I think that even if Andy is based on a real person, his namesake is Andy the jock from The Breakfast Club.

This is what i think it means;

"On the field I remember you were incredible"
Andy is a football player. (or a wrestler, i've heard.)

"On the streets, such a sweet face jumping in town"
Andy is sexy, according to flowers.

Basically, I think that brandon flowers had a boycrush on a football player named andy in highschool. but andy doesn't know that, and andy is straight, so brandon doesn't tell him and stalks him:
"On the match with the boys, you think you're alone"
at least thats what I think, but that's probably because I have a boycrush and it's basically the same for me.

I've heard some people say that Brandon knew "Andy" when he was young but without any background knowledge, this is my interpretation:

Andy and either Brandon or whoever Brandon is singing as are beast friends. Not sure about Brandon, but Andy's not really the most popular kid, but he loves playing sports... therefore "On the field I remember you were incredible" however he may not have actually been incredible but he just remembers him like that cuz they were best friends. He says shut up at everybody disagrees with him about andy being good at sports. Then maybe Andy gets a girlfriend "In a car with a girl" and Brandon hopes he's not been replaced "promise me she's not your world".

Not really sure what the middle bit of the song is about... the rest of the song has pretty much the same lines as the first verse. "Andy, you're a star in nobody's eyes but mine" Maybe Brandon is Ansy's only firend

i always thought this song was about a girl named andy. i know girls w/ the name andy. and i thought he didn't want her to be a lesbian b/c he had a crush on her: "In a car with a girl, promise me she's not your world"

The beauty of songs, is that they really only mean what you want them to. I took this best friend vs. psycho girlfriend approach. I see it as Andy is a down on himself guy, who has a girlfriend-zilla who tears him away from his best friend, and makes him doubt himself. The song through the eyes of his best friend, of course.

I think the song is about a parent who's son is recovering from mental retardation. People begin to take interest in him, and the parent has a hard time letting him go."In a car with a girl, promise me she's not your world."
"In nobodies eyes, but mine." That means that the parents are the only ones who see their son as someone truly special, as everyone else passes him off as a retard. The parents can't stand the fact that Andy is finally independent.

what this suggests to me is two students, one of which is known as being gay and one is a jock and in some sort of weird relationship with this kid, therefore probably in denial of being gay or curious about it. It sounds as though they have a weird relationship, as in they're together but the jock doesn't wanna let on that he's with the gay kid. A secret relationship, 'leave your number on the locker and I'll give you a call'. He lets the gay kid get teased about having a crush on him, the line 'hey, shut up', rather than letting everyone else know he was gay or curious. ALSO! It sounds as though he's unhappy in his real life, the jock, and when he's with the gay kid he feels he can be himself hence the line, 'a star, in nobody's eyes but mine'. I don't believe its about Brandon Flowers himself, rather someone he knew or some idea he came up with.

It could be a kid who's taken his crush too far as well, and idolizes the jock, flirting with him and being generally forward, going through the whole teenage heartbreak thing, hoping that he has some chance, like the line 'Promise me she's not your world.'

I tend to over-analyze. The real meaning is known by the Killers and them alone.

I think that this song is about a boy with an older brother who for some reason(maybe disfunctional parents) idolizes him and faces neglect and watches andy destroy himself

im pretty sure this song is about a stalker. ''Andy your a star in nobodys eyes but mine''. ''In a car with a girl, promise me shes not your world'' - i think i read in an interview that it was as well (but dont take my word for it) i seem to think that its going back to high school years... i listened to the song and i hear ''staff room'' rather than ''staff when''. thats just my point of view.

I think this song is about a football player and another guy that likes him, theyre gay. The 'hey shut up, hey shut up' to me means, keep quiet, the guys might hear you. Trying to keep the football players homosexuality a secret from his teammates. I could be way far off with this but thats what i think. lol.

I heard it was about the comedian Andy Kaufman. He admired wrestling and actually wrestled against Jerry "The King" Lawler where he injured his neck and wore a neck brace for awhile afterwards.

I do like this song and when I first found out it had to do with a close friend who was stalking I thought of the lyrics, and because it says Andy is into sports and is a star in the eyes of his stalker I immediatly thought of the coach. Now that I know it's about a relationship between two guys it's rather funny. I wasn't thinking of the coach as a pedophile but as a friend who wanted Andy to keep up with his sports and not focus on anything else because he saw potential in him to make a career from his skills out in the field.

