15. For Reasons Unknown - 6.76

Highest Score: Heezus Froot (10), Dircadirca (9.5)
Lowest Score: Popcahrtfreak, Liam (4)

UK Chart Peak: 53
US Chart Peak: DNC


Single #4 from Sam's Town although Brandon chose not to promote the single as "four singles for the album was too much". o.o Bit strange but fair enough, this became one of their lowest charting singles (for the time being) although was well liked despite that. Sam's Town is joint with Battle Born as the albums I'm least familiar with, but I do like this a lot especially the huge chorus. Top 15 is a decent showing for a low charting single and leaves only The World We Live In, The Man, and Run For Cover as the remaining non-Top 40's!

14. The World We Live In - 6.93

Highest Score: Dexton (9.5), Iz, pippa, Heezus Froot (9)
Lowest Score: gavindeejay, Steve201, Theo., Dobbo, Liam (5)

UK Chart Peak: 82
US Chart Peak: DNC


The third single from Day & Age, The World We Live In is about basically the world we live in and now times are changing faster than some can cope. Tbh this song isn't the deepest lyrically the band has ever created, but it's a synthpop banger from a synthpop album.



13. Runaways - 7.8

Highest Score: Heezus Froot (11), SamJudd (10)
Lowest Score: Dobbo, j80 (5), Chez Wombat (6)

UK Chart Peak: 18
US Chart Peak: 78


Out too soon is Runaways, the lead single from Battle Born in 2012. Starting off slowly with a piano backing, this soon transcends into an 80's-like rock banger sounding a bit like a mix of Hot Fuss and Day & Age. This was the most downloaded song of 2013 in South Africa, but wasn't as successful as it could have been in the UK. Runaways was released on iTunes in the US in July, but didn't get an official release in the UK until September... :unsure:

An absolute banger why did I "only" give this an 8?

Used to love 'Here With Me' and 'The World We Live In' but I feel they've both aged terribly. I expected a higher placing for 'Runaways', it's such a highlight from their 2010s singles!

The World we Live in is a song i adore but knew it wouldn't do aswell on this as i would like it too.

12. Run For Cover - 7.83

Highest Score: gavindeejay, dandy*, Dexton (10), Jonjo (9.5), Steve201, Jade, j80, Liam (9)
Lowest Score: Riser (5.5), Chez Wombat, Nick F1, Harry Ezra, SamJudd, Dobbo (6)

UK Chart Peak: 100
US Chart Peak: DNC


Originally written for 2008's Day & Age, Run For Cover is the second single from their latest album. I fell in love with this as soon as I heard it and tbh this and The Man have become classics for me already. The song talks about domestic violence and is as uplifting as it is uptempo.



11. Bones - 7.88

Highest Score: Dobbo (11), Dircadirca, Heezus Froot (10)
Lowest Score: dandy*, pippa (5), Liam (6.5)

UK Chart Peak: 15
US Chart Peak: DNC


I didn't realise I forgot to comment on this before I posted so get ready for some in depth commentary!

Released a month after Sam's Town's release, Bones was the second single from The Killers' second studio album and in a way encompasses everything that is The Killers and their emphatically synth-rock style. Brandon lends his beautiful vocals to a f***ing banger that only gets more uptempo as the song goes on - helped hugely by the work of (of course) synths and interestingly horns which aren't too common. Lyrically the song is about being true to who you are and just being yourself, instead of putting on a mask and essentially pretending to be someone or something you aren't. The music video is simple yet suits the song perfectly. It's also another video directed by the legendary Tim Burton, following Here With Me which dropped out earlier in the rate, is just a bunch of skeleton people with classic films playing in the background at times and some sceens recreated with skeletal figures. The couple depicted through the video are seen on a beach where the girl peels back her hair to reveal her skull (Slitheen style but more... smooth) and the man pulls of his shirt to reveal his bones. It won Best Video at the 2007 Shockwaves NME Awards.

Edited June 5, 20187 yr by Dexton

Their best song missing the top 10 AND not getting a write-up? Boo :cry:

Didn't realise I missed the commentary for that but it's done now :P Top 10 (10-6) will commence tomorrow. I meant to do that today buttt I've been a tad busy

Yay! Has to be When You Were Young for the win now, epic track.

