The first song Brandon Flowers was obsessed with
Spawning out of Las Vegas in the early 2000s and led by Brandon Flowers, The Killers immediately proved their capability to produce obsession-worthy hits. Their debut single came in the form of a soon-to-be inescapable anthem titled ‘Mr. Brightside’, a song that would earn them a near-permanent place in the playlists of wedding DJs, the hearts of indie kids, and the UK charts.
Though the song was produced in and inspired by Flowers’ life in Vegas, ‘Mr. Brightside’ unexpectedly became ingrained in British culture, soundtracking indie club nights across the country for decades to come. None of us can remember ever willingly learning the lyrics to ‘Mr. Brightside’, yet we all seem to know them by heart.
Perhaps it’s how easy the words are to remember, how the song seems suited to soundtrack any gathering, or the catchy chant-like quality to Flowers’ delivery. Either way, the sleeper hit gradually revealed an addictive, obsessive nature that it has maintained in the cultural canon for over two decades now. For better or worse, the song is impossible to avoid.
Although follow-up hits like ‘Human’ and ‘Somebody Told Me’ would give it their best shot, The Killers could never quite top the obsessive quality of ‘Mr. Brightside’. Long before Flowers created the worldwide phenomenon that was ‘Mr. Brightside’, he discovered his own obsession with music through a John Waite track.
During a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Flowers declared ‘Missing You’ by Waite to be the first track he was ever obsessed with. “I’m not sure how young kids get to the point where they’re memorising and knowing songs,” he began, “but I knew the words to ‘Missing You’ from John Waite probably from when I was three years old.”
Released in 1984, the hit features soft rock instrumentation and intermittent lyrical yearning. “I ain’t missing you,” Waite declares before admitting, “I keep lying to myself every time I think of you.” It’s almost difficult to picture Flowers developing an obsession with the understated track, knowing he would grow up to create a far more powerful form of pop rock. Even Flowers can’t recall why he was so taken by the song.
“For whatever reason, that was the song that I gravitated toward when it was on the radio, and I was driving around with my mom,” he continued, “It must’ve been played a lot because I knew all the words. My sister would take me around to her friends’ parents and things, and I would sing it.”
His recollection sounds similar to how many of us would describe his own creation in ‘Mr. Brightside’. It’s a track we’ve collectively memorised without meaning to. Revisit ‘Missing You’ by John Waite, the first song Brandon Flowers was obsessed with, below.