I hate when people say...he's not gay!! And then something like why do people have to assume that people is gay becouse he wrote about a gay kid??!!! YeAhh! Doesnt this sound hipocryte?? I mean first they said he is not gay and than that we cant assume he is!! Read this!... No one! No one can assume anyone's sexuality saying gay or not gay or whatever! As you cant assume someone is gay then you cant assume someone is straight either so either way is wrong! He is the only one who Will know for sure and having a wife doesnt mean anything or kids or whatever as it doesnt mean anything to write lyrics about a gay boy councerning sexual orientation!!

Okay everyone, this is 100% true: Andy and the guy singing are in a relationship with each other. However, Andy is in the closet and the dude singing is just getting tired of him hiding who he really is. That's it.

duh you guys are stupid i happen to live in nephi you know the place where brandon grew up
and this song is about a guy name andy messersmith one of brandons friends, andy and brandon were fighting over a girl or brandon didnt like the girl that andy was dating and andy was always cauky and talking about how he was going to get big but he never did he lives in nephi and is a gym teacher/wrestling coach. he never quite made it to the big top ha ha well brandon is just saying that andy will always be a star in his eyes even though he isnt in the rest of the worlds eyes haha

This idea occurred to me the first time I heard the song, and I'm still not sure if it's at all right (it makes somewhat less sense to me now...), but here're my thoughts:

I think that this might actually be about Brandon himself. Like, he's remembering himself in high school (because, yeah, I think this is definitely set in the time that he was in high school. That's pretty obvious, in my opinion.) Some of the lines in the song don't entirely make sense with this theory, but, conversely, I think some of them make perfect sense. Mainly, I thought that "Andy" sounded a lot like it could be a nickname for Brandon.

Maybe, whilst writing this song, he was kind of remembering himself in high school, and not really liking what he remembered (some of the lyrics sound a bit sarcastic), or remembering that, despite the fact that he might've been "popular", he was lonely ("in a car with a girl, promise me she's not your world"; "on the match with the boys, you think you're alone with the pain that you drain from love"; etc), or something.

I don't know, just my thoughts, and they could be entirely, woefully incorrect.

its on the MATS with the boys you think youre alone
and in the STAFFROOM the verdict is in.


well hes 100% straight and married but is for gay rights.
but i heard that he had an infatuation with a guy named andy in his year at school. orrr maybe the song is from a girl's perspective that would be my other theory

Found this explanation of "Hot Fuss" online. Not sure who the author is...but he or she is spot on. I cleaned it up a bit and put in my own interpretation:

An Examination of the Homosexual Subtext of The Killers' "Hot Fuss"


0. Andy, You're a Star - The key to the puzzle, without a doubt, is ''Andy, You're a Star.'' The most transparent of the songs on the album, our narrator pines for the seemingly untouchable (and attached) high school jock. On the field he's incredible and he's leaving his legacy on the school, but he's also rolling around on the mats with the boys with more fervor than wrestling demands. The narrator says, explicitly, ''in a car with a girl-promise me she's not your world, 'cause Andy, you're a star.''Sure, it could be a platonic envy or admiration of a small-town boy with a too-big-for-his-britches star quality, but the town isn't admiring him; they're judging him-and the verdict is in. We suspect Andy likes boys. And our narrator likes Andy.
Chronologically, though, the story line doesn't start with ''Andy, You're A Star.'' It begins with:
1. Smile Like You Mean It - sets the tone for the emotional environment of the relationship between our narrator and Andy. It's all about denying what's truly there, yet lamenting the loss of innocence as each male character accepts his true desires.
2. Change Your Mind - is the beginning of the connection between the two boys. Mr. Flowers proclaimed the song ''the sweetest''the Killers have done, and it's true. It's the most promising, most hopeful song on the album, and reeks of the possibilities of a new romance. Yet because this romance is between our narrator and Andy, the sweetness of the song is somewhat diluted with suspicion, shame, and guilt. Still, they can?t deny that they've ''both felt like this before.''
3. Somebody Told Me - the story begins to become clearer. The twisted genders of the boyfriends and girlfriends in the chorus become a coded inquiry from our narrator to Andy to see exactly whether or not he's interested. The proverbial ''somebody'' told him that he had a boyfriend, who looked a lot like one of the narrator's old ''girlfriends.'' The narrator has had it with playing games
4. On Top - In the overtly homoerotic "On Top" the two get together. Still, leaving each other with a cigarette and a handshake after their trysts, they can?t acknowledge to other people what?s truly going on.
5. Mr. Brightside - The most significant of those other people is Andy's girlfriend, Jenny. Our narrator's jealousy over Jenny's role in Andy's life permeates the entire album, but is specifically dealt with in "Mr. Brightside," in which the narrator is not possessive of the ''she,'' but rather jealous of her time with the ''he.''It seems that Jenny is an acquaintance of the narrator's; she fuels his jealousy with her presence in both his and Andy's life.
6. Midnight Show - By the Killers' own admittance, a murder occurs on this album. It's Jenny, and the narrator commits the murder. This is all a given. The band, however, does not as explicitly state the gay love theme that drives the murder. It seems not only that the narrator kills Jenny, but also that Andy was there and was involved in the actual process; someone is holding Jenny down, imploring an accomplice to ''drive faster.''
7. Jenny was a Friend of Mine - Post-murder (which takes place outside, in the rain, but doesn't involve drowning-personally, I believe she was strangled), the narrator denies the charges, telling his interrogators that Jenny was a friend of his and he had no motive to commit such a crime. However, if we were to believe that this album depicts a heterosexual relationship, why would our narrator declare Jenny simply a friend?
8. All These Things That I've Done - Guilt sets in after the crime. It seems that the two men cannot stay together. And finally:
9. Everything Will Be Alright - The narrator's attempts (including "All These Things That I've Done") to not only console himself, but also the boy he is losing.
10. Believe Me, Natalie - Which leaves the listener with ''Believe Me, Natalie.How does it fit in? I tried to make this whole theory work with the narrator having a girlfriend as well, but I just don't think it's true. I've come to the conclusion that the Killers are too smart not to have a good old-fashioned red herring on the album. It's sort of in the interest of the narrator's character to detract attention from the secret subplot with a song that doesn't relate to the story, but rather talks about the 1970's disco scene coming to an end. Still, though the song is a red herring, it does invite the listener to explore what's hidden under the Monet, just below the surface.

