Lyrical Analysis – All These Things That I Have Done (The Killers)

All These Things That I Have Done Lyrics Analysis

Since you are here!

I invite you to sample my own music –

In my last post I discussed approaching song lyrics from a poetical perspective, referencing my takeaways from a book called The Poem as Process. The theme was meaning, and the author’s thesis that a successful poem (or song lyric) was one that furnished the audience with material sufficient to make their own meaning. I understood this to mean either –

• A personal meaning (synthesized by the individual recipient)
• Some kind of cohesive atmospheric tone that conjures an imaginary experience (again, subjective to the listener)

In the spirit a “meaning” focus, I add another view. I think lyrics that artfully express an explicit message from the author (without overwhelming the song’s primary duty as a musical experience) also qualify as “successful.”

All These Things That I Have Done Lyrics Analysis

Submitted for your Consideration

In light of that framework I submit All These Things That I Have Done by The Killers. Here is the complete text of the song (omitting repeated lines):

When there’s nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son?
If you can hold on
Hold on

I wanna stand up
I wanna let go
You know you know, no you don’t you don’t
I wanna shine on in the hearts of man
I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand

Another head aches
Another heart breaks
I’m so much older than I can take
And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection no no no no help me out

Yeah you now you gotta help me out
Oh don’t you put me on the back burner

These changes ain’t changing me
The cold hearted boy I used to be

I got soul but I’m not a soldier

(Time, truth, and hearts)

Over and in
Last call for sin
When everyone’s lost the battle is won
With all these things that I have done

All These Things That I Have Done Lyrics Analysis

Impression

For starters, the lyrics are interesting (to me). They invite wonder and speculation. There are few repetitions of clichés so overexploited that they are devoid of all ability to conjure feeling. There are few tired and overused rhyme schemes. And nothing jumps out as particularly stupid. I get the feeling that the lyrics might mean something to the author (which probably goes a long way towards making them interesting).

From the perspective that a song is primarily a musical esthetic experience, I think this alone qualifies these lyrics as “good.” (At least compared to the majority of available alternatives).

But the text is all over the damn place. Ironically, the line that sums up my takeaway (itself I suspect just a filler that leveraged a neat rhythmic tonal echo, or assonance), is –

All These Things That I Have Done Lyrics Analysis

You know you know, no you don’t you don’t

All These Things That I Have Done Lyrics Analysis

“Let’s kill it so we can dissect it!”

The song is riddled with specific individual statements, but which, taken as a whole, I frankly find bewildering:

• When there’s nowhere else to run, is there room for one more son?
  • [Fatigue at failed efforts to escape an unwanted experience and a plea for sanctuary? Perhaps specifically within a larger familial context?]
• If you can hold on, hold on
  • [Presumably an exhortation to stay a course. Is he speaking to himself? Is he encouraging someone else he cares about? Is he pleading with a lover not to give up on him?]
• I wanna stand up, I wanna let go
  • [Desire for agency and freedom?]
• I wanna shine on in the hearts of man
  • [Clearly a desire for universal significance and acclaim]
• I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand
  • [Maybe this means something specific to the author. I think this line, above all others, provides the listener an opportunity to try their own “hand” at creating a personal “meaning.” (If that is intentional self-reference it might be genius! But I doubt it.)]
• I’m so much older than I can take
  • [Huh? Griping about getting older? Worried about declining prowess?]
• And my affection, well it comes and goes
  • [Acknowledgment of romantic defect. If the line about holding on is also romantic this might align with that]
• I need direction to perfection no no no no help me out, yeah you know you gotta help me out, yeah don’t you put me on the back burner
  • [Apparently a cry for help directed towards a specific person, in this instance it seems the help he is seeking is for his own self-improvement. The person he is pleading to is apparently somewhat ambivalent. A disinterested potential lover?]
• These changes ain’t changing me, the cold hearted boy I used to be
  • [Hmm. His life is changing but he does not believe he is. The “cold hearted boy” might tie into fickle affection. But he “used to be” the cold hearted boy. Is he still? Is that what he wants to change? Unclear]
• I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier
  • [Make up your own meaning. I suspect it’s just another use of nice rhythmic assonance]
• Time, Truth, and Hearts
  • [Attempt to invoke a tonal atmosphere or feeling? That’s what I suspected originally and I think it works best like that. But is this perhaps the sole attempt at “program” (i.e. attempt to provide the listener with context that may help them make meaning of the song)? If so I’m not sure how useful it is. That said –
    • Time is a theme suggested throughout (“when there’s nowhere else to run,” “so much older,” “comes and goes,” “changes…changing me…used to be”)
    • Truth may refer to his honest self-disclosures of faults (his affection “comes and goes,” his “cold heart”)?
    • Hearts are referenced literally (“the cold hearted boy”). It could also tie into a possible undercurrent of a romantic theme
  • [If we interpret this line as “program,” it only sums up the problematic nature of the song, namely that it is trying to express several themes. This makes it difficult, for me, for me, to come away with any particular meaning]
• Over and in, last call for sin
  • [I am intrigued by the inversion of “Over and out.” But with the clear reference to closing time at a bar it suggests that he and a potential new lover are out of the bar but leaving together (“over and in“). But for me that only further confounds the themes by introducing a new character. If so, who is “holding on?” Potentially the author if he was referring to himself all along]
• While everyone’s lost the battle is won with all these things that I have done
  • [Go figure. “Everyone’s lost” might refer to a crowd spilling drunkenly out of a bar. “The battle is won” might be a reference to a romantic conquest. But the metaphor is muddled because he claims he is not a “soldier. “And I have no idea what “all the things” are that he has done! Is it hooking up with random partners for brief romantic flings!? That seems like one “thing.” Unless he is referring to the individual people as “things.” That would certainly be quite “cold hearted,” but it sure feels like a stretch]

All These Things That I Have Done Lyrics Analysis

What Is This Song About?

I have no idea what this song is about. It may mean something to the author. It may not. But I can’t make any personal meaning out of it. And I can’t conjure a consistent feeling of specific context. So by the proposed criteria (and my own subjective experience), the lyrics have not exploited their opportunity to convey a message or a poetical effect.

BUT…I don’t really care! The lyrics spark enough imagery and wonder to be interesting. They are certainly unique enough to be memorable. And musically the song is so strong that I would probably be satisfied with even weaker lyrics, as long as they dodged cliché and inanity. In short, if I had produced these lyrics I would be quite satisfied!

So it seems like there are other qualities besides message or a poetical experience that make for successful lyrics.

I am the eggman. We are the eggmen. I AM THE WALRUS. GOO GOO G’JOOB!