The Killers - Part Deux

Where was I…? Oh yes! The Killers!! 😉 

My favorite album is…I have no idea, hahaha. If I would have to pick though, I think I would play Sam’s Town on repeat all day long. It’s just a great album to listen to from start to finish. “Sam’s Town” (the title track) sucks you in from the beginning, and the bookends “Enterlude” and “Exitlude” pull together a great musical and lyrical endeavor that really is an experience to enjoy.

They have great Christmas songs. Yes. Christmas Songs. They come out with one almost every single year. My favorites are “A Great Big Sled”, “Don’t Shoot Me Santa”, and “The Cowboy’s Christmas Ball”. You should listen to them all. For Science.

Top 10 favorite The Killers songs? (Really in no particular order)

1. Smile Like You Mean It
2. Read My Mind
3. All These Things That I’ve Done
4. Mr. Brightside
5. Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll
6. Under The Gun
7. Sam’s Town
8. Everything Will Be Alright
9. A Dustland Fairytale
10. The Ballad of Michael Valentine

Here are some of the reasons why I love these songs:

As I mentioned before, “All These Things That I’ve Done” is a go-to performance song for me. It’s a great song in and of itself, and most people have heard it at one time or another. Plus, it’s an absolute blast to sing/perform when you have a full band behind you. Gets my “soul” moving every time.

I love, love, love the chorus to “Mr. Brightside”. It’s always been my favorite part of that song. There is so much energy behind it. It is a thrill to see it performed live as well. The entire crowd gets behind Mr. Flowers, and the place just rocks. Plus, who doesn’t want to be “Mr. Brightside”?? “Destiny is calling me!” “Open up my eager eyes.”

“Everything Will Be Alright” has helped me through many a hard time. It’s a nice, slower tune as far as their songs go, but more than that, it’s been a reminder to me that everything will actually be alright. No matter what comes, things will turn out to be what they will be, AND it will be alright. “And that is an encouraging thought.” – Gandalf the Grey. To be frank, The Killers’ songs as a whole are something that I can turn to in some of my worst personal struggles, and for some reason almost instantly feel better. They’ve helped me in times of depression, anxiety, death of loved ones, heartache, failure, and doubt. They just engage my soul again and I will be ever grateful for that.

“Glamorous Indie Rock And Roll”, “Under The Gun”, “Sam’s Town”, and “The Ballad of Michael Valentine” are just great jingles to rock out to in your living room or in the car with all the windows down. They are melodic in the best possible way, and an absolute thrill to sing at the top of your lungs if you get the chance.

“A Dustland Fairytale”. A beautiful, energizing ballad with a climactic end that holds a lot of emotions for me personally. When it was released with Day & Age I immediately fell in love with it. At around the same time I was also in one of the most challenging romantic relationships of my life. So it reminds me of that time and what I was going through, personally. As a result, this song is bittersweet for me. Like I said, I absolutely love the song, but it does bring up feelings and memories that are sometimes hard to think about, you know? It’s funny how a simple song, melody, or lyric can do that. But I’m thankful that they do.

“Read My Mind”. Just, wow. All around topnotch number. Can’t say enough good things about this song. It has tenderness, raw…ness, bravado, and enough emotion to overflow the cup of pursuit three times over. I sang this as a cover during one of our Counterfeit Digits shows in Provo, UT, and it has been one of the absolute highlights of my time as a singer. If I can figure out how to do it, I want to trim the video I have and post it for you all. I also love the music video for this song. The band filmed it in Japan and it’s so quirky and at times, weird. But, it’s sooooo good haha! I love it. And I love this song.

Bonus song: “Just Another Girl”

“Just Another Girl” always reminds me of my wife. She and I dated off and on for about a year before we got engaged and then married. And when I say “off and on”, what I really mean is that I broke up with her twice during that year. (And yes, yes. I know. I was a complete idiot for doing that. Twice.) But that second time we were basically done. Each of us tried to date other people, and obviously that did work out. I remember thinking about her. And about this song. This is the chorus to that song:

“All of my friends say I should move on
She's just another girl, don't let her stick it to your heart so hard
And all of my friends say it wasn't meant to be
And it's a great big world, she's just another girl”

Literally my friends were saying this to me about my now wife. That I needed to move on. That I’d find someone new. And I remember one day listening to this song and the lyrical rebuttal:

“Then why can't I sleep at night
And why don't the moon look right
The sounds up, the TV's on
And it's a great big world”

And I thought to myself, “No. I can’t get her off my mind, and there’s a reason for that. She’s not just another girl.” And as they say, the rest is history.

So there you have it. The many, many reasons why I love The Killers. There is more believe it or not, but I don’t want to bore you all, and I want to write about different stuff too.

I’ve taken the liberty of making a playlist of my all-time favorite The Killers songs on my Spotify account for everyone to enjoy! It’s titled “the BEST Killer songs, or at least the ones I love”. I’ll add it to the link list on the right-hand side of the blog. Have a look, take a listen and let me know which are your favorites. Or, if you don’t like The Killers, let me know why. I’d love to hear! Who is your favorite band??

P.S. The Killers are also releasing a new album soon titled Imploding the Mirage. I'm stoked!!