Spaceman

Wow! I took that picture the other day. I love it.

Very excited about my radio show tonight. All being well, there's 8 premier league footy fixtures, so there is a guy in the neighbouring studio who's going to collate score update and commentary clips from IRN so i can include them in my show. Another guy is selecting the music for the last hour. And five of us are collecting requests from patients :-) I also have a theatre interview in there, oh and a theatre review I haven't written yet.

Ok, as a final Killers song... the second release from Day and Age after Human was Spaceman. The song is about a guy getting abducted by aliens - fun lol - but also has a double metaphor......

So....

It started with a low light,
Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed.
And then they took my blood type
It left a strange impression in my head.

means

It started when I was feeling low.
Next thing I found myself in hospital (suicide attempt)
It left a big (strange) impression on me.

Then..

You know that I was hoping,
That I could leave this star-crossed world behind
But when they cut me open,
I guess I changed my mind

I guess that's self-explanatory now.
"Cut me open" being metaphorically as well as quite possibly physically.

Then..

And you know I might
Have just flown too far from the floor this time
Cause they're calling me by my name
And they're zapping white light beams
Disregarding bombs and satellites

Calling me by my name - as they do when you're in hospital!!
White light beams - surgery i guess?
Zapping white light beams, disregarding bombs and satellites...
= really getting through to the core of him mentally (disregarding physical stuff) (i came with an analogy of metaphorically what exactly the bombs and satellites are although i forget it now!)

That was the turning point
That was one lonely night

i.e. the night he attempted suicide and was metaphorically cut open and touched at the core, it was a turning point in his life.

Chorus:
The star maker says, "It ain't so bad"
The dream maker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, "Everybody look down
It's all in your mind"

Very philosophical.
The star make / storm maker saying it ain't so bad - can't quite make out which he's saying - but both fit that they apply to the creator and getting hope from the beauty/magic/creation of the universe.

The dream maker's gonna make you mad - How who you aspire to be and think you should be and what you want to do - will ultimately make you mad, and in his case suicidal.

The spaceman says, "Everybody look down... It's all in your mind"
Brilliant line... It means stop looking out there for answers, solutions... ultimately the truth is, it's all in your mind.

You better look it over,
Before you make that leap

Conclusion of the song really.. passing on his wisdom from his own near death experience.

And the public don't dwell my transmission
Cause it wasn't televised

This is an interesting couple of lines. I'm not too sure, but I think it's somewhere along the lines of how his story and the message of the song are considered by the general public to not be important - because it wasn't televised or simply the fact that is only found in the hidden poetry of a song.

Phew there we go..... Both Spaceman and Human are wonderful uplifting songs.. i.e. perhaps depressing subject matter, but they are ultimately about the hope that comes from it, and the music reflects that.