All These Things That I've Done Explained

All These Things That I've Done
Cover:All-These-Things-That-I%27ve-Done.jpg
Type:single
Artist:the Killers
Album:Hot Fuss
B-Side:
  • "Andy, You're a Star"
  • "Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself"
Studio:The Hearse, Berkeley, California
Genre:Alternative rock
Length:
  • 5:01 (album version)
  • 3:53 (radio and single edit)
Label:
Producer:
  • The Killers
  • Jeff Saltzman
Prev Title:Somebody Told Me
Prev Year:2004
Next Title:Smile Like You Mean It
Next Year:2005

"All These Things That I've Done" is a song by American rock band the Killers. The song was released as the third single from the band's debut studio album, Hot Fuss (2004), on August 30, 2004. It was written by frontman Brandon Flowers and features gospel choir The Sweet Inspirations. The song is about television host Matt Pinfield, and his work with the US Army, as part of a program that mentored wounded/PTSD-stricken soldiers returning from Iraq.[1]

"All These Things That I've Done" was released as the third single from Hot Fuss in 2004 in the United Kingdom and as the fourth single in the United States and Australia in 2005, peaking at number 74 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 42 on the Australian ARIA Charts and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.[2] The song features the central lyric of "You gotta help me out", and an extended refrain of "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier".

Writing

Lyrics

The song is about television host Matt Pinfield.[3] Before the Killers were famous, Pinfield, who was a vice president of A&R at Columbia Records at the time, tried to sign the band. He was also working with the US Army as part of a program that mentored wounded or PTSD-stricken musician soldiers returning from Iraq. After visiting veteran soldiers in Colorado City, he went to Las Vegas, where he quickly bonded with the Killers. Pinfield watched the band rehearse at drummer Ronnie Vannucci's garage and took them out to dinner. He asked if anybody wanted to give him a ride back to his hotel and Brandon Flowers offered to drive Pinfield. They wound up hitting the bar at the Gold Coast Hotel on a Tuesday night, where Pinfield said:

In 2016, Pinfield titled his memoir All These Things That I've Done: My Insane, Improbable Rock Life. On January 19, 2019, the band gave Pinfield a shoutout while introducing the song at the iHeartRadio ALTer Ego 2019 festival at The Forum in Inglewood, California, where Pinfield was in attendance in a wheelchair still recovering from being hit by a car a month before.

Lead vocalist Brandon Flowers revealed the lines in the chorus "Help me out, yeah yeah, you gotta help me out/Don't you put me on the back burner, you gotta help me out" "was just trying to be Lou Reed funneled through the Las Vegas Strip."[4]

Music

Flowers cited Irish rock band U2 as a major influence during the song's production. In a 2015 interview, he elaborated about the song:

In a blog for NME in 2013, Flowers specified U2's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind as a direct influence on the track and that he "wanted a song that stood up to those songs". He further mentioned the bassline was inspired by David Bowie's song "Slow Burn" from the 2002 album Heathen.[5] Further influences on the track include glam rock album Transformer by Lou Reed, and Ziggy Stardust, a character created by Bowie in the 1970s.

Critical reception

The song was acclaimed 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.[6] Jemma Volp-Fletcher gave the single a perfect score of 10 out of 10, calling it "staggering", while also complimenting frontman Flowers' songwriting skills.[7] musicOMH's Sara McDonnell was also impressed, saying that it had "classic song' written all over it".[8] In 2009, The Daily Telegraph listed it among the "100 Greatest Songs of All Time".[9] In 2020, Paste ranked the song number two on their list of the 20 greatest Killers songs,[10] and in 2021, American Songwriter ranked the song number six on their list of the 10 greatest Killers songs.[11] In December 2005, the song was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 48th Grammy Awards,[12] but lost to "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" by U2.[13]

Performances and covers

The song is a concert staple for the band, having been played live the third-most frequently of all songs.[14] It was one of the band's breakout singles, with lead vocalist Brandon Flowers saying that during one of the bands first trips to the UK for the NME awards, "Noel came backstage and said he'd worked out how to play All These Things That I've Done. It was so surreal, because less than a year before, I was sitting on my bed with a guitar, without a record deal, trying to work out Oasis tracks."[15]

