Hot
Fuss by the Killers
I
think this CD reflects every sleepover Courtney and I had since the
summer after 5th
grade. It started when we got the amazing video game Rock Band, and
Courtney and Ethan would come over nearly every day because Marcie
worked for my dad in the workshop. They were the days where we would
play Barbies, complain about Ethan or play Rock Band. One day when we
were playing Rock Band, we discovered “When You Were Young” by
The Killers. I knew I heard that song, before, and I realized I loved
it. My dad already knew about The Killers and bought some of their
CD’s, like Hot Fuss, which had been burned onto other CD’s and
imported onto the computer like crazy. I also heard about the song
“All These Things That I’ve Done,” but I only knew the part
that went “…I got soul, but I’m not a soldier…” It was on
the radio one time when I was coming home from the eye doctor, and my
dad turned it up and knew all the words. I thought it was catchy,
even though I didn’t really know what it meant. Since the feelings
I felt in listening to “When You Were Young,” though, I had to
learn more.
My
passion for The Killers had gotten way more passionate, and I somehow
got a hold of one of the Hot Fuss copies my dad owned. Once I got
obsessed with it, Courtney did, too, and we were both listening to
the CD nonstop. At sleepovers, we’d always play the same songs over
and over again. In retrospect, lots of songs on the CD It didn’t
like, like “Andy You’re a Star” and “Jenny Was a Friend of
Mine,” and the first song on the CD that I can never remember the
title of. But one thing was for sure: I LOVED the songs “Mr.
Brightside,” “All These Things That I’ve Done,” “Smile Like
You Mean It,” “When You Were Young,” and eventually I liked
“Read Your Mind,” “Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll” and
“Human.” So, Courtney and I were both official Killers fans, and
we would listen to Hot Fuss over and over again, even if there were
lots of songs on the CD we didn’t really like. Still, though, it was one of the first bands I had decidedly started liking all by myself, and I was being supported by my best friend.
The passion continued onto to just earlier this year when I saw them live in concert in San Francisco. It was one of the most thrilling and most eventful experiences of my life, and I'm SO glad I did it. I was always so embarrassed telling people that the only concerts I went to were to see Clay Aiken with my mom and American Idol the year that Scotty McCreery won. I don't even like either of them, which is why I was so pained to have only those two concerts define my outlook on live music. My musical tastes goes all over the grid, but I could never be open to Clay Aiken, for some reason, even though my mom had been such a devoted fan for years. I like classic rock mainly, but The Killers is the band that opened the door to the world of alternative music, and I was digging it.
At the end of the concert, they shot down confetti while playing "When You Were Young," one of my all time favorite songs of theirs. In the mix was a red "K" that stood for "Killers," and a lightning bolt that represented their new album "Battle Born." (It's a pretty good album, but personally, I like Hot Fuss better) I decided to pick them up as souvenirs and hang them on my wall. Some memories deserve to be hung up.
