2B —Thursday, March 8, 2018
b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Coming out of our cage: Fifteen years later, the 
‘Mr. Brightside’ phenomenon persists on campuses

As I walked toward the 
Greenwood block party last 
September, just as it seemed 
like it was about over, a familiar 
sound caught my ear. Amid the 
echoes of jubilant laughter and 
delirious chatter, I heard the 
unmistakable opening notes 
of “Mr. Brightside,” the debut 
single from Las Vegas quartet 
The Killers. The cluster of 
students streaming out of the 
neighborhood 
belted 
every 
single lyric, word for word, in 
nearly immaculate unison. It 
was mesmerizing, to say the 
least, though not unexpected.
Since I entered college, “Mr. 
Brightside” 
was 
considered 
the go-to anthem catered for 
every and any kind of social 
gathering. There are other 
iconic party jams that remain 
staples within college party 
culture — Fountains of Wayne’s 
“Stacy’s Mom,” Bowling for 
Soup’s “1985” and R. Kelly’s 
“Ignition (Remix)” are some 
well-known favorites. But no 
matter the venue or the time 
of day, “Mr. Brightside” is 
incomparable in how easily it 
can provoke a crowd of people 
to practically lose their shit and 
maintain that level of insanity 
throughout its duration.
While “Mr. Brightside” has 
been in existence since the 
early 2000s, its timelessness 
has 
transformed 
it 
into 
a 
fascinating 
and 
somewhat 
confounding phenomenon. A 
theatrical, triumphant anthem 
about unrequited love is now 
considered by many young 
people to be a millennial classic. 
In addition to being a musical 
marvel, “Mr. Brightside” has 
woven its way into other realms 
of pop culture, most notably 
on Twitter as a series of viral 
memes. It was featured in a 
scene from the 2006 rom-com 
“The Holiday,” where Cameron 
Diaz (“The Mask”) screams 
the lyrics to forget about her 
boyfriend’s infidelity, as well 
as 
a 
memorable 
sequence 
from the second season of 
“The O.C.,” where three of the 
show’s central couples confront 
one another at a rock concert 
— 
The 
Killers 
themselves 
make 
an 
appearance. 
The 
band continues to perform the 
song on tour, unabashedly and 
vigorously so, still capturing 
the hearts of their devoted fans, 
including “Hamilton” creator 
Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Considering 
the 
social, 
cultural and sonic factors at 
play in the song’s runaway 
success, I decided to investigate 
what makes “Mr. Brightside” 
one of the most memorable 
and perennial tracks of the 
21st century and what its 
significance might say about 
the people who cherish it the 
most.
“How did it end up like 
this?”: A brief history of “Mr. 
Brightside.”
The magnitude of the song’s 
appeal can be traced all the way 
back to its beginning. In late 
2001, The Killers’s frontman 
Brandon 
Flowers 
co-wrote 
the 
song 
with 
the 
band’s 
lead guitarist Dave Keuning. 
Inspired by a real-life situation 
in which Flowers discovered 
his then-girlfriend had cheated 
on 
him, 
“Mr. 
Brightside” 
follows a jealous guy and his 
attempt 
to 
reconcile 
with 
knowing his lover has left him 
for another man. Flowers and 
Keuning performed the song 
for the first time at an open mic 
night in Las Vegas’s Cafe Roma, 
a performance that Flowers 
described as “terrible” and 
“awful” in a 2005 Rolling Stone 
interview. Still, that didn’t stop 
the two from recording the 
song’s demo in 2002 (which 
was much grainier and more 
distorted than the original), 
 
and signing with UK indie label 
Lizard King Records. Initially, 
The 
Killers 
achieved 
more 
success in the United Kingdom, 
similar to how Jimi Hendrix 
found his commercial niche in 
England with his band’s 1967 
debut Are You Experienced.
Once 
the 
song 
was 