10. The Man - 7.93

Highest Score: gavindeejay, Steve201, Dexton, Heezus Froot, j80 (10), Popchartfreak, Dircadirca (9)
Lowest Score: dandy*, Jade (5), Nick F1, Dobbo (6)

UK Chart Peak: 63
US Chart Peak: DNC


The bands huge comeback single released just last year as the first release from Wonderful Wonderful. The Man is about how Brandon felt after the huge worldwide success of Hot Fuss/Mr. Brightside especially. He sings about how boastful and basically up-himself he feels he was back then, taking his success for granted for a while. The ironic and exaggerated lyrics turn what could've been a brooding ballad into a self-reflecting pop rock smash, with the help of a funky Spirit of the Boogie sample. I loved this song from the minute I heard it and is already up there with The Killers' classics tbh and obviously I'm not the only one thinking this as The Man became Annie Mac's Hottest Record of the Year 2017 :wub: This is far too low tbh... or at least 2-3 places too low :P



9. Shot At The Night - 8.29

Highest Score: pippa (11), Iz, dandy*, SamJudd (10)
Lowest Score: jonny (2.5), Nick F1 (5)

UK Chart Peak: 23
US Chart Peak: DNC


Lead single from The Killers' Direct Hits compilation album released in 2013, Shot At The Night is here at #9. Veering more of the synthpop side of the bands discography this is very reminiscent of Day & Age but also shows in a sense how they had grown over the years since 2008. It's 'only' five years between Day & Age and their Direct Hits album, but then there's 'only' five years between Direct Hits and Wonderful Wonderful... which is another huge leap in progression for The Killers. Direct Hits was a neat way of collecting their biggest hits (even if the entire album was overshadowed by the first 4 songs - from Hot Fuss). I really liked Shot At The Night when it was released, but I have found I go back to is less than most of their other singles here. Notably this song was produced by Anthony Gonzalez of M83, the project which gifted us with Midnight City in 2011.

oops

Edited June 4, 20187 yr by Dexton

oops

Edited June 4, 20187 yr by Dexton

Run For Cover is an absolute TUNE, that's the only real loss for me so far.

Shot In The Night, Bones & The Man all so good <3

"Shot at the Night" is definitely a forgotten gem in their singles discography. Nice to see it reach the top 10 though!

8. Spaceman - 8.48

Highest Score: Iz (11), Steve201, Jonjo, Dexton, Theo., Heezus Froot (10)
Lowest Score: Dobbo (5), gavindeejay (6)

UK Chart Peak: 40
US Chart Peak: 67


Trust one of the few singles that charted in the US to have only just scraped the Top 40 in the UK :P Spaceman was the second single from Day & Age, coming after Human and sort of struggled to replicate it's success (understandably). According to Brandon himself, the song is about a suicide attempt that is cleverly disguised through the metaphor of an alien abduction. The voices heard by him are likely the voices of surgeons from during his operation, but he believes (or tries to make himself believe) that they were the voices of a "star maker" (god?), a "dream maker" (the devil?), and the realist "spaceman" who is trying to bring the character back to Earth and stop hearing these voices. The spaceman could also be himself, being his rational thinking and his own coherent and reasonable thoughts. Later in the song he says “I’m fine but I hear those voices at night sometimes.” In general, he’s doing okay, he can think rationally. Although sometimes the spaceman in him doesn’t dominate, its his own rationality. I always thought this was a very odd song. It's everything I love about The Killers really - from the outside it sounds all cheery but if you pay closer attention you realise the hurt within the lyrics. It's a powerful song which many people don't realise (when compared to some of their other songs anyway). I'm happy this made Top 10 :)

Courtesy of Genius for some help with the words and talking and feelings


7. Smile Like You Mean It - 8.6

Highest Score: Chez Wombat (11), Nick F1, Dexton, Jade (10)
Lowest Score: dandy* (5), Iz, Dobbo (7)

UK Chart Peak: 11
US Chart Peak: DNC


Smile Like You Mean It was the 4th single from Hot Fuss boasting the bands signature synths and of course some rocking guitars. It's more downtempo compared to the other singles of the album and is about coming to terms with growing up and getting older. Smile Like You Mean It is very much what it says on the tin - feeling his past was better than his present and feels that life at a certain point becomes meaningless as nothing you do will top what you've done before. But Smile Like You Mean It is also about being resilient and enjoying yourself despite that. Even if your childhood home is now home to a new family and is making new memories (which is a big part of the music video), you can make new memories of your own. Eek that was bad but you get what I mean :P tldr: life goes on, get over it

