This song is a colossal cathartic experience.

This has always been a really meaningful song for me. To me it sort of just described my life and this awful feeling of despair I was suffering through. In fact, when I had tried to take my own life I had this song playing on repeat. So, I guess this is just what in means to me personally.


on the corner of main street
just tryin' to keep it in line
you say you wanna move on and
you say I'm falling behind

can you read my mind?
can you read my mind?

-For me this was when I started to slip into despair and I felt like all my friends were leaving me behind. I didn't want to come out of my house, so eventually they stopped calling to hang out. I was trying so hard to keep myself together and not break apart but I couldn't. The "Can you read my mind?" phrase always reminds me of how much I wish someone could see what I was thinking. I could never vocalize the suicidal thoughts I was having, but I had this wish inside myself that someone could read my mind and would see it and help me.

I never really gave up on
breakin' out of this two-star town
I got the green light
I got a little fight
I'm gonna turn this thing around

-This reminds me of how I had all these big dreams of being a singer and getting out of my town and traveling the world. Things started to get better for me for a little bit and I thought the hopelessness was all over and I was going to take control of my life again.

can you read my mind?
can you read my mind?

The good old days

-back when I was my old self and happy

the honest man

-my father

the restless heart

-me

the promised land

-death

a subtle kiss
that no one sees

-a secret relationship with a boy I was crazy about...who I later found out was just using me

a broken wrist

-I tried to slit my wrist one night, but failed (obviously). I had it covered with a cast and pretended like I broke my wrist until the wound healed.

and a big trapeze

-I felt like my life was the trapeze tumbling about and I was holding on the best I could


Oh well I don't mind
if you don't mind
coz I don't shine
if you don't shine
before you go
can you read my mind?

-This reminds me of the secret relationship and how I agreed to pretend like nothing was happening with us because he didn't want any 'drama' going on. I liked him so much that I would do anything to make him happy because that was the only way I could be happy. The can you read my mind in this is directed towards him, wishing that he knew how much I didn't want to have to hide everything.


it's funny how you just break down
waitin' on some sign
I pull up to the front of your driveway
with magic soakin' my spine

-This reminds me of myself a lot because I'm always looking for signs in everything but I was never finding any that I thought were good omens, and I started to slip back further into depression.


can you read my mind?
can you read my mind?

The teenage queen

-me, because everyone always thought I was perfect

the loaded gun

-suicide

the drop dead dream

-the dream I had of being a famous singer was 'dead'

the chosen one

-me again, I thought like I was 'chosen' to have this 'awful' life

a southern drawl

-when I get angry, my voice sort of sounds like it has a southern accent. so this reminds me of when I started to just alienate all my friends by being mad at them.

a world unseen

-again, my failed dream to be famous and see the world

a city wall

-I felt like there was some sort of 'emotional wall' that was keeping me from ever being happy again

and a trampoline

-reminds me of my childhood and how I would always think about how much I wish I could go back to being a little kid and not having so many worries.


Oh well I don't mind
if you don't mind
coz I don't shine
if you don't shine
before you jump
tell me what you find
when you read my mind

-This is again sort of about my friends/the guy because like I always did everything to make everyone else happy and didn't really take care of myself. The before you jump is when I decided I wanted to kill myself and the read my mind is again like wishing someone could see in my head and see how I was feeling and help me.

Slippin in my faith
until I fall

-I stopped believing in God because I couldn't believe if there was a God he would let me feel so awful

He never returned that call

-Right before I OD'd I called my friend and left him a voicemail of me sobbing hysterically to call me back because I needed to talk to someone and he never called back.

woman, open the door

-this reminds me of my mom banging on the door when after I took all the pills and was like sort of slipping out of consciousness

don't let it sting

-I was hoping that dying wouldn't hurt too bad

I wanna breathe that fire again

-the wish I had that all the happiness and joy in my life would come back, but at the time I thought it never would.

She said
I don't mind
if you don't mind
coz I don't shine
if you don't shine
put your back on me
put your back on me
put your back on me

This reminds me again of doing everything to take care of my friends but neglecting myself, and like even when I was at my lowest and just wanted to die people would still come to me with their problems and I would still help everyone and was the shoulder to lean on.


(ooooooo)

The stars are blazing
like rebel diamonds
cut out of the sun
can you read my mind?

-I believed that when I died I would become a star in the sky



So, yeah...that's basically what the song means to me. Sorry it's so freaking long! I hope no one thinks it's really weird or anything. I just kind of felt like sharing, I guess. Oh, and just to let everyone know...I am in a better place now and while I still suffer with depression at times medicine and therapy have been helping me a lot. As well as learning to tell people how I feel and not just wishing they could 'read my mind.'