I don't remember where but I've seen and heard like 10 times that this is about a crush Brandon had on a football player in highschool. It could be wrong though..rumor spreads but who knows?

BUT! I totally agree with Anathermia on that: "songs can have general meanings. Just because brandon flowers wrote this song doesn't mean that he himself went through this experience."

I think too many people take it like.. all their (The Killers') songs are about Brandon Flowers.

Like in 'Where The White Boys Dance' it's not about Brandon being gay. It's about some GIRL that has a boyfriend that is cheating on her with another man.

andy was actually flowers' friend in h.s. so i don't think the stalking thing would even be necessary. maybe there was a complicated friendship and the song's about that. friends of the same gender can become really emotionally close or even codependent; doesn't mean they're bi/gay. intense emotional connection w/o the sexual attraction. just a thought.

Like alot of people have already said, I think it's about a gay guy who has a crush on a jock. However, I think that the jock had intrest in the other male for at least a short time - otherwise, he wouldn't feel so hurt in seeing him in a car with a girl. That would be predictable if the gay guy didn't know the jock's secret. However, for the sake of his reputation, the jock stops associating with they gay guy, and even openly makes fun of him (hey shut up, hey shut up) so none of his 'friends' will suspect anyting. The gay guy can't stop remembering all the good times they had though, and his love turns to obsession, then to stalking.

The meaning behind the song is probably how people will deny their own feelings for the sake of a good reputation among their peers, and the disaterous affects on the people who love them.

i think its just about a character boy/girl that has an obsession with andy and admires him alot
and with the bit were hes in a car promise me shes not your world part i think he just thinks that andy deserves better

it doesnt mean brandons gay or bi
becasue he isnt
he defintly is no gay/bi

Listening to the song, and reading the lyrics, this is definitely about a crush: "Leave your number on the locker and I'll give you a call" and when you like someone, you think they're a star: "Andy, you're a star/In nobody's eyes but mine"

Reading previous comments about how he can't be gay or bi because he's a Mormon, well he said himself that he's questioned his sexuality, and it's not a bad thing.

Moving on.
This song is powerful and it really speaks to me on many levels. And I'm sure that most people can relate to this in some way or another.

To all the people saying "He cant be bi, he's married to a woman" err, yes he can. Bisexuals can get married too, either with the same or opposite sex!

Anywho, I PERSONALLY think it IS about Flowers who had a boy crush on an athlete called Andy.

Let's not forget that songs can have general meanings. Just because brandon flowers wrote this song doesn't mean that he himself went through this experience. some of the best inspiration comes from people you know, stories you hear.

However, on regards to the meaning of this song, i don't think it necessarily has to mean that the person from who's point of view this was written in was "in love" with andy. in the line "you're star in nobody's eyes but mine" in real life sometimes you're closest of friends seem like the most amazing people even if nobody can see that. I feel like a lot of interpretations on this song really forget about real life emotion, and even what we ourselves have been through. If this song wouldn't appeal to our own experiences and feelings, it wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't catch our attention.

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