The band performed the song at Live 8, a charity campaign series of concerts held in July 2005.[16] [17] In 2009, the Killers, Coldplay, Bono (U2), and Gary Barlow (Take That) performed the track together to support a special War Child concert following the BRIT Awards.[18] Fellow Las Vegas band Panic! At the Disco members Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross slow danced to the song according to the December 2006 issue of Kerrang!.[19] A popular song among alternative rock bands, "All These Things That I've Done" has been covered live by numerous artists including U2,[20] Coldplay, Imagine Dragons,[21] Walk the Moon,[22] Kris Allen,[23] and Robbie Williams.[24]

Music videos

The song has two music videos, the earlier of which was filmed in July 2004. It features the band singing while walking down Brick Lane, London, whilst accompanied by a crowd. The video also featured shots of the audience who attended the band's concert at the London Astoria on July 8, 2004. The later version, which served as promotion for airing, was released as the fourth single in the United States and Australia and was directed by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn, being filmed in May 2005 in Las Vegas. The video features a surreal, dream-like sequence, where the Killers, dressed as cowboys, are attacked by scantily clad female warriors armed with boomerangs.[25] 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 band later made use of a similar cowboy motif during promotion of their second album, Sam's Town, and its accompanying tour and music videos during 2006 and 2007.

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
XFMUnited Kingdom100 Greatest Songs of the Decade[26] 2009
Absolute Radio100 Best Songs of the Decade[27] 2009
NME100 Greatest Tracks of the Decade[28] 2009
150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years[29] 2011
The Daily Telegraph100 Greatest Songs of All Time[30] [31] 2009
2015
Pretty Much AmazingUnited StatesFavorite Songs of the Last Ten Years[32] 2010
BillboardUnited StatesThe 100 Greatest Song Bridges of the 21st Century: Staff Picks[33] 2021

Awards

YearCeremonyAwardResult
2006Grammy AwardsBest Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
2020Guild of Music Supervisors AwardsBest Song Written and/or Recorded for Television[34]

Track listings

All songs were written by Brandon Flowers except where noted.UK 7-inch single[35]

A. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version)

B. "Andy, You're a Star" (Zane Lowe Radio 1 session)

UK CD single[36]

  1. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version)
  2. "Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself" (Zane Lowe Radio 1 session)
  3. "All These Things That I've Done" (radio edit)
  4. "All These Things That I've Done" (enhanced video)

European CD single[37]

  1. "All These Things That I've Done" (radio edit) – 3:50
  2. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version) – 5:01

Australian and New Zealand CD single[38]

  1. "All These Things That I've Done" (radio edit) – 3:50
  2. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version) – 5:01
  3. "Mr. Brightside" (The Lindbergh Palace club remix) – 8:22
  4. "All These Things That I've Done" (video)

Personnel

The Killers

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2004–2009)Peak
position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[39] 52
Canada Rock Top 30 (Radio & Records)[40] 1

Year-end charts

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)
United KingdomAugust 30, 2004CDLizard King[42]
United StatesJune 27, 2005Island[43]
July 11, 2005Hot adult contemporary radio[44]
AustraliaJuly 18, 2005CD[45]