re-recorded 
and 
re-released 
on the band’s 2004 debut Hot 
Fuss, “Mr. Brightside” finally 
found its calling in the United 
States. The song climbed to 
number 10 on the U.S. Billboard 
charts and became the ninth 
most 
downloaded 
song 
on 
iTunes in 2005. The Killers had 
officially been propelled into 
the mainstream limelight. To 
this day, the song continues to 
be a chart topper; according to 
Noisey, it spent 35 consecutive 
weeks on the U.K. Billboard 
Charts between July 2016 and 
Mar. 2017, reaching its peak 
in three years at number 49 in 
Jan. 2017.
The fact “Mr. Brightside” 
has endured years later and 
resonated with music listeners 
on 
an 
international 
scale 
remains a captivating enigma. 
Much like how the protagonist 
of the song prevails against the 
pain and suffering from losing 
his girlfriend, “Mr. Brightside” 
seems 
to 
have 
prevailed 
against its tumultuous start 
as well. Perhaps the song has 
maintained its success because 
of its unrelenting optimism, its 
ingenuity for its time or, most 
likely, the universal appeal 
of the underdog story at its 
center. Perhaps it’s all those 
things, but it’s worth noting 
“Mr. Brightside” would not be 
nearly as massive without the 
unforgettable lyrics and the 
propulsive beat that drive it.
“Gotta 
gotta 
be 
down 
because I want it all”: The 
lyrics and sound of “Mr. 
Brightside.”
To further understand the 
song’s spellbinding allure, I 
spoke with Ryan Bodiford, 
a University professor who 
teaches Introduction to Popular 
Music 
this 
semester 
and 
specializes in musicology, a field 
that explores the relationships 
between music and its social 
significance. Though the song 
has a relatively conventional 
structure, Bodiford contends 
its attractiveness lies within 
the setup and payoff of its 
sound. 
“The 
whole 
tune 
is 
based 
around 
a 
build-up 
of 
momentum,” 
Bodiford 
said. 
“That 
bridge 
section 
is 
gaining 
momentum, 
the 
melody 
increases 
in 
pitch. 
The harmonies of the tune 
are building a certain tension 
that is released in this massive 
payout of the chorus.”
He also remarks the song 
draws on familiar styles, like 
British rock, pop and new 
wave music. This makes sense, 
especially because at the time of 
the song’s release, The Killers’s 
competition — The Strokes, 
Interpol, 
LCD 
Soundsystem 
and 
Yeah 
Yeah 
Yeahs 
— 
incorporated those genres as 
well as part of the growing 
NYC rock revival scene. But 
“Mr. Brightside” stands out 
not just for the texture of its 
production, but for the wistful 
feelings it elicits.
Jeff 
Peretz, 
an 
assistant 
arts professor at the New York 
University Clive Davis Institute 
of Recorded Music, spoke about 
the song’s nostalgia and how its 
themes on paranoia, heartbreak 
and jealousy can translate into 
such a satisfying emotional 
release.
“I think (“Mr. Brightside”w) 
gives permission to explore 
those kind of feelings,” Peretz 
said. 
“We 
all 
go 
through 
something similar and to be 
able to shout it out at a party 
out loud has got to be cathartic. 
It gives people a chance to 
celebrate that they’ve been 
through this.” 
It’s no wonder, then, why “Mr. 
Brightside” is considered such 
a desirable tune among college 
students. 
The 
combination 
of Flowers’s lyrical wordplay 
(“Jealousy, turning saints into 
the sea / Swimming through 
sick lullabies, choking on your 
alibis”) with the invigorating, 
major-key rhythm, comprised 
of fiery synths and booming, 
majestic guitar riffs, empowers 
and reassures its audience to 
remain optimistic even in the 
face of rejection, something that 
most young people arguably 
experience on a weekly basis.

