Killers, The

All These Things That I've Done

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Lyric discussion by oxejin 

by oxejin

I think this song is about a man who keeps breaking up with people and breaking their hearts, not because he's a bad person, but because there's a limit to how much he can feel. I know this seems like a stretch at first, and sort of a panzy interpretation.. However, everything fits with this theme, for me anyways.. and I think some of the lines are brilliant.

When there's nowhere else to run Is there room for one more son One more son If you can hold on If you can hold on, hold on

  • for me these lyrics are explained more later…

I wanna stand up, I wanna let go

  • wants to do the right thing

You know, you know - no you don't, you don't

  • not sure what that is, keeps thinking he knows, and then a thought or feeling contradicts what he thought it was. Could also be that people think they know that he’s a good person, but really they don’t, because they don’t know how ruthless he is in his feelings sometimes (inside).

I wanna shine on in the hearts of men

  • wants to be a good person. Wants to be someone he would admire…

I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand

  • wants to learn something from all the past-failed relationships, and everything else that he’s done that has hurt other people (this problem goes beyond relationships)

Another head aches, another heart breaks I am so much older than I can take

  • he’s getting older, and nothing seems different.. he keeps hurting people (and subsequently himself), and he’s accumulating baggage and it’s wearing him out

And my affection, well it comes and goes

  • this is one of the main problems. Sometimes he cares, and other times he doesn’t. And when he doesn’t care on an emotional level, he does on an intellectual, or is at least aware that he should care.

I need direction to perfection, no no no no

  • and then he thinks maybe he just hasn’t met the right one. A person that will live up to all his expectations.. he needs to just keep going in that direction, looking for the perfect mate that he will have affection for and not want to leave… but then he thinks about some of the people who have came before, and how good they were, and himself, and how he is imperfect, and thinks that’s not it.. another contradiction (you know, you know, no you don’t)

Help me out Yeah, you know you got to help me out Yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner You know you got to help me out, yeah

-This might seem like he’s making a plea to someone else to not ignore him, and help him out. But I don’t think that’s it. I think this is his problem, his inability to get close to person, to become emotionally connected on a deeper level… making the plea. In other words, he’s making a plea to himself, saying not to ignore the problem anymore.

And when there's nowhere else to run Is there room for one more son

  • when he has no idea what to do, is there room for a confused child, who has nothing figured out, who makes mistakes.

These changes ain't changing me The cold-hearted boy I used to be

  • he remembers when he was younger , and he was completely cold-hearted and that he’s gradually realized it, and thought he was growing from it, but, he’s still the same cold-hearted person, the only difference is that he realizes it.

Yeah, you know you got to help me out Yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner You know you got to help me out, yeah You're gonna bring yourself down Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down

  • don’t ignore this, even it hurts, even it’s hard to face it, don’t just hope it goes away, and go on to the next relationship and hope that one will be different, figure out what the problem is now. “bring yourself down!” let it depress it you if it has to, and fix it.

I got soul, but I'm not a soldier (x10)

  • with the war in Iraq, when this first came out, I thought it related to that. But, for me now, it just seems to be him saying that he cares about being cold-hearted and hurting people (“I got soul”, or “I have a soul”), but he’s not able to do a good job, make the right decisions, stand in line, his heart waivers and drifts. He’s not good at this.

(Time, truth and hearts)

  • to me, throwing this in, is sort of a clue that the song is really about this stuff, rather than a more general theme, although the lyrics can easily be interpreted many ways.

Over and out, last call for sin While everyone's lost, the battle is won With all these things that I've done All these things that I've done (Time, truth and hearts) If you can hold on If you can hold on

  • keep trying? With the hope that he will eventually learn what the problem is, even if he ends up hurting more people. Or, even if he ends up losing everyone that cares about him, at least, in the end, hopefully, he’ll understand why.
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by wei6700366

@oxejin

" 'And when there's nowhere else to run Is there room for one more son?'

>

  • when he has no idea what to do, is there room for a confused child, who has nothing figured out, who makes mistakes. "

  • when he has no idea what to do, is there room for a confused child, who has nothing figured out, who makes mistakes. "

    i>

  • One more confused child > implies the singer is also asking if there's time to start over from the beginning as a child who has much to learn. Of course, time is unforgiving and it's running out, highlighting his current life crisis.

  • One more confused child > implies the singer is also asking if there's time to start over from the beginning as a child who has much to learn. Of course, time is unforgiving and it's running out, highlighting his current life crisis.

    Elaborating on oxejin's analysis, we can also examine excerpts from the music video to get a clearer meaning of the song, keeping in mind that films are exemplary depictions of an artists intent ( youtube.com/watch )

    Using cheating as an example, this shows one of the many problems the singer has been through, a hopeless flirter unsure of who to love.

    1:30 "Help me out Yeah, you know you got to help me out"

    shows the same man in a shower while singing the stanza > the man is not begging for help from somebody, rather, he is pleading to himself to fix it. Most depressed people tend to speak negative thoughts to themselves. In the end, only our own determination can pull ourselves out of this disease. The singer seems intelligently aware of his problem but is unable to confront it. He is his only hope.

    2:05 shows Brandon riding a baby horse and going nowhere, a metaphor for wasted time.

    This also illustrates the size of his crisis and the pointlessness to have another person (or object, drugs, substitute...etc. in our consumerist world) solve it for him. The precedence of this scene in the music video suggests he's been there, done that, and learned of something in the past.

    2:45 I got soul, but I'm not a soldier (x10) scene with the band marching up to the four women. The band members take their step back as the ladies march forward. Ultimately, the men who fled and were hit by the boomerang, except Brandon, who stood and fought for a while before running off with the sign.

    Very clear the scene is about accountability. The men who ran away were struck down by the problems they face. Brandon showed some success by standing and fighting but retreated afterwards. Despite trying to hide, the women hunt them down. Escape is futile. The choice of the boomerang, a ranged weapon, symbolize the pointlessness of running. Perhaps by taking a step forward in the beginning the ladies would not have drawn out their weapons (as it would be useless up close) and the problem would have ended less painfully.

    4:27 "If you can hold on..." Film ends with a down and out Brandon walking away with a hopeless look (aka. his give up face). He gets struck by the woman's boomerang and face plants in a puddle.

    A similar but slightly different scene than 2:45. It reminds the viewer that giving up will also lead to the same consequences. We have often been in relationships where nothing seems to be going anywhere with all the fighting/ communicating. Even if break up may be inevitable, all is lost and nothing is learned if we give up. In battle, soldiers who retreat would fight another day and push forward, not to come back and camp in no man's land.

    It does seem the person who this song is about seems to have every past lesson he needs to make his next best move. He needs to clear his mind and have the courage to make a good decision. Yolo, sieze the day, or whichever you may, the clock is ticking and the next door that opens may be his last.

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