Day 22 - Battle Born
The Killers
2012
Disclaimer: All perspectives, opinions, and memories in this entry are mine and mine alone. Some content is rugged, raw, and - sometimes - NSFW, but it's all authentic and included with purpose.
Why It’s On The List:
I don’t love The Killers as a band because I personally like their specific sound or songs. I love The Killers as a band because I appreciate that they transcend what it means to be a rock group.
Most, if not all bands, enjoy writing and producing music together, touring, being famous, being rich, and all that comes with it. Maybe sometimes there are some themes. Maybe there are even eras. But it's not the driving focus.
But The Killers have always been about one thing: their home state of Nevada.
It’s where they are from and it’s who they are.
Their first album, “Hot Fuss,” is about being young, poor nobody, trying to make it under the bright lights of Vegas. Their sophomore effort, “Sam’s Town,” is about the backstreets of the city, where the residents live and the tourists never see.
(SIDEBAR: One of my best birthday memories - Bert and Irene took me and Summer to Las Vegas in 2014. We went to a UNLV game so that I could pay my respects to the memories of my all-time favorite college basketball team, the 1991 Runnin' Rebels. Then we went to THE actual Sam's Town casino where I found a bartender to regale me with stories of The Killers sneaking in when they were kids).
“Day and Age” is about the glitzy side of The Strip, a little bit older but with some money in your pocket. “Battle Born” is not only the Nevada state motto but it’s title of their fourth album. “Wonderful Wonderful” feels like getting older, getting away from the city on a road in the desert.
And, based on the tour poster for their upcoming new album, "Imploding the Mirage," it looks like we are headed back to the heart of the Vegas Strip.
I love that The Killers never did their own cheesy versions of the standard Christmas tunes. Instead they released one original Christmas song a year from 2006-2016 until they had 11 tracks for their own comprehensive album (see below for my personal favorites). All proceeds from these songs went to charity every year.
As I mentioned before, I love that with Miss Atomic Bomb, the group did a straight up sequel to their most well known hit. What other band does sequels in general, but attached to their biggest song at all?
They are the band that I would want to be in, the band I would want to be.
I don’t think that they’ve outlasted all of their contemporaries from the early 2000s because they are that much better than everyone else. I just think they didn't get lost in all the bullshit that usually breaks up a band.
They enjoy working together and writing about who they are where they’re from.
The title track from “Battle Born” makes this list because it sums up The Killers vibe to me and is just a badass American anthem song (for the record, waaaaay more patriotic than The Boss’ “Born in the USA” Vietnam lamentation).
Roll down your windows and let this one blare.
Listen to "Battle Born" here:
Favorite Line:
Most, if not all bands, enjoy writing and producing music together, touring, being famous, being rich, and all that comes with it. Maybe sometimes there are some themes. Maybe there are even eras. But it's not the driving focus.
But The Killers have always been about one thing: their home state of Nevada.
It’s where they are from and it’s who they are.
Their first album, “Hot Fuss,” is about being young, poor nobody, trying to make it under the bright lights of Vegas. Their sophomore effort, “Sam’s Town,” is about the backstreets of the city, where the residents live and the tourists never see.
(SIDEBAR: One of my best birthday memories - Bert and Irene took me and Summer to Las Vegas in 2014. We went to a UNLV game so that I could pay my respects to the memories of my all-time favorite college basketball team, the 1991 Runnin' Rebels. Then we went to THE actual Sam's Town casino where I found a bartender to regale me with stories of The Killers sneaking in when they were kids).
“Day and Age” is about the glitzy side of The Strip, a little bit older but with some money in your pocket. “Battle Born” is not only the Nevada state motto but it’s title of their fourth album. “Wonderful Wonderful” feels like getting older, getting away from the city on a road in the desert.
And, based on the tour poster for their upcoming new album, "Imploding the Mirage," it looks like we are headed back to the heart of the Vegas Strip.
I love that The Killers never did their own cheesy versions of the standard Christmas tunes. Instead they released one original Christmas song a year from 2006-2016 until they had 11 tracks for their own comprehensive album (see below for my personal favorites). All proceeds from these songs went to charity every year.
As I mentioned before, I love that with Miss Atomic Bomb, the group did a straight up sequel to their most well known hit. What other band does sequels in general, but attached to their biggest song at all?
They are the band that I would want to be in, the band I would want to be.
I don’t think that they’ve outlasted all of their contemporaries from the early 2000s because they are that much better than everyone else. I just think they didn't get lost in all the bullshit that usually breaks up a band.
They enjoy working together and writing about who they are where they’re from.
The title track from “Battle Born” makes this list because it sums up The Killers vibe to me and is just a badass American anthem song (for the record, waaaaay more patriotic than The Boss’ “Born in the USA” Vietnam lamentation).
Roll down your windows and let this one blare.
Listen to "Battle Born" here:
“Did they break your heart?
And did they cause your soul to mourn
Remember what I said
Boy, you was battle born
Cause you can't stop now”
While We’re Here:
While We’re Here:
Good time to mention that I’ve seen The Killers live 8 times so far and each show has been so completely different. The Day & Age tour brought out all of their synth stuff. The Battle Born tour was my personal favorite because they leaned into all of their western rock. Here’s the list of shows I’ve seen:
2007 - Washington DC with Summer, Paul and Amanda
2007 - Washington DC with Summer, Paul and Amanda
2009 - Boulder, CO by myself
2009 - Red Rocks with Summer, Dan and Aaron
2012 - Broomfield, CO with Summer (this one stands out as my personal favorite show of the bunch)
2015 - Las Vegas with Summer
2016 - Aspen with Paul
2018 - Philadelphia with Summer (as talked about yesterday)
2018 - Broomfield with Sum
If You Liked This Song...
I mentioned The Killers' Christmas songs above. Here are my favorites from that collection:
5. A Great Big Sled - The most "Classic Christmas" sounding track
4. The Cowboy's Christmas Ball - An updated Old West Nevada Christmas tune. I want to attend this event
3. Joel the Lump of Coal - Can we please turn this into an actual animated Christmas special??
2. Happy Birthday, Guadalupe - "With those big brown eyes. Boy, what did you do this time?" No lie, I listen to this song all year long
1. Joseph, Better You Than Me - "And the desert is a hell of a place to find heaven..." I always loved this song but now it means even more being a dad.
If You Liked This Song...
I mentioned The Killers' Christmas songs above. Here are my favorites from that collection:
5. A Great Big Sled - The most "Classic Christmas" sounding track
4. The Cowboy's Christmas Ball - An updated Old West Nevada Christmas tune. I want to attend this event
3. Joel the Lump of Coal - Can we please turn this into an actual animated Christmas special??
2. Happy Birthday, Guadalupe - "With those big brown eyes. Boy, what did you do this time?" No lie, I listen to this song all year long
1. Joseph, Better You Than Me - "And the desert is a hell of a place to find heaven..." I always loved this song but now it means even more being a dad.
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