That being said, millennials 
aren’t 
the 
only 
ones 
who 
consider 
“Mr. 
Brightside” 
a 
masterful 
earworm. 
In 
Mar. 2016, 45-year-old Brian 
O’Sullivan 
led 
a 
raucous, 
emotional 
rendition 
of 
the 
song at an Irish pub in honor 
of his best friend who had died 
the previous week. The video 
that captured the scene went 
viral, even leading The Killers 
to post about it on Twitter, 
blessing O’Sullivan with their 
seal of approval. In a way, this 
kind of occurrence speaks to 
the song’s remarkable ability 
to transcend intergenerational 
barriers. Everyone, no matter 
what age, experiences some 
form of heartbreak over losing 
something or someone at some 
point in life.
“People feel more open and 
brave to express those kind of 
things,” Peretz said. “Whereas 
maybe they would be the kind 
of things you would keep to 
yourself if it wasn’t for a song 
like this.”
The 
song’s 
distinctive 
repetition also contributes to 
its infectiousness. Elizabeth 
Margulis, a music researcher 
based at the University of 
Arkansas, 
discussed 
the 
cognitive 
implications 
of 
repetition in pop music in a 
recent Vox video. At one point in 
the clip, Margulis deconstructs 
this idea of a “speech to song 
illusion.”
“You can take a little bit of 
speech, repeat it a number of 
times and for many people, 
there’s 
this 
very 
salient 
transformation 
where 
what 
initially 
just 
sounded 
like 
somebody talking to you sounds 
like someone singing,” she said.
“Mr. Brightside” works in 
a similar way; Flowers shouts 
the first verse, pre-chorus and 
chorus, then repeats them in the 
song’s second half, and finally 
ends by wailing “I never” four 
times in a row. According to 
the science behind the “speech 
to song illusion,” the more the 
lyrics are repeated, the catchier 
the track is. It’s why, as Vox 
contributor 
Estelle 
Caswell 
remarks in the video, songs 
like 
Whitney 
Houston’s 
“I 
Wanna Dance With Somebody,” 
Beyoncé’s 
“Formation” 
and 
Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” 
have become such addictive 
pop songs.
“Repetition 
doesn’t 
just 
make the song memorable,” 
Caldwell said when alluding to 
“Formation,” “it reinforces its 
central message.” The same can 
be said about “Mr. Brightside”; 
the song’s repetition supports 
this idea that no matter how 
difficult your circumstances 
may be, everything will be 
alright in the end.
“Destiny is calling me”: 
The cultural impact of “Mr. 
Brightside.”
Even with all this in mind, it’s 
still difficult to ascertain just 
how and why “Mr. Brightside” 
has stayed so popular for so 
long. Why haven’t, say, Hot 
Fuss’s deep cuts “Smile Like 
You Mean It” and “Somebody 
Told Me” or “When You Were 
Young” 
from 
2006’s 
Sam’s 
Town or “Human” from 2008’s 
Day and Age achieved the same 
level of playability? Why “Mr. 
Brightside” specifically?
Some have theorized “Mr. 
Brightside” has accumulated 
so 
much 
commercial 
and 
cultural capital because our 
parents played it for us when 
we were younger. It’s entirely 
probable that listening to “Mr. 
Brightside” 
could 
be 
some 
unconscious form of reclaiming 
that part of our childhood. And 
if not reclaiming our childhood, 
then maybe some type of 
psychological liberation. Others 
believe the song’s long-lasting 
success is due to the trend of 
post-ironic Spotify DJing, the 
comfort of nostalgia or simply 
because it’s a good song. One 
might also think millennials 
relate to the song’s themes of 
infidelity and jealousy because 
they are more prone to cheat 
on 
their 
partners, 
though 
there exists evidence that both 
supports and refutes this claim.
“Popularity is truly elusive,” 
Bodiford 
said. 
“There 
are 

SAM ROSENBERG
Senior Arts Editor

things that nobody would’ve 
expected to become massively 
popular. In that case, you have 
to look at social aspects. Is 
it connected to a particular 
moment in time?”
Considering the turbulent 
social moment we’re currently 
living 
in, 
“Mr. 
Brightside” 
can certainly be an antidote 
to 
the 
unshakable 
anxiety 
that 
pervades 
youth 
and 
society at large today. By 
recontextualizing it as a party 
song, “Mr. Brightside” gives its 
listeners the agency and control 
that is so desperately needed 
during these times. Though the 
future remains unpredictable, 
the song’s legacy will hopefully 
stay intact.
“When the song first came 
out, I was like, ‘This is kind of 
cool.’ No one knew which one of 

those bands from that era was 
going to stick around,” Peretz 
recalled. “But this summer, at 
one of the festivals in the city 
(the Global Citizen Festival), 
they played the song and 
everybody went nuts for it. I 
remember being moved by how 
much people appreciated that 
song.”
“Youth is kind of inherently 
optimistic,” 
Bodiford 
said. 
“As you get older, you tend 
to get more jaded. Having a 
very uplifting theme that’s 
connected to music that’s also 
very optimistic and major-key 
and life-affirming … it resonates 
with a common outlook for a lot 
of University students that are 
getting ready to go out in the 
world.”
During the annual Michigan 
State University game last Oct., 

I witnessed this first-hand. 
The Big House decided to play 
“Mr. 
Brightside” 
for 
more 
than 100,000 people. Instead 
of cutting off the song, as they 
tend to do before the next 
play of the football game, they 
played it all the way through, 
letting it reverberate into the 
night as a horde of students 
roared along to the words.
Again, it was a captivating 
sight to see — the rainstorm 
that suddenly washed over the 
crowd made it feel all the more 
epic — but it felt appropriate 
in this context. Despite the 
fact that Michigan was losing 
against MSU, “Mr. Brightside” 
pushed us away from the lure 
of impending disappointment. 
It opened up our eager eyes 
and reminded us that we were 
doing just fine.

