Mr. Brightside May Never Die
Mr. Brightside by The Killers is such an iconic song, for many reasons. To start out, the song is one that is widely seen in pop culture now, though it was not as much at the time of its release. The first release was in 2003 and was re-released in 2004, eventually hitting the billboard charts at Number 40 in 2005 and being the 6th most downloaded song in that year as well. By 2016, the song had already reached 3.5 million dollars in sales on itunes, which seems like a lot to me.
The song is about getting cheated on, not anything that would make you think that this song will last forever. So what makes this song considered timeless? There are probably a lot of answers to this question but for me, I would say it is the ability the song has to pull people together. I was reading multiple articles where the theme was saying that people love this song at sporting events like football games. Interestly too, Britain is also really familiar with the song too, which is pretty cool.
With personal experience, I can say the atmosphere when in sports games goes insane with Mr. Brightside. I’m sure it is an everywhere thing, but being at a Michigan Wolverine football game and hearing Mr. Brightside is something that just fuels your body with a sense and feeling of fitting in, being at home. The Big House, their stadium in Ann Arbor, holds up to 110,000 people and is incredibly loud when we play well (yes I’m a wolverine, go blue). Obviously, there are games that have more rivalries than others and the Michigan vs Ohio State game is one of them.
The first time it was played was in 2016 against Wisconsin in the third quarter. The song was used to not necessarily hype the students and the crowd but to form unity within them… needless to say Michigan beat Wisconsin 14-7. From then on, the song has been played numerous times, especially during our big rivalry games like Michigan State and Ohio State. Because the fans get so into these games, Michigan releases hype videos for them. In the background you can hear Mr. Brightside being played during the great plays made at the 2021 Thanksgiving game at the Big House. It was such a fun game to be at, especially to experience the fans crowding the field at the end while singing Mr. Brightside together.
In the hype video, you can see the entire stadium singing after the win, it is such a pure moment.
I think that it is crazy that it is not an isolated thing. For one, colleges around the US seem to have this song played at parties a lot and people, I assume, enjoy it. I think the main theme of this is that the song unifies people and unity is something society needs, whether it be like niche groups or music etc. The fact that this song goes hard in so many other countries is amazing as well.
Thus, that brings me to my next point; how music has the ability to unite people.
live aid
There have been many charities and fundraisers that have had musicians play to either raise awareness to a specific cause or raise money for their cause. You can see this in a lot of big concerts like Live Aid, Live Earth, The Concert for New York City and many more. All of these had many performers from all over the world who people usually would pay to see, thus raising money for said causes. If you’ve ever seen anything about Live Aid, you can see that it is a really crowded stadium with performances literally coming from all over the world-this sort of shows you how people will come together to show up for causes they believe in. That is what humanity is about and it is cool to see music can do that.
In respect to The Killers, they played in a benefit concert as well. They played in the 2017 Vegas Strong concert that was raising money for the victims of a mass shooting in Vegas at a music festival. The concert ended up making over $700,000, which is a lot of money that could be used for good. While it won’t bring back loved ones, it is nice to see a community coming together and showing love instead of hate.
With all of the hatred going on in the world right now, I think it would be beneficial to raise awareness to some of it. With people going out more and concerts becoming more available and popular, it would be cool to see a cause the artist supports to hopefully be put somewhere and get news. I know that Harry Styles does this; before his shows the board says “End Gun Violence”. Obviously, it will not physically end gun violence but a star with millions of followers speaking out about an issue could really bring awareness to the issue at hand. It is a sad, but cool concept that I think should be incorporated into more artists' shows. Honestly, it does not even have to be limited by like musicians, it could be other major artists or celebrities as well. Awareness is key right?
In conclusion, Mr. Brightside by The Killers is a truly iconic song. Not only does it resonate with people in the early 2000’s, it also resonates with people through 2022 and for sure will be carried on throughout the years. While looking at the song, it was cool to see how music can be used to bring communities together and create solidarity within them. It is a crazy thought that music can heal, but I think it is such an interesting way to think about how our communities now, with everything going on, could possibly use some music for themselves. Regardless, this song is timeless and will probably be heard in years to come.
