Talk:Mr. Brightside

Latest comment: 5 months ago by Sollyucko in topic MoS

Re: “It became more popular when a re-recorded version was released in 2004…” I don’t see anything anywhere else online saying that the 2003 release and 2004 release were different recordings.

Xbox 360 Unveiling edit

This song was performed by The Killers at the unveiling of the 360. Relevant? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.75.198.128 (talk) 08:38, 7 June 2008 (UTC)Reply

Connection to Bowie's Queen Bitch? edit

has anyone notices lyrical/thematic and also some melodic similarities(in parts)to queen bitch by david bowie? Is it possible that that song had some influence on mr. brightside? ~~Robberex —Preceding unsigned comment added by Robberex (talkcontribs) 05:20, 9 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Considering that The Killers have covered Bowie's "Moonage Daydream", I would say that it's possible.--Remurmur (talk) 17:09, 8 June 2009 (UTC)Reply

title Mr Brightside edit

It's called Mr Brightside because he is an optimist?? it's complete sarcasm, isn't it? He is picturing all these things in his head that haven't even happened, he's the exact opposite of an optimist. Unless someone can provide a source for that, I'm taking it out. Oreo man 17:05, 6 June 2006 (UTC)Reply

I agree - he says "it's all in my head", so he's probably bing pessimistic. However if it is based real life and his girlfriend was cheating on him then maybe he is being optimistic and hoping that he's imagining it. Zabdiel 14:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

It's more of a declaration of restlessness & madness. The thin white duke remix does it better justice I think... 24.148.118.190 08:53, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Unfortunately I cannot give you a source, but it's called Mr. Brightside because he IS optimistic about his girlfriend cheating on him. He's Mr. Brightside because they are the one who have the problem, not him. It was written by The Killer's drummer for Brandon Flowers(the singer) after his grilfriend cheated on him Peeto87 (talk) 10:25, 3 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

I feel that it can't be taken too literally either way, it's more of an irony. But I agree with the user's opinion above me. My interpretation of open up my eager eyes he doesn't want to see or know what he does about his girlfriend because of course, that sucks. But now that he knows he has clarity on the relationship and is Mr. Brightside because he can finally move on with his life and have a new, hopefully more positive beginning. Subatomicserenade (talk) 12:10, 4 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

Lyric Link edit

The link doesn't seem to work - if it's not just a temp thing it should be removed Zabdiel 14:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)Reply


Beethoven? edit

Is it worth mentioning that the closing melody of the song is pretty much a direct lift of the "Ode to Joy" movement of Beethoven's Ninth? 143.252.80.100 14:36, 29 August 2006 (UTC) +1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.230.215.13 (talk) 17:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

I fully agree that it has a strong similarity. I opened this article as I just wanted to suggest to mention this similarity in the article. Mprofitl (talk) 20:12, 12 October 2013 (UTC)Reply

Saints into the sea edit

Does anyone know the origin of this lyric? It stands out on it's own from the rest of the song and appears to be a 'saying' of some kind?

I think it makes reference to the Legend of Saint John of Nepomuk. "King Wenceslaus suspected his wife, who was accustomed to confess to Magister John, and called upon the latter to declare the name of her paramour. On John's refusal to say anything, the king ordered him to be drowned."--Espazolano 16:25, 2 October 2006 (UTC)Reply

Regarding a Paragraph edit

"The lyrics refer to the overpowering emotions of jealousy one experiences when of the belief that his partner is cheating on him, or envy when one sees someone he desires with somebody else. Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers, has openly admitted the song is based on a real life situation where he caught his ex-girlfriend with another man. Fellow Las Vegas native Matthew Gray Gubler is the song's real- life antagonist. The song is titled "Mr. Brightside", however, because he is trying to remain an optimist."