The magic community of 
midnight film screenings

FILM NOTEBOOK

My first (and only) experience of 
a midnight screening was for “The 
Room” last fall at the Michigan 
Theater in anticipation of the 
release of “The Disaster Artist.” 
“The Disaster Artist” adapts the 
memoir by Greg Sestero and Tom 
Bissell about their time on the set 
of “The Room” at the mercy of the 
eccentric Tommy Wiseau. As I 
waited in the jam-packed theater 
for the movie to begin, I could tell 
right away that the atmosphere was 
something extraordinary: Loud 
recitations of notorious scenes 
filled the room, several people tried 
to sell me plastic spoons (since the 
Friday-night crowd cleaned house 
at the nearby Walgreens), the musty 
scent of alcohol and marijuana 
came from all directions. Usually, 
only the bottom floor of the 
main auditorium has customers, 
consisting largely of senior citizens 
and film students with plenty of 
seats open. But that night, even the 
balcony level sold out.
Once the film started, the noise 
did not die down. Instead, people 
shouted along to the dialogue and 
chucked their precious plastic 
spoons towards the front, inevitably 
hitting a lot of heads. I started to 
pick up on the bizarre traditions 
that everyone bought into: If you 
see a spoon in the movie, throw a 
real one; if there’s an extended sex 
scene, count the absurd number 
of gyrations; or you yell, “Go! Go! 
Go!” as the camera pans across 
the Golden Gate Bridge — the list 
goes on. At some point, people in 
the back ran out of their arsenal of 
plastic spoons and started racing 
through the aisles and diving onto 
the stage to retrieve more. All this 
passion and frenzy and excitement 
for truly the worst movie ever 
made. In other words, a straight-up 
phenomenon.
Midnight movies, synonymous 
with cult films, began their 
rise in popularity where most 

would expect: New York City. 
The 
independent 
film 
scene 
revolved mostly around certain 
iconic, and now almost all closed, 
arthouse theaters like the Elgin, 
the Waverly and the St. Marks. 
Selections often included cheap 
B-movies, 
corny 
Westerns 
or 
sultry features that addressed 
fetishes and other counterculture 
topics. Most associate the Mexican 

western “El Topo” as the first 
midnight 
movie, 
played 
back 
in 1970 to crowded audiences. 
From “El Topo,” the phenomenon 
spread to embrace dark comedies, 
politically-charged thrillers and, 
oddly enough, a number of movies 
that John Lennon of The Beatles 
loved. However, like all trends, the 
fascination shifted to something 
else, except for one film which has 
outlasted even the theater that 
coaxed it to cult status: “The Rocky 
Horror Picture Show.”
“The Rocky Horror Picture 
Show” is the longest running 
movie in history with a Cinderella 
tale to accompany its cementation 
in popular culture. What started 
as a small theater production 

transformed into an Hollywood 
flop and, miraculously, re-emerged 
as the symbol of fringe society. 
Similar to “The Room,” audience 
participation drives the showings 
with traditions that force places 
like the Michigan Theater to issue 
a ban on rice, confetti, water guns, 
candles, lighters, whole rolls of 
toilet paper, prunes and hot dogs. At 
locations that run the special every 
week, some actors make a career 
participating in Rocky Horror 
shadowcasts. In fact, the state 
of Mich. has three shadowcasts 
that roam around performing for 
riotous fans. As the 1975 motion 
picture plays on a screen, actors 
dressed as the characters dance 
below and react to improved and 
repeated-so-many-times-it’s-
scripted lines from the audience. 
As film critic Roger Ebert wrote, 
“‘THe Rocky Horror Picture Show’ 
is not so much a movie as more of a 
long-running social phenomenon,” 
since “the fans put on a better show 
than anything on the screen.”
Like 
all 
counterculture, 
midnight screenings have become 
a rite of passage, no longer confined 
to an unorthodox, marginalized 
community. Just as aspects of 
hippie 
and 
punk 
subcultures 
infiltrate our everyday lives, so do 
references to cult films: Someone 
humming 
“The 
Time 
Warp,” 
someone patting a puppy’s head 
to say “Hi, doggy.” Who knows 
what films decades later will 
be staples of our culture? Great 
movies nominated for Oscars and 
Golden Globes fall to obscurity, 
but somehow the red lips of “THe 
Rocky Horror Picture Show” and 
the bonkers accent of Johnny from 
“The Room” will live on in grungy 
corners of the country or the most 
mainstream theaters. Midnight 
movies have a timeless power 
over audiences. They entrance us, 
they push the envelope, they don’t 
shy from a deeper truth, but most 
importantly, they welcome. They 
provide a feeling of camaraderie 
and unity, and once you get a taste, 
you’re already in too deep.

MEGHAN CHOU
Daily Arts Writer

Like all 

counterculture, 

midnight 

screenings have 

become a rite 

of passage, no 

longer confined 

to an unorthodox, 

marginalized 

community

ISLAND RECORDS