"A Dustland Fairytale" is a song by American rock band The Killers, released as the fourth single from the band's third studio album, Day & Age (2008). The Killers performed the song live on The Late Show with David Letterman accompanied by an orchestra in 2009.
| "A Dustland Fairytale" | ||||
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| Single by The Killers | ||||
| from the album Day & Age | ||||
| B-side | "Forget About What I Said" | |||
| Released | May 9, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Heartland rock | |||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| The Killers singles chronology | ||||
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The song's lyrics focus upon frontman Brandon Flowers' parents, referring to "Cinderella" (his mother) and a "slick chrome American prince" (his father).[1]
Background
editIn 2013, vocalist Brandon Flowers noted that the track's lyrical content and aesthetic is similar to that of the band's previous studio album, Sam's Town: "["A Dustland Fairytale"] is me not being completely able to let go of Sam's Town! I wanted to - I wanted to go in a new direction, and there were a lot of new sounds on Day & Age, but on that song, I was really holding onto the last record. I still love Sam's Town, and you can really hear it in the words and sentiment of that song. It's more like an extension of Sam's Town, and not a reaction to it. It's one of the more personal narratives I've written, and it seems like the more personal I get, the more the fans respond and grow attached to the song."[2]
2021 version
edit| "Dustland" | ||||
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| Single by The Killers featuring Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| Released | June 21, 2021 | |||
| Recorded | 2021 | |||
| Genre | Heartland rock | |||
| Length | 4:25 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| The Killers singles chronology | ||||
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| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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A recording released June 16, 2021 under the shortened name "Dustland" features Bruce Springsteen singing in the second verse, both choruses and the bridge, accompanied by Brandon Flowers singing in the first and second verse along with the second chorus and bridge.[3]
Artwork
editThe cover art for the single is a portrait of the band's bassist Mark Stoermer, and is one of the four portraits drawn by Paul Normansell for the album.
Track listing
edit- UK 7" picture disc
- "A Dustland Fairytale" – 3:45
- "Forget About What I Said" – 2:57[4]
- UK digital EP[5]
- "A Dustland Fairytale" – 3:45
- "A Dustland Fairytale" (video) – 5:09
Chart performance
editIn December 2008, "A Dustland Fairytale" charted in the UK Top 200 on album track downloads alone, at number 158, in the week of its official release it re-entered at 137.
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[6] | 137 |
| US Billboard Alternative Songs[7] | 36 |
Music video
editThe video was directed by Anthony Mandler who also directed Killers videos for "Tranquilize" and "When You Were Young".[citation needed] It was released on US iTunes on June 8, 2009.
The video premiered in the UK on June 16 on Channel 4 and 4Music.
The video's style references the cult classic movie The Outsiders. The video starts with an old man named Joe White, smoking with a tattoo of the number 7 on one of his fingers. It then reflects on a younger man, "Joey", showing the same 7 on the finger, dressed in a leather jacket, white shirt and leather pants and about to fight a member of another gang, "Billy", for his own gang, the "Sevens". Throughout the video, it shows the boy, Joey, dating a brunette girl, then there is a flashback of Joey looking at the brunette girl through her window, while it shows the older man going to all the locations shown, reflecting on the memories of his youth. Interspersed with this is a letter that the man has, showing that he has just been released from prison, which gives a clue to the result of the initial fight—he kills Billy. The final shot is of an older Joe visiting a house, ringing the doorbell to find an older brunette woman answer the door, and they embrace.
Release history
editThe song was released as the third single from the band's third studio album Day & Age in North America. In the UK, Europe and Australia, the third single released was "The World We Live In".[8]
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | November 23, 2008 | Digital download | Island Records |
| North America | June 9, 2009 | Video download | Island Def Jam |
| United Kingdom | August 9, 2009[9] | Digital EP | Mercury Records |
| United Kingdom | August 10, 2009 | 7 inch vinyl | Mercury Records |
References
edit- ^ "Songfacts.com A Dustland Fairytale". Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Flowers, Brandon. "Brandon Flowers Writes Track-By-Track To The Killers' Greatest Hits Album". nme.com. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "The Killers and Bruce Springsteen Share New Song "Dustland"".
- ^ "B Side". Amazon. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Digital EP". ITunes. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "[1] Archived 2008-10-14 at the Wayback Machine". chartsplus. Retrieved on August 20, 2009.
- ^ "US Mod Rock". Billboard. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Dustland for North America". Billboard. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Petridis, Alexis. "New Single Out August 10th". London: Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2016.