I have come to the conclusion that Mr Brightside by The Killers might just be the best song of the past ten years

The Brits love it. Good drinking song, I guess.

It's so ubiquitous that I often forget it's not by a British band

The Brits love it. Good drinking song, I guess.

― HuskerDoolittle

Yes, quite satisfying to holler along to while pissed, filling in any gaps in the lyrics with "da-da-dah!".

*huge bongrip*

What if...

You replaced the cocaine 16th hi-hat note 00s drum style with...

an original semi-improvised drumming from Megadeth's (since 2016) drummer (who seems like a nice Belgian dude who'd never heard the song before):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbUYVcaF_l0

Happy 20th anniversary. It will never leave. It is eternal. It is "Louie Louie." It is "Sweet Caroline."

https://i.ibb.co/9c7sM5P/IMG-4336.jpg

big michigan football fan here, and playing "mr. brightside" between the 3rd and 4th quarters has become a tradition. it might have replaced otis redding's "i can turn you loose" (famously used in the blues brothers), though they might still play that one in addition to mr. brightside, i haven't been to a game since the tradition started

Went to a Twins game this summer and they played it, huge pop from the crowd

Twenty years of madness. Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/music/mr-brightside-killers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.D00.pIAN.UFJKJ9aB0xMF&smid=url-share

beautiful thread arc

I was struck on relisten how it reminds me of born sloppy and also sex by the 1975… real bridge to the 21st century type shit

When Rock N Roll Pt 2 finally got struck from sports stadium rotations, it left a bit of a void, so just in case any Gary Glitter-esque scandals come to light from the Killers crowd, I nominate Buzzcocks' Thunder of Hearts as a drop-in replacement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRVHV_QsMZo

Similar themes and chorus, and less smarmy and preening, though I guess smarmy and preening is exactly the attitude you'd want when your team scores a goal -- on the other hand I'd argue "Okay, right, you win, but always remember / Don't say you've not heard, when you die, you're dead forever" is an even better one for when the opposing team is ahead.

When Rock N Roll Pt 2 finally got struck from sports stadium rotations

i've heard it in u.s. stadiums/arenas well past the allegations, though i think hardly anyone here even knows who gary glitter is, it's just the "hey!" song

just had a look at the top youtube upload for "The Hey Song" and 95% of comments are wistful nostalgic memories.

a few comments are about "heard he did some bad things but he made some great music so it's not all bad!"

Cancel culture is out of control!

saw one that was like "rock stars have all done terrible things! if you don't listen to anyone who's been cancelled then you can't listen to anyone! and anyway there are plenty that have done worse!"

"I listen to both kinds of music! Gary glitter *and* l0stpr0phets!"

The Killers released “Mr. Brightside” 20 years ago and hardly anybody cared.

sometimes you read a story and it feels like the first line invents a version of reality in order to facilitate the thesis, and this is one of those times...

my recollection is that this song was basically inescapable for at least a few months ... am i wrong?

I guess it was, but several months after release ...

The premise of this song becoming a "Don't Stop Believin'" or "Sweet Caroline" for a younger generation is interesting enough ... you really don't need that lead to make it work.

i remember hearing "somebody told me" first and then "mr. brightside" coming along in its wake. didn't realize that "brightside" was actually released first.

but yeah, as the article points out, it became a massive hot 100 hit and was an alt rock radio hit for some time beforehand

Of course it was huge in 2005. I karaoked it then and my version went top ten in 14 countries

I also heard Somebody Told Me first. It was definitely an omnipresent single for a while before I first heard Mr. Brightside.