All These Things That I've Done

"All These Things That I've Done"
Song

"All These Things That I've Done" is a single from American alternative rock band The Killers' debut album Hot Fuss. It was written by frontman Brandon Flowers and features gospel choir The Sweet Inspirations. It was released as the third single in 2004 in the United Kingdom and as the fourth single in the United States, peaking at #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #18 in the UK Singles Chart. The song features an extended refrain of "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier", a phrase now associated with both the song and the band as a whole.

In October 2011, NME placed it at number 56 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Live 8 performances

"All These Things That I've Done" was the only song performed by The Killers at Live 8. Robbie Williams incorporated the "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier" refrain into his own performance. Coldplay and U2 followed suit and, at their separate concerts played in Las Vegas, with The Killers in the crowd, incorporated the line into their songs "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" and "Beautiful Day", respectively.

In other media

The song was featured in the closing credits of the 2005 film The Matador, as well as the 2007 movie Southland Tales as a crucial part of the storyline in which Pilot Abilene (played by Justin Timberlake) partially lip-synchs it while in a drug-induced hallucination. It was also mentioned in the graphic novel preceding the film, Southland Tales: The Prequel Saga. It also played over the opening of the pilot of the television series Jericho.

In addition, it is heard at the end of the 2008 Ben Stein film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. While the band did give permission for the song to be used, they only did so because they were misled about the intent of the movie. They later sought to have the song removed from the film, but it was too late.

The song plays in virtually its entirety over the first segment of the first episode of the 2008 PBS documentary series Carrier. Nike used the song in a commercial for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Following this Nike ad, the song rose as high as #38 on iTunes. It is played at the Bell Centre in Montreal before every Montreal Canadiens home game. It is also played before every Carolina Hurricanes home game at the RBC Center in Raleigh along with a video of ten years of their greatest moment, culminating in the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals win. It cuts from right before the first verse into "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier," then plays the rest of the song. It is played at Fenway Park whenever the Red Sox make a pitching change ("You know you gotta help me out....")

In March 2009, it was voted in UK newspaper the Telegraph's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time at 65 , the newspaper praised the song by saying Anthemic plea for succour from one of the shining songwriting talents of today. He’s got soul but he’s not a soldier.

The song was used at the end of the 2009 U.S. Open tennis tournament to show the tournament's highlights.

Comedian Bill Bailey made reference to the closing refrain "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier" in his Tinselworm show, declaring that it seems poetic and resonant, but is technically meaningless and might as well be, "I got ham, but I'm not a hamster."

In October 2009, a band formed by War Child charity called The Young Soul Rebels (which includes musicians such as N-Dubz, Pixie Lott, Kid British, Tinchy Stryder and more) released "I Got Soul", which is a cover of "All These Things That I've Done".

Season 8 American Idol winner Kris Allen performed this on the Idol Tour as part of his set--a last-minute replacement for the coronation song, "No Boundaries".

The song was also used in Almost Skateboards' skate video, Almost: Round Three, for Daewon Song's part.

Over the years the song has been integrated as part of the political campaign for the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, and more specifically the theme music for the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, David Cameron MP. The music was chosen to reflect the apparent modernisation he has introduced to the political party since becoming leader.

The Australian band ROOT! parody the refrain in their song Get Up Yourself as "it's not soul/it's solipsism", referring to the philosophical concept that only one's own mind is proven to exist.

Remixes

Boston, MA post-hardcore band Lions Lions recorded a cover of the song for their 2010 EP, The Path We Take.

Track listings

UK 7"

1. "All These Things That I've Done" (Flowers)
2. "Andy, You're a Star (Zane Lowe Radio 1 Session)" (Flowers)

UK CD

1. "All These Things That I've Done"
2. "All These Things That I've Done (Radio Edit)"
3. "Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself? (Zane Lowe Radio 1 Session)" (Morrissey/Alain Whyte)
4. "All These Things That I've Done (Video)"

European CD

1. "All These Things That I've Done (Radio Edit)"
2. "All These Things That I've Done"

Australian/European Maxi CD

1. "All These Things That I've Done (Radio Edit)"
2. "All These Things That I've Done"
3. "Mr. Brightside (The Lindbergh Palace Club Remix)" (Flowers/Keuning)
4. "All These Things That I've Done (Video)"

Critical reception

The song was well-received by critics upon release. Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, noting its strength as a pop-rock anthem. Jemma Volp-Fletcher gave the single a perfect score of 10 out of 10, calling it "staggering", while also complimenting frontman Flowers' songwriting skills.. musicOMH's Sara McDonnell was also impressed, saying that it had "'classic song' written all over it". The song was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 48th Grammy Awards, but lost to "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" by U2.

Music videos

Like "Mr. Brightside", the song features two videos. The earlier version filmed in July 2004, which features The Killers singing while walking down Brick Lane, in London accompanied by a crowd. The video also featured shots of the audience who attended The Killers concert at the London Astoria, on July 8, 2004. The later version, directed by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, was filmed in May 2005 in Las Vegas and features a surreal, dream-like sequence, where The Killers, dressed as cowboys, are attacked by scantly clad female warriors armed with boomerangs. The story in the video is told out of order, but can be put in its order by the numbers displayed in the video. The latter video was influenced by the films of Russ Meyer, particularly Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, through the use of aggressive, large-breasted female characters. The band later made use of a similar cowboy theme during promotion of their second album Sam's Town, and its accompanying tour and music videos during 2006 and 2007.

Both the first and second versions of the video have over 10 million views on YouTube.

The Invisible Children movement also made a video featuring the song, following a nationwide protest against the mass abduction and forced recruiting of children into a terrorist military group in Northern Uganda. In that video, the words "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier" are used to refer to African children forced to fight and kill others.

Charts

Chart (2004-05)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	18
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	74
New Zealand Singles Chart	36
Australian ARIA Charts	42
Irish Singles Chart	46
Polish Singles Chart	13
US Modern Rock	10
US Billboard Pop 100	58
UK Indie Chart	3

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Swedish Singles Chart	35

Accolades

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
XFM	United Kingdom	100 Greatest Songs Of The Decade	2009	22
Absolute Radio	United Kingdom	100 Best Songs Of The Decade	2009	9
NME	United Kingdom	100 Greatest Tracks Of The Decade	2009	95
The Daily Telegraph	United Kingdom	100 Greatest Songs Of All Time	2009	65

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Award	Result
2006	Grammy Awards	Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal	Nominated