Remember That Song: Mr. Brightside

We hated the album, but the song endured.

The Killers perorming in 2006. Image credit Danny Wilson via Wikipedia under CC BY 2.0.

On March 26th, 2004 my friend Julia and I went to a show at Alley Katz in Richmond, Virginia.

The venue was the very definition of a dive. The front door was located in a seedy alley in the Shockoe Bottom section of the city. Alley Katz had rickety wooden floors, and always smelled like cigarettes, skunky beer, bleach and burned pizza. It somehow held 500 people, which felt dangerously overcrowded when it hit that point.

On this night, there may have been 200 people there at best. stellastarr* and Ambulance LTD were the co-headliners, indie bands nominally on the rise in a year when indie rock itself was experiencing a new wave in popularity. I’ll forgive you if you don’t remember either, because neither broke through to the mainstream, and both were finished by 2009.

The opener that night was a then-unknown band from Las Vegas called The Killers.

I Saw The Killers Three Times in 2004

I remember being unimpressed by The Killers’ 20 minute set in Richmond. They weren’t unwatchable by any means, but just didn’t stand out in any good ways. I thought the songs were goofy, the vocals dry, and the stage presence was unexciting.

My friend disagreed, and dragged me to Washington, DC the next night to see the same show at the Black Cat, another divey venue with a capacity of 600 or so. Like the previous night, the crowd was probably less than half that. Again, I was unimpressed, and did not think the band would go anywhere.

A couple of months later, Julia, some other friends, and I went to Coachella. This was peak indie and alternative rock Coachella, mind you, nothing like the mainstream pop spectacle it is today. The headliners that year included Radiohead, The Cure, Pixies, Flaming Lips, Kraftwerk and Air. Current headline-quality bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, LCD Soundsystem, Black Keys, and Muse were in the middle or bottom half of the billing, and some were on smaller side stages.

Lineup card for Coachella 2004, courtesy Goldenvoice/Coachella.com

The Killers were also on the bill, listed third from last. They played on Sunday afternoon in the Gobi Tent, the smallest stage at the festival. I went along with my friends to see them, mostly because I wanted a good spot to see Sage Francis on the same stage right after them. I’ll forgive you if you don’t remember that name either (he’s an indie rapper, and he’s still active if you want to look him up).

The Killers were still so unknown at this point that they watched The Cure’s headline set in the crowd.

Within the same year, they released the debut LP Hot Fuss. It was not an immediate smash hit, and initially received moderate reviews. Pitchfork gave it a 5.2 out of 10, and Entertainment Weekly gave it a C grade.

I gave the album a shot when it came out, and still wasn’t impressed.

But of course, it’s not up to me. Hot Fuss would go on to spawn five hit singles and sell seven million copies by 2012. By 2009, The Killers were the headliner on the second night of Coachella, their name next to fellow headliners Paul McCartney and The Cure.

The Growth of Mr. Brightside

Much of the success of Hot Fuss is attributed to the growth and endurance of hit single Mr. Brightside. However, the song was not a hit when released as a standalone single in September of 2003.

With Mr. Brightside not gaining traction, Somebody Told Me was released as a single in 2004, and became the de facto lead single of Hot Fuss. This track saw limited success initially, peaking at 51 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was followed by All These Things That I’ve Done, released in August and peaking at 74 on the Hot 100; then Smile Like You Mean It, released in September and peaking at 15 on the Billboard US Modern Rock chart.

While not yet exploding in popularity, The Killers did have enough buzz at this point to make the ingenious decision to re-release and promote Mr. Brightside in late 2004. This time, it was a massive hit. By February 2005, it peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and then again hit number 10 in June. It would end the year as the sixth most downloaded song on iTunes, and pushed Hot Fuss to five million sales.

Mr. Brightside as a single is now certified diamond in the United States, selling 10 million copies.

The Endurance of Mr. Brightside

Even today, as it officially enters its classic rock era, Mr. Brightside is an enduring song.

It has become ubiquitous at parties, bars, weddings, even sporting events. The song is often played over the public address system during breaks in play late in a game, and cut off as play resumes, only to see the crowd sing along to finish out the song.

The single has been in and out of the U.K. singles charts three different times over the last 20 years, most recently hitting top 40 earlier this year. It is the second-most streamed pre-2010 song in the country next to Oasis’ Wonderwall.

At this point, just about everyone is familiar with its signature guitar intro, which layers into vocals and snares, and then to its distinct drum beats. The music just feels good.

Lyrically, it’s not a feel-good song, exploring the protagonist’s issues with his girlfriend’s infidelity and his own jealousy and paranoia. But perhaps it is this ironic juxtaposition that has turned it into such a super hit?

Do people simply relate to the irony of saying “I’m Mr. Brightside,” while exploring themes of infidelity, jealously and paranoia? After all, many of us have a survival instinct to look at the bright side of things, even when life is dragging us down.

In any case, there’s no sign that the song is slowing down in popularity, despite some deriding it as one of the most overplayed song ever, or as a white people anthem next to Sweet Caroline.

Even I’ve come around to enjoying and appreciating it as a pop classic, despite still not being impressed with Hot Fuss as a whole album. The band’s follow-up LP Sam’s Town is a far superior record, if you ask me.

The Killers are still an active band, having last released Pressure Machine in 2021, and Rebel Diamonds, a greatest hits album in 2023. They embark on a tour of Australia next month.

Their most played song since they started playing live in 2002? Mr. Brightside, usually performed as the show opener or the closing number of the encore.