brightside just came out from his cage (probably another heartbreak or saga in his life, work etc..) and he's just doing fine- but he wants it all, love including- then it ended up like that, it was only a gettin' to know her or a kiss is all.

    He probably imagines her with another guy whose better than himself making him jealous angry.

    It's not a freakin' murder.

    Stupid ass Lisa should go to hell by stating a stupid ignorant interpretation like that..

  8. Samalander
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    Nov 22nd 2009 !⃝

    I agree with Lisa about the whole jail concept but
    "choking on your alibis" might mean he wasn't even able to come up with an alibi when confronted by the police. He stumbled, looked guilty, probably admitted to the murder(s) and is in jail.
    But he's Mr. Brightside (looking at the positive side), he was just protecting his new-found love, and his heart, right?

  9. anonymous
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    Nov 18th 2009 !⃝

    What i get from this song is..

    They were in a relationship, it ended, hes left at home, while shes out with a guy, hes stuck thinking about it in his head, shes moving on from him with this other guy, hes asking for his eyes to be open so he can see the brightside.

  10. anonymous
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    Nov 12th 2009 !⃝

    Yeah just wanted to say The Cure did not write this song so username shut the hell up because you are wrong and fucking stupid. The song is about jealousy just if anyone wants to know what I think.

  11. anonymous
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    Nov 11th 2009 !⃝

    This song is very well written. The song is about an optimistic man, hence the name 'Mr Brightside'. He meets a girl who takes an interest in him. She may have kissed him in a night club, for example. He then takes a strong attraction to her. However, the constant switching between first and third person signifies that he and other people both have been involved with this girl. An example may be; if the main character kisses a girl in a night club and takes a particular liking to her, but then she moves on and gets with other men. The main character felt he had a special bond with the girl, only to find she could enjoy herself as much with other men. This is an example of what the song signifies. However, the behaviour described is only natural; an evolutionary approach would suggest that the girl selects men based on who is the fittest or better looking, therefore the main character must accept that he is not this.

  12. anonymous
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    Nov 11th 2009 !⃝

    Like some of the best song interpretations for this perticular song; I also believe that it's about a man who falls for girls too easily.

    It's about a man who becomes too easily attached to girls he meets in, for an example, a night club and has a passionate time with. Then he finds the girl is only doing this for a night of no-strings fun and he becomes jelous.

    What a lot of song interpretations don't take into account for this song is the constant changing betweeen first and third person. I believe it signifies the fact that a girl that he has become attached to can easily change between having fun with the song's first person character, and any other men she happens to meet and have fun with.

    The song's main character then takes a background role, watching the girl he has become attached to, and at times involving himself with her. It pains him to do so as he has strong feelings for her which are not returned, however she does not realise and it becomes a major part of his life.

  13. anonymous
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    Nov 11th 2009 !⃝

    I think just in saying "'cause I'm Mr. Brightside" is saying that he's still optimistic about life after this girl. Also, what does the chorus mean?!

  14. anonymous
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    Oct 5th 2009 !⃝

    I think that its about how he is in love with a girl who is his friend but she is with another guy. They kissed once and it didnt mean anything to the girl but the guy fell in love with her. He now cant stand to see the girl with her boyfriend because he keeps imaging what might be happening between them.

  15. anonymous
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    Sep 23rd 2009 !⃝

    I heard it's about an ex-girlfriend of one of the guys from the Killers who cheated on him.




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