Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXXXVII--The Killers: All These Things That I've Done

One of the thrills of being a big music fan is how you can be going about your life, reading a book or doing a crossword puzzle, and in an otherwise extraordinarily ordinary moment in your life, a song can pop up on the TV, a commercial or a coda to a show, and that song thrusts itself into your consciousness and you immediately think, "Holy shit, I've got to hear that one again..."

Such was the case with "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers--I don't remember exactly what I was doing but the TV was on in the background, the song was featured in some commercial (couldn't begin to tell you for what), and I spent the next several days singing "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier...."

The Killers formed in 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and among their many claims to fame is that they are the most successful Nevada band ever--but their success isn't just limited to Nevada.  They've sold over 22 million albums worldwide (they enjoy quite a bit of success in the UK), been nominated for 7 Grammy Awards, toured constantly at the world's biggest venues and festivals, and have all around enjoyed a hell of a career over the last fourteen years.   The band's name came from the logo on a bass drum of a fictitious band in a New Order video for "Crystal" (no clue--not very familiar with New Order or their work).  Their music has never been cutting edge or music changing, but like
Bruce Springsteen, they incorporate the best of many musical styles into their very own sound.

Released on their Hot Fuss album (which I have to admit I wasn't familiar with until this past year, but I'm oh so glad I now am--a really fine debut LP) in 2004,  the song surprisingly would only reach #74 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Nonetheless, due to its anthemic nature, it's been covered live by U2, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Imagine Dragons, and Walk the Moon, among others.  And it's not hard to see why--as someone who grew up listening to songs that would eventually be considered Classic Rock, "All These Things That I've Done" would be right at home on any stage in that era.

As for the song itself, the only thing you really need to know is "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier."  I have no idea what, if anything, it means, but I'm not sure a cooler line has ever been written in a pop song, and it can literally make me march around the house like I was forty years younger and sing it over and over again.  That's not to take anything away from the rest of the song--it's a sum of its parts and it all comes together as an intrepid whole, but there are moments in some songs where a great song gets shot into another stratosphere and "I've got soul, but I'm not a solider" is one such moment.  Repeated by the gospel choir The Sweet Inspirations in the middle of the song, it is bookended perfectly by the earnest calls for redemption in the stanzas surrounding it.  And "if you can hold on" it's a marvelous five minutes of music.

Lyric sheet: This will be some kind of surprise, but... "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee