Mr. Brightside

I love this song too. It has everything. Love romance. Unexpected drama. But above all, tragedy. Brandon has been locked away in his own lonely place. Now he is starting to meet people and it has been progressing satisfactorily for him in these new experiences that he has been invlolved in. "Gotta gotta be down" refers to him being cool as in " get down, brother". And now that he is in the outside world, he wants to enjoy it all. If he asks "How did it end up like this?" it means that the first kiss at that time did not indicate to him that it would end in the serious place that it did. In the film clip he is with Izabella Miko who is a prostitute. Therefore we must assume that the lyrics are about a young man who falls in love with a prostitute. He pays her and they have sex. However during the commercial transaction, they kiss. From that moment on everything changes. He is now in love. We must assume that to some extent Izabella reciprocates his feelings. Brandon is in his apartment in bed after they have made love. She calls a cab to take her away to an appointment with Eric Roberts. When she arrives Eric is smoking a cigarette. She takes a drag because they are familiar and comfortable with each other. They have done this before, many times. They go to bed. Brandon's imaginings make him sick to his stomach. He loves her. He knows with his whole being that she loves him but she goes with other men for money. "It's all in my head" because he does not literally see any of this. "BUT"....It is actually happening and he knows it. Once she has sex with Eric Roberts, Izabella "lets Brandon go". She does not keep him in the sense of being faithful to him by keeping him in her mind and in her heart. "And I just can't look.." He can't look at what is going on in his mind. The thoughts are killing him and jealousy devours and torments him. "Turning saints..." This means the leading of good people into the sea to be drowned. the lullabies are childrens songs to make them go to sleep. but there is no peaceful child's sleep for Brandon. It is only torment and torture of his soul. Even her alibis of where she has been and what she has been doing make Brandon choke. Her alibis may even go the extent of saying that she loves Brandon and that the sex for money means nothing to her. In his own words 'it is the price he pays for falling in love with Izabella who is a prostitute. "Destiny is calling me....." Brandon's nature is to have an innocent enthusiasm for life. That's maybe why he was in his own cage. He was vulnerable. Brandon always looks at the bright side of things. Even tragic happenings in his life or the paths that are offered that lead to tragedy are looked upon by Brandon as bright and neede events.

In the end he repeats - "I never.." Brandon never meant that one kiss to lead to his tragic feelings of having fallen in love with a prostitute who will never be faithful to him in the conventional sense.

irishjohnnyon February 23, 2010