6. All These Things That I've Done - 8.69

Highest Score: Dexton (11), gavindeejay, Steve201, Chez Wombat, Harry Ezra, SamJudd, Liam (10)
Lowest Score: Nick F1 (6.5), jonny (7)

UK Chart Peak: 18
US Chart Peak: 74


ROBBED!! Not really, #6 is a brilliant showing considering the songs above it (although Top 5 at least, no?) :wub: All These Things that I've Done was the third single from the bands debut album and features an uncredited gospel choir, The Sweet Inspirations. The song itself is legendary. Not only as a brilliant song which I have never met someone who hasn't heard of it, but also as the originator of the famous "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" line which has been covered, parodied, interpolated, etc. hundreds of times since the songs release. Most notably was the 2009 charity single I Got Soul by charity group War Child UK, recorded by Young Soul Rebels (a supergroup consisting of Pixie Lott, Tinchy Stryder, N-Dubz, amongst many other long-forgotten names) which used "the track, based on the hook line ‘I Got Soul, But I’m Not A Soldier’ to draw attention to the 300,000 children who sadly are".

An analysis of "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" I found on Reddit which I would give my 11/10 to if I could

You have to understand the context of the song (All These Things that I've Done by The Killers, for those unfamiliar), and what Flowers is really saying. It's easy to cherry pick this particular lyric out of the song and say it's silly, if you ignore the rest of the song. He's making a distinction between two things that are normally assumed to be interconnected.

His line "I've got soul" (which comes as a crescendo towards the end of the song) is essentially a simple statement of what he's been saying for the whole song - that he is a human being, with meaning and value and beliefs and wants and desires. He makes no apologies for who he is, stating "I'm so much older than I can take; and my affection, well it comes and goes," and again later "These changes ain't changing me; the gold-hearted boy I used to be."

I think that we as humans, or at least culturally, tend to think that if someone has a big personality or strong beliefs or truly values themselves, then they will fight for those beliefs and that value. It's such an iconic image. A quiet, shy person must have self esteem issues. A person who doesn't talk much about themselves or their beliefs must not be interesting or have beliefs that they care about. Someone who isn't boisterous and aggressive about themselves ("a soldier" being the metaphor here) must not have any depth of character or value ("soul").

But Flowers doesn't place the value of his "soul" on others' perceptions of him. He is exactly what he is; that in itself is its own source of fulfillment for him (e.g. - "I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand"). He has no need to fight for his beliefs, or to prove to anyone that he is valuable. He simply accepts that he is what he is, and lets the world react as it may. The titular line comes right at the end of the song: "The battle is won, with all these things that I've done." Flowers never really explains what "all these things" are. He writes an entire song about the things that he's done, and never tells us what he's talking about. Because it's not the point. The point is that he acknowledges himself. It doesn't matter if anyone else knows what he's done or who he is - he knows, and that's enough. He's not fighting for anything, he's not forcing anyone to acknowledge him. He doesn't need attention or recognition. He just is.

He's got soul. But he's not a soldier.

The Top 5 in alphabetical order *.*

Human

Mr. Brightside

Read My Mind

Somebody Told Me

When You Were Young

 

Any predicts? :P

 

edit: also woo at this being rate results day in the genre forums apparently :lol:

Edited June 4, 20187 yr by Dexton

All three of those are amazing especially All The Things That I've Done :heart:

Shot at the Night is a complete gem and often a forgotten single. I adore the song and while it much lower than it deserved on the countdown i am happy it at the least madethe top 10.

 

Smile Like You Mean is very infectious too.

 

I can't see past a Somebody Told Me vs. Mr. Brightside top 2 (unless one of those got a -1?) but will probably be happy with those 5 in any order :P Read My Mind to be as high as possible though!

 

I should've rated All These Things That I've Done higher just for the "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" build-up alone :wub:

Just so you know, I gave RFC a 9.5. You've probs added it in the results, but I'm not there in the highest scorers, so just double checking :P

 

Nice enough results on the whole so far though. No major losses/unexpected results tbh. Except maybe Shot At the Night going top 10!