Why do college kids go ham for 'Mr. Brightside'?
To be honest, I don’t have a ton in common with my brother, the frattiest frat guy to ever frat. Yet, we both get super lit when “Mr. Brightside” comes on the radio - windows down, screaming the lyrics, terrifying all the elderly people in our town out walking their dogs. My brother told me that at every college party they’d play this song, and if they didn’t, then it was a lame college party. So far I haven’t been able to personally validate this claim because I’d rather go to Andrews for pizza on Friday nights. But it’s a song that definitely is ubiquitous throughout campus: I hear it while walking past my neighbor's door, at karaoke, at lowkey social gatherings. A friend who lives in Wayland sent me a snapchat of a fraternity singing somewhere off in the distance, their drunken voices hauntingly out of tune, but immediately recognizable as the Killers.Why “Mr. Brightside”? Why “Party in the USA”, why “Take on Me”, why half of Bruno Mars’ songs? What makes a bop a bop? What separates a good song from a great song? Is there a science to iconic music or is it mostly random, no method to the madness of what sticks and what doesn’t? I don’t think I’ll ever answer these questions definitively, but I still asked some college students for their thoughts on this topic because I have too much time on my hands apparently. While most people recognized the iconic title right away, there were a few that I had to give clarifications to. Some of my favorite responses to the question “Do you know or like the song “Mr. Brightside”” were, “who is Mr. Brightside” and “Nah, I have standards.” (Sidenote: these people are outliers and therefore should not be counted). My roommate admitted that she didn’t know all the lyrics, but thought it had a catchy rhythm, and that Brandon Flowers was hot. Another freshman girl had never really given it a thorough listening, but after doing so verified it was indeed a bop - “this is a pretty dope song.” (Have I accidentally created a fangirl? Only time will tell.) More often than not the college students had positive things to say about “Mr. Brightside”, such as dubbing it “a classic” or “a bisexual anthem”.
The second question I asked some of my interviewees was “what’s your favorite lyric?” An overwhelming majority said their top line was “But she’s touching his chest/Now, she takes off her dress/Now, letting me go.” My theory to explain this result is that college kids are horny. Close runner-ups included “Jealousy, turning saints into the sea” and “It started out with a kiss/How did it end up like this”, and honorable mentions were “Coming out of my cage/And I’ve been doing just fine” and “Destiny is calling me”. To be honest, this question didn’t have any wrong answers. I think it’s clear that one of the main reasons this is such a beloved rock-ballad is due to the singable AF and relatable AF lyrics.
Finally, I asked some students what other songs they associated with being hype-party music. Their responses included:
- “In my Feelings” by Drake
- “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi
- “Dancing Queen” by Abba
- “Gangnam Style” by PSY
- “I’m Gonna Be-500 Miles” by The Proclaimers
- “Hey Ya!” by OutKast
- “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé
- “Toxic” by Britney Spears
(No one mentioned Lady Gaga, smh. Y’all either thought it was an obvious answer or are uncultured peasants.)After compiling all my data, I asked myself what these songs had in common with each other, and “Mr. Brightside”. Some of these are songs where you can sing a line and another person will finish it, like a reflex. Others you probably only know the chorus. Some are songs that white people love to form a circle and fist pump to. Others are nearly impossible to not dance to. They’re songs that evoke nostalgia, or new songs that are hits now but may or may not be irrelevant in another two years. The songs that seem to linger with us are from the music we listened to growing up, like relics from a simpler time. “Mr. Brightside” is angsty and self-deprecating; classic characteristics of our generation. It is simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic, aka the college experience in a nutshell. Trying to convince everyone that you’re feeling great, when in reality you have a stress level similar to someone witnessing a plane crash. It’s like the musical representation of the meme where the dog is just chilling drinking coffee while his house is on fire, insisting he’s fine. To summarize: it slaps.