This is almost all original research, and unless somebody can find some sources in 5 days, then I'll take it out of the article. Original research and uncitable facts have no place on Wikipedia. That is all. SuperDT 06:15, 12 October 2006 (UTC)Reply

However it would be nice for some kind of substantiated explanation of the lyrics to be provided; removing this means the article now lacks one. I really missed some kind of account of where the song-writer was coming from when viewing this page for the first time, as the song seems very melancholic and begs an explanation. Can anyone help with this? 81.141.48.52 (talk) 16:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Plagiarism edit

Where is a source for the line saying that this song has been accused of plagiarising Dreaming by Blondie? I cant see any correlation between these songs and unless there is any evidence to the contrary this should be removed. JonEastham 11:14, 14 November 2006

More likely than not, it was vandalism, or rather an anon user doing a "Can I Really Edit Here?" kind of edit. I can't find anything on this, and the two songs are nothing alike... SuperDT 06:29, 23 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
I think that they are very much alike, and a band thinks so to the point of creating a mash up called "Dreaming of Mr. Brightside" [1] combining the two songs. The Killers cover Dreaming in concert too [2]. Influence or inspiration rather than plagiarism I think but I can't find a reputable source that is saying it. Aha, there is Youtube video comment says "The killers Mr Brightside was based on the music of Dreaming they have said that in interviews," [3] so one would only have to find an interview, which would be a reputable source. I watched two or three interviews but they are rather cringesome, so I will leave it to a Debbie Harry fan. --Timtak (talk) 02:10, 28 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

"The Killers" song edit

I'm almost certain that the song does not exist as the single "Mr. Brightside / The Killers" does not exist... I've looked all over on http://www.thekillersuk.com and cannot find the song... Just throwing it out there. It made me go on a wild goose chase to try to find the song... Wasakithis 06:56, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

It's been over a week now and no ones responded. I'm deleting that single since there is no evidence the song exists...Wasakithis 17:07, 23 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Maybe this could help? http://www.discogs.com/Killers-Mr-Brightside/master/71507 Subatomicserenade (talk) 12:15, 4 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

The comment you're responding to was made over 8 years ago. The article in its current state shows, with clear references, the "Mr. Brightside" definitely is a single. Bilorv(talk)(c)(e) 12:21, 4 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

Majour WTF moment. edit

Look under critical response. How is "This song is about a man who lost a girl to another guy, and he's talking about how he wishes she was his again." acceptable at all, let alone in the section about critical response? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.12.134.148 (talk) 21:17, 17 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

British Version of Video edit

Who is in the "British version" of the video? It would be nice to have a bit more information.--Timtak (talk) 01:49, 28 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Article copyright edit

Anyone notice that some of the text in this article is almost exactly the same as the description on the official killers page (http://www.thekillersuk.com/mr_brightside.htm) which i assume is copyrighted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.88.47.53 (talk) 10:49, 19 November 2008 (UTC)Reply

You're right. I've deleted the whole section.--Anon 13:30, 14 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

DLC on videogames edit

This says its released on Guitar Hero World Tour... it's also on the Rock Band series, 1 and 2. Im adding that.

EndersonEnterprise (talk) 01:27, 18 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Rock Star: INXS edit

The song was performed by Marty Casey on Rock Star: INXS, and also included on the DVD. That seems relevant, but I'll leave the decision to others. 70.88.207.100 (talk) 19:58, 12 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

Cover Versions edit

I have added information about 3 additional covers of the song, which I read about in a NME article. What I'm wondering is: what are our criteria for which covers merit a mention? The versions I posted have 73k, 38k and 1.9 million views on YouTube, but I also noticed a video of a cover by The Vamps that has 2 million views, so it seems worth mentioning. At the same time, there are some (Nick Mowery, for example) that have under 20k views on youtube. Not to say YouTube is the Rosetta Stone of notability, but it's measurable. Or is there a better way for me to make that decision as I look through cover versions? Hookedonmonix (talk) 06:26, 8 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

At WP:NSONGS, it says "Songs with notable cover versions are normally covered in one common article about the song and the cover versions." I presume "notable" simply means "ones which are talked about in reliable sources". Covers with large view counts on YouTube are probably more likely to be notable, but lots of views is not a reason in itself for adding a cover to the article. Bilorv(talk)(c)(e) 10:40, 8 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