I also realize this isn't the most popular song anymore, and there probably won't be too many responses to my comment. Whatever. The Killers rule.

The Star Wars comment is brilliant. I really hope I don't start thinking about Revenge of the Sith when I listen to this.

But in reality, the Green Light at the end of the dock had never occurred to me, which is ridiculous because I tend to see Gatsby allusions in everything. So whether this song is about Gatsby or not, I'm going to enjoy thinking of it that way. (Another good example of a Gatsby song is "Tiny Cities" by Modest Mouse)

Here's what I've always wondered, and I don't think anyone else has asked it yet. The line " I pull up to the front to your driveway, magic soaking my spine..." I always thought he was referring to acid, before I realized Flowers was a Mormon who probably wouldn't be writing about acid, and especially not driving on it. Did anyone else ever wonder if this could be an acid reference? I wonder because other aspects of the song do seem vaguely psychedelic, in the way that psychedelics can trigger nostalgia and yearning for childhood, purity, simplicity, beauty, etc. What originally triggered this idea is that acid stays in the spinal chord for life. Is this too much of a stretch? I have never heard anyone else say they had thought this upon hearing the song, but I can't hear that part without thinking that he is referring to LSD still remaining in the spine as he drives around, etc. And yes, I realize that Brandon Flowers is not the Dude and this is probably the kind of "cleche" interpretation that was being complained about by other commenters.

Ahem.
TEEHEE.
I think this song... well, u jist get it. If you only jist seeeee. Use your senses! i don't really mean common sense, ahhh, u get whot i mean.

Seems like he puts in alot of archetypal symbols thingies....

The good old days
the honest man
the restless heart
the promised land
a subtle kiss
that no one sees
a broken wrist
and a big trapeze

Although i don't know about the last two.

The teenage queen
the loaded gun
the drop dead dream
the chosen one
a southern drawl
a world unseen
a city wall
and a trampoline

Although once again, I'm not so sure about the last two. It seems to be a bunch of random symbols, ended with two concerning the "escape" from a small town.

Re: Jomihaka

"This song is totally about Star Wars.
Does anybody else see it?
The tennage queen the loaded gun
The drop dead dream the chosen one.
A subtle Kiss That no one sees
The stars are blazin like rebel diamond.
A broken Wrist

It's definitely about Anakin and Padme"

OMG I am laughing so hard you nearly have me falling off my chair!

Re: TheFreakofDesire

"Just reminds me of some forgotten childhood."

It does, doesn't it?

Very well put. The song makes you think of things long forgotten and left behind

When he's singing in the first verse he's singing these lyrics;

"On the corner of main street
Just tryin' to keep it in line.
You say you wanna move on and
You say I'm falling behind
Can you read my mind"

As if he's getting irritated at the person who is telling him these things because he already knows, hence, "can you read my mind".

I'm feeling a sarcastic and nostalgic vibe on/off throughout the song, but other than that I really have no idea what its about.

It's about suicide.

i agree with andreaflowers and zedzed!!
there are somethings i havent realized.... this song is great!!!!!

this is what i think its about.

hes sitting in the car with his gf...and hes trying to break up with her.

he doesnt want to because he knows they are perfect for eachother and he knows she knows what hes thinking...so hes trying to think of the positive things in their relationship before they focus on the fact that they are ending everything.

and hes afriad she'll kill herself over it...but "before you jump..tell me what you find...when you read my mind"
hes saying remember we had a good thing and "put your back on me" aka get over me...i know u know me and ill love u even though im saying im not now...read my mind

Spookfest, I don't think you really have the right to call other posters on this site idiots when you misspelled the word "cliche" twice...in two separate posts. I'm very impressed that you read your "Word of the Day" calendar, but you may want to look in the mirror before you call other people out for being dumb. And why is your opinion of the song's meaning any better or more correct than the people who think it's about drugs or an ex? Are unfulfilled teenage dreams any less "cleche" than a song about drugs?

i thought it was "City Water and a Trampoline" rather than "City Wall" idk tho

"The Green Light" that he refers to is a reference to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Green light is the dream that is off the edge of the dock. It is the goal or drive of mankind.

This song just reminds me of my life alot.
Just finding a new life, turning into something new or going somewhere completely out of where home was.

I never really gave up on
breakin' out of this two-star town

I got the green light

I got a little fight

I'm gonna turn this thing around

can you read my mind?

can you read my mind?



Just reminds me of some forgotten childhood.

I love the killers.
Beautiful Music.

I've always thought this song was about a woman who wants to get out of her small town and has big dreams, and the boyfriend who also wants to get out, but hasn't really tried or is not sure if he can.

on the corner of main street.../can you read my mind?

