Lyrics

I have looked at interpretations of the lyrics to help me understand the meaning of the song when i come to annotating them myself.

http://www.lyricinterpretations.com/The-Killers/Mr-Brightside

'The key in this song is its title. By calling himself Mr Brightside, the speaker is commenting on how he is incurably optimistic - he always looks at the bright side of any given situation.

The song is about his propensity for getting overly involved emotionally with women he has only just met, and suffering heartbreak when his love proves to be unrequited. His "destiny" is to continually experience such heartbreak because he always opens up his "eager eyes" to the next possible paramour.

To get into a closer reading, look at the first stanza:

Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all

Here, he is freeing himself from the emotional restraint that was protecting him from having his heart broken and allowing himself to become interested in a girl. The "all" that he wants refers to true love, the kind that you can only get if you are willing to give the entirety of yourself to someone else.

It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss

Here, he's wondering how he's gotten to the point that he cares so deeply about her after just one kiss - the answer is because he allowed himself to invest that kiss with meaning that for her was not there.

The next couple stanzas basically tell the story of him seeing this girl that kissed him once hanging out with other guys - and because he feels so strongly for her, he becomes deeply jealous/angry. It's sort of like a situation where two people made out on a dance floor one night, and the girl felt like she was just having fun whereas the guy thought there was actually a connection.

Where we get the best crystallization of Mr Brightside's true nature and motivation is in the following stanza:

But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr Brightside

Here, we should be getting that the "price" he pays is the intense feelings of jealousy, rage, and heartbreak that come from his penchant for getting too attached too fast. He asserts that it is out of his hands, that this pattern of behavior is simply part of his core personality by referring to it as his "destiny." His eyes are "eager" for the next girl that he will fall for, which is sure to happen because he is the perpetually optimistic "Mr Brightside" - always looking for and ready for love.'


I have annotated the Mr Brightside lyrics to show the relationship between the lyrics and visuals. This will help with the timing when it comes to filming and editing our video. It shows a very brief description of how the visuals will relate to the lyrics.