Production edit

I'd like to add some information about the production of the song (namely, about the sound mixing from an interview with the mix engineer). How much would I have to write in order to justify another heading? It seems like the article could benefit from it. Is there anything else form the article that would serve the article better under a "production" (or something similar) heading? Hookedonmonix (talk) 04:07, 10 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

Okay, so I did add the section. There's other info in the article that might fit better in that section, but I'll leave it up to someone more experienced to decide exactly what belongs there, or if the section's title can be adjusted to fit additional info. Hookedonmonix (talk) 03:24, 13 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

External links modified edit

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MoS edit

Is there a WP MoS entry about formatting song titles? In the present article the song title is quoted throughout, while album titles are in italic (without quotation marks). But Smile Like You Mean It and Somebody Told Me are given in italic, despite being song titles, not albums. I'd prefer italic for both song titles and albums. —DIV (1.129.111.116 (talk) 03:51, 20 October 2019 (UTC))Reply

MOS:MINORWORK specifies quotation marks for "Songs, instrumentals, arias, numbers in a musical, movements of longer musical piece, album tracks, singles, and other short musical compositions" whereas MOS:MAJORWORK specifies italics for "Audio albums" and "Non-generic names of major independent musical compositions" such as "Musicals, operas, operettas and other self-contained pieces of musical theatre" and "Named oratorios, cantatas, motets, orchestral works, and other compositions beyond the scope of a single song or dance". MOS:POPMUSIC says "In popular music, album, mixtape and EP titles should be italicized and song and single titles should be in quotes". Solomon Ucko (talk) 23:44, 6 November 2023 (UTC)Reply

TEC Awards Creative Achievement Nominee for 2005 edit

from: http://legacy.tecawards.org/tec/05nomineescreat.html

Record Production/Single or Track (Awards go to

  • Recording Engineer,
  • Mixing Engineer,
  • Mixing Facility Producer,
  • Recording Studio,
  • Mastering Engineer and
  • Mastering Facility.)


“Mr. Brightside,” Hot Fuss, The Killers

  • Recording Engineer: Jeff Saltzman
  • Mixing Engineer: Mark Needham
  • Mixing Facility: Cornerstone Recording Studios (Chatsworth, CA)
  • Producers: Jeff Saltzman, The Killers
  • Recording Studio: The Hearse, Oakland, CA
  • (the Hearse Recording Studio Berkeley CA)
  • Mastering Engineer: Brian Gardner
  • Mastering Facility: Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood


"The Killers’ bridge borrows from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, particularly the “Ode to Joy” choral moment in the final movement... This Beethovian bridge didn’t even get added to the song until its final version."


Mr. Brightside - Ode to Joy (Published on Sep 12, 2015. Provided to YouTube by Believe SAS)


"Jeff Saltzman is an all around music industry badass that started in artist management and entertainment law, and is currently a music producer based out of Oakland, CA"

24.7.104.84 (talk) 14:40, 5 January 2020 (UTC)Reply

MBS demo edit

there was a demo version released on their greatest hits album from 2013, but I don't really see it mentioned here at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by OfficalKevinOsmond (talkcontribs) 20:35, 30 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

'Media Use' section currently inaccurate and/or incomplete edit

The last line of the section notes the song has "never" appeared on a television show or commercial -- but The Killers performed the song (as themselves) along with a couple other from Hot Fuss in an episode of the TV show "The OC" https://www.thedailybeast.com/bands-made-popular-by-the-oc-the-killers-death-cab-for-cutie-rooney-more — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:8802:5C09:7310:CD2D:E33B:A2D6:9427 (talk) 10:56, 9 May 2021 (UTC)Reply

Source for 2003 and 2004 releases being different recordings? edit

Re: “It became more popular when a re-recorded version was released in 2004…” I can’t find anything online anywhere saying that the two releases were different recordings. Spotify has three versions: the single, the demo, and the remix. If the 2003 and 2004 releases are truly different recordings, I think a source is warranted. 69.120.49.191 (talk) 21:46, 11 October 2023 (UTC)Reply