Somebody Told Me

"Somebody Told Me"
Song

"Somebody Told Me" is a song written and performed by The Killers. The song is featured on the group's debut album Hot Fuss.

The song is about a man at a nightclub who is unsuccessful in getting the attention of another person. The lyrics refer to rumors that can spoil your night ("never thought I'd let a rumor ruin my moonlight"). The rumor itself is rather ambiguous, and could mean anything from the addressee being homosexual to being straight with an Effeminate boyfriend.

The song itself has a driving dance-oriented disco-influenced beat.

Lead singer Brandon Flowers refers to this song as "Our most Vegas-influenced song on the album. Sin city, The Strip. It's where I grew up and of course it affects the songs I write. This song has a lot of sexual energy."

When The Killers first started out, their music was little noticed by music-buyers and the media, which is why "Somebody Told Me" has been released twice in slightly different forms. The first, with the pink background cover, is the rarer version of the single as it was their first release of it; due to poor sales not as many were produced. When re-released, the cover-art sported a blue background colour and is the more common version of the single.

The single peaked at #51 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The re-issued, blue edition of the single peaked at #3 in the UK.

Track listings

Original UK CD

1. "Somebody Told Me"
2. "Under the Gun"
3. "The Ballad of Michael Valentine"

Original UK Pink 7"

1. "Somebody Told Me"
2. "The Ballad of Michael Valentine"

UK Re-release CD 1

1. "Somebody Told Me"
2. "Show You How"

UK Re-release CD 2

1. "Somebody Told Me"
2. "Somebody Told Me (Mylo Mix)"
3. "Somebody Told Me (King Unique Vocal Mix)"
4. "Somebody Told Me (U-MYX)"

UK Re-release 12"

1. "Somebody Told Me (Mylo Mix)"
2. "Somebody Told Me (The Glimmers GypoRock Mix)"

US 12"

1. "Somebody Told Me (Josh Harris Club)"
2. "Somebody Told Me (Josh Harris Dub)"
3. "Somebody Told Me (King Unique Mix)"
4. "Somebody Told Me (King Unique's Dub)"

Music video

The music video for "Somebody Told Me", directed by Brett Simon, simply shows The Killers performing their song in the moonlight of a desert location, with a giant LED screen displaying rolling, flashing images of their logo, as well as an alternate version of the video shot during the day, presumably in the same location. The concept is very similar to the video for "Crystal" by New Order, which features a fictional band called The Killers miming the New Order song in front of a large video screen flashing random colours and images. It was from this video that The Killers got their band name, so the similarities are likely an intentional homage.

Chart Performance

Chart	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	3
Taiwan Singles Chart	7
French Singles Chart	27
Italian Singles Chart	31
US Billboard Hot 100	51

Covers and parodies

Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered this song into a Lounge style on their 2005 album Aperitif for Destruction. He sings the song in a drunken manner and, near the end of the song, he apparently runs to the bathroom to puke. The song was also covered by Daniel Bedingfield as part of a Radio 1 Live Lounge session.

"Weird Al" Yankovic also included this song in "Polkarama" from Straight Outta Lynwood.

There is a parody of this song by ApologetiX called "Somebody Sold Me".

The Arctic Monkeys released a track titled "Scumbody Told Me" which remixes "Somebody Told Me" with their song "When the Sun Goes Down". [1]

In popular culture

• The song is heard in the film Rocky Balboa when Rocky Jr. is in the bar and sees the computer simulated fight.

External links

• The music video for the song released publicly by Universal Media Group.