To me, this song is clearly about being betrayed by someone you trusted, in this case probably a close friend or a girlfriend.
It's like, in the first verse she's "consoling him" - he's opening up to her about some personal issue he has and she's telling him not to worry about it. Then in the chorus, he clearly knows full well that she's two faced - she acts understanding and caring to his face, then she goes running off to tell her friends that he's losing touch - which either means losing his mind, or losing touch with her or with his friends - and "filling their heads with rumors of impending doom", which I think is either that he's about to completely lose it or else that they're going to break up.
In the second verse, it's a similar story. She's telling him that she "always hears his cries" - that is, that she will always be there and listen when he needs to talk to someone about whatever it is that's upsetting him - but at the same time, he knows she's not keeping his secrets, he knows what she's "got conspired".
Second chorus: Again, she can go and fill the night with her stories, but he doesn't care - stories of "how she got lost, but she made her way back home... Sold her soul, like a roaming vagabond" - this to me sounds very much like she cheated on him, then came crawling back to him without realizing that he actually knew about it all along.
Third verse:
"I heard you found a wishing well, in the city... Console me in my darkest hour, then you throw me down..."
This is a little more complicated. The wishing well metaphor I don't fully understand, but a wishing well is a well which will supposedly grant spoken wishes. It could be that she's wishing she was with someone else, or that he's wishing all this would come out or stop. But either way, she betrays him again - "you throw me down" as in you bring me to this wishing well and then you throw me down it.
The next chorus is very telling. Again, he tells her that he ain't in no hurry, she can go running off to her friends and spreading rumors about him - and this time, it's made very clear that it's rumor mongering he's referring to, as when he says "fill your crown with rumors" (the crown perhaps being a reference to the idea that she thinks she's perfect whilst pointing out everything wrong with him) you can hear very loud and indistinct whispers, signifying the whirlwind of gossip she's spreading behind his back.
The whole chorus repeats again, but with one final change at the end:
"Heard about how you got lost, but you made your way back home
You sold your soul, an allegiance dead and gone
Oh, I'm losing touch"
He finally comes out and says it. She used to be loyal to him but that's over, she's completely betrayed him. At the end of the song he repeats her lie: "I'm losing touch". If you think of this as a rant, him ranting to her, it's like he finally tells her he knows what she's been saying about him.
My view of this song might be a bit skewed since I myself had just been hugely betrayed the first time I ever heard it so my mind was already running that way when I was coming up with a meaning. It was very similar to the song too - "you go run and tell your friends I'm losing touch" is a line I can relate to more than anything, it cuts unbelievably close to the bone! That's why the killers are so amazing though, they always manage to write songs which remind each person about their own life. Everyone will listen to this album and find a different meaning in each of the songs and that's what makes the Killers such a great band. Songs like this are rare, and bands who make ALL of their songs like that, such as The Killers or U2, are even rarer. Best song on the entire album in my opinion, really hope it's the next single they release!
To me, this song is clearly about being betrayed by someone you trusted, in this case probably a close friend or a girlfriend. It's like, in the first verse she's "consoling him" - he's opening up to her about some personal issue he has and she's telling him not to worry about it. Then in the chorus, he clearly knows full well that she's two faced - she acts understanding and caring to his face, then she goes running off to tell her friends that he's losing touch - which either means losing his mind, or losing touch with her or with his friends - and "filling their heads with rumors of impending doom", which I think is either that he's about to completely lose it or else that they're going to break up.
In the second verse, it's a similar story. She's telling him that she "always hears his cries" - that is, that she will always be there and listen when he needs to talk to someone about whatever it is that's upsetting him - but at the same time, he knows she's not keeping his secrets, he knows what she's "got conspired".
Second chorus: Again, she can go and fill the night with her stories, but he doesn't care - stories of "how she got lost, but she made her way back home... Sold her soul, like a roaming vagabond" - this to me sounds very much like she cheated on him, then came crawling back to him without realizing that he actually knew about it all along.
Third verse: "I heard you found a wishing well, in the city... Console me in my darkest hour, then you throw me down..." This is a little more complicated. The wishing well metaphor I don't fully understand, but a wishing well is a well which will supposedly grant spoken wishes. It could be that she's wishing she was with someone else, or that he's wishing all this would come out or stop. But either way, she betrays him again - "you throw me down" as in you bring me to this wishing well and then you throw me down it.
The next chorus is very telling. Again, he tells her that he ain't in no hurry, she can go running off to her friends and spreading rumors about him - and this time, it's made very clear that it's rumor mongering he's referring to, as when he says "fill your crown with rumors" (the crown perhaps being a reference to the idea that she thinks she's perfect whilst pointing out everything wrong with him) you can hear very loud and indistinct whispers, signifying the whirlwind of gossip she's spreading behind his back.
The whole chorus repeats again, but with one final change at the end:
"Heard about how you got lost, but you made your way back home You sold your soul, an allegiance dead and gone Oh, I'm losing touch"
He finally comes out and says it. She used to be loyal to him but that's over, she's completely betrayed him. At the end of the song he repeats her lie: "I'm losing touch". If you think of this as a rant, him ranting to her, it's like he finally tells her he knows what she's been saying about him.
My view of this song might be a bit skewed since I myself had just been hugely betrayed the first time I ever heard it so my mind was already running that way when I was coming up with a meaning. It was very similar to the song too - "you go run and tell your friends I'm losing touch" is a line I can relate to more than anything, it cuts unbelievably close to the bone! That's why the killers are so amazing though, they always manage to write songs which remind each person about their own life. Everyone will listen to this album and find a different meaning in each of the songs and that's what makes the Killers such a great band. Songs like this are rare, and bands who make ALL of their songs like that, such as The Killers or U2, are even rarer. Best song on the entire album in my opinion, really hope it's the next single they release!