(she wants to move ahead in life, and isn't sure if he's ambitious enough, but he has the same dream [can you read my mind?] - she's saying what he feels.)

The good old days.../and a big trapeze
and "Never really gave up on..."

(This is a little synopsys of their story together. he's a good, hometown guy, she's got a restless heart and wants the promised land. they get together. but his "broken wrist" (metaphor for whatever is keeping him in the small town) keeps him from his dream of getting out, his "big trapeze") But he knows he needs her to "shine" (two-star town - she and he are the two stars of their small town, they make each other shine)

The teenage queen.../and a trampoline

(This is the woman's story condensed. She's a star of the town, and to get to that "world unseen" she is going to get into the city over the city wall with a trampoline (her dream) The "before you jump" part reinforces this image)

Slipping in my faith....

(Verse possibly about how an "unanswered" prayer let him down, but he's going to try to believe again.

She said...

(She's willing to have a little faith in him, because she would not shine in he big city without him.)

Put your back on me...

(Saying, trust me. We'll do it together.)

anyway, it makes a lot of sense to me, esp. when you remember the lead singer's from a tiny town, has a working-class background and married a pretty normal gal.

Basically I think this is about a teenage relationship...the guy is in love with the girl..she is not in love with him, but has a sexual relationship with him anyway i.e. "Oh well I don't mind if you don't mind
cuz I don't shine if you don't shine". I think she casts him aside for other guys and keeps the relationship with him secret....and he just keeps trying to get her to love him like he loves her. Atleast that is what I take from it.

Or, you know. Another Cleche could be it's about drugs.
Yep, most idiots on here seem to think all songs are about Drugs or Ex's :')

If anyone says the SongMeaning's cleche of "this reminds me of my ex girlfriend.." I'm going to kill everyone.



To me this song's about how teen's have all these amazing ideas and dreams and they all fall away unfufilled~

Or youknow, they could be about nothing, like most of The Killer's songs D:

Brandon moved to Utah when he was pretty young and moved back when he was around junior high and i think that
the verse or whatever...

"The good old days
the honest man
the restless heart
the promised land
a subtle kiss
that no one sees
a broken wrist
and a big trapeze"

...are like small mermories that he has of his hometown, Henderson NV. They are spicific things that he
remembers when he lived there. For example, "a broken wrist and a big trapeze" maybe refers to him falling off a trapeze and breaking his wrist at a park, or maybe the big trapeze was a circus and he at some point of his childhood broke his wrist. just personal experiences and whatnot. It's what you would see if you READ HIS MIND.
-same goes for the other verse

To sum it all up, he's writing about wanting to move back from Utah from Nevada. I think that's about as deep as this song goes

p.s i just have a feeling that this is riddled with spelling errors...so sorry...

Ok, it's not all that important but hopefully I can settle this once and for all. He does NOT say "You never returned that call" he says "HE never returned that call" referring to God. I know the lyrics above are right, but people are still saying he says "You never returned that call."

In almost every live performance of the song he either points towards the sky or looks up at the sky when he sings that part. I watched a shitload of their videos and I'm positive he is saying "he" lol

He points towards the sky:
At 3:16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A6HYS5yHPI
At 3:17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJSiNxoHQVY
At 3:05
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjU3daqz_kM
At 2:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnYWBqHIHpc
At 3:02
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjAjo-gOrLc
At 2:46
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v4wkRfsUzk

He looks towards the sky:
At 3:03
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cFDzSvKQbY
At 2:20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cslg-ceyefE
At 2:59
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7nidd1blzo

i believe this song is about a couple. one person wants to break up, and the other wants it to work out so bad that they'll do anything.
the person 1 who wants to keep the relationship going doesn't really see what's wrong and probably doesn't want to.
while the person 2 thinks it's going to hell, so they wanna move on.

"it's funny how you just break down
waitin' on some sign
I pull up to the front of your driveway
with magic soakin' my spine"

this part i think is about where person 1 is trying to get a some sign from person 2. like a flirt, or kiss, or a little something showing how much they love them. the magic soaking in their spine is excitement and happiness.

"The good old days
the honest man
the restless heart
the promised land
a subtle kiss
that no one sees
a broken wrist
and a big trapeze"

about maybe when they first started going out. how it felt. maybe some kind of relationship that started in high school.

I like this song. And the "The Great Gatsby" connection was really good. I like that book, and that just makes me like the song more. Good job on that

This song is totally about Star Wars.
Does anybody else see it?
The tennage queen the loaded gun
The drop dead dream the chosen one.
A subtle Kiss That no one sees
The stars are blazin like rebel diamond.
A broken Wrist

It's definitely about Anakin and Padme