In other media

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2023-03-15 . Brandon Flowers on when The Killers reached the "holy grail" . 2023-07-26 . faroutmagazine.co.uk . en-US.
  2. Web site: Wiki - All These Things That I've Done — The Killers . 2023-07-26 . Last.fm . en.
  3. Web site: Soldiering on: MTV VJ Matt Pinfield opens up about near-fatal accident, song the Killers wrote for him . Parker . Lyndsey . January 22, 2019 . Yahoo!.
  4. Web site: November 14 . Ray Rahman Updated . EST . 2013 at 04:00 PM . Stories Behind the Songs: Brandon Flowers talks Killers' biggest hits . 2023-07-26 . EW.com . en.
  5. Web site: Blog . N. M. E. . 2013-11-08 . Brandon Flowers On The Stories Behind The Killers' Greatest Hits . 2023-07-26 . NME . en-GB.
  6. Web site: All These Things That I've Done – The Killers . Top40.about.com . April 10, 2012 . August 7, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120813121738/http://top40.about.com/od/singles/gr/killersallthese.htm . August 13, 2012 . dead .
  7. Web site: The Killers – All these things that I've done – Single Review . Contactmusic.com . August 7, 2012.
  8. Web site: The Killers – All These Things That I've Done track reviews . musicOMH.com . August 7, 2012 . August 25, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120825102228/http://www.musicomh.com/singles/killers-3.htm . dead .
  9. News: 100 Greatest Songs of All Time: 75 – 51 . London . The Daily Telegraph . Neil . McCormick . March 12, 2009.
  10. Web site: The 20 Best Killers Songs. Lexi. Lane. Juan. Gutierrez. Paste. August 25, 2020. April 15, 2022.
  11. Web site: The Killers Top 10 Songs. Catherine. Walthall. American Songwriter. August 26, 2021. April 15, 2022.
  12. Web site: 48th annual Grammy nominations list — part 1. December 8, 2005. Variety. en. May 8, 2019.
  13. Web site: CNN.com – List of Grammy winners – Feb 9, 2006. edition.cnn.com. May 8, 2019.
  14. Web site: The Killers Tour Statistics setlist.fm . 2023-07-26 . www.setlist.fm.
  15. News: Pelley . Rich . Pelley . As told to Rich . 2021-08-12 . Brandon Flowers' teenage obsessions: 'I considered an Oasis tattoo' . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-07-26 . 0261-3077.
  16. Web site: Did Live 8 Work? 10 Years On, The Debt Burden Returns. Forrest. Adam. Forbes. en. May 8, 2019.
  17. Web site: The Killers: Live8 performance will be hard to beat. NME. January 18, 2006. NME. en-US. May 8, 2019.
  18. Web site: U2's Bono Joins Coldplay and The Killers For War Child Gig In The Capital . Uncut.co.uk . August 14, 2014 . August 23, 2014 . October 10, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141010023209/http://www.uncut.co.uk/u2/u2s-bono-joins-coldplay-and-the-killers-for-war-child-gig-in-the-capital-news . dead .
  19. Web site: Kerrang December 9 2006 Issue. December 9, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20161012165507/http://marchingclocks.tumblr.com/post/69941425747/kerrang-december-9-2006-issue-so-given-this. October 12, 2016. dead. June 27, 2016.
  20. Web site: U2 All These Things That I've Done – U2 on tour. Matthias Muehlbradt, Andre Axver. U2gigs.com.
  21. Imagine Dragons- All These Things That I've Done.3GP. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/snSoHkpD2_c. December 21, 2021. live. April 6, 2011. YouTube.
  22. Web site: WATCH: Walk The Moon Covered The Killers Live. Radio 104.5. September 11, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150925145751/http://www.radio1045.com/onair/off-the-air-cole-55324/watch-walk-the-moon-covered-the-13257904. September 25, 2015. dead.
  23. 'All These Things That I've Done'- Kris Allen 7/10/09. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/bhRk4LpgKz0. December 21, 2021. live. July 11, 2009. YouTube.
  24. Robbie does a little cover of The Killers. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/nYUvVSs390A. December 21, 2021. live. September 3, 2006. YouTube.
  25. Web site: Killers Don't Understand Their Anton Corbijn-Directed Clip. https://web.archive.org/web/20151121163343/http://www.mtv.com/news/1504534/killers-dont-understand-their-anton-corbijn-directed-clip/. dead. November 21, 2015. Montgomery. James. MTV News. en. May 8, 2019.
  26. Web site: 30 – 21 . Xfm . February 22, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091202053905/http://www.xfm.co.uk/onair/shows/song-of-the-decade-30-21 . December 2, 2009 .
  27. Web site: Somebody Told Me by The Killers . https://web.archive.org/web/20091125141443/http://songofthedecade.com/song/The+Killers/Somebody+Told+Me . dead . November 25, 2009 . Song of the Decade . February 22, 2011 .
  28. Web site: 100 Tracks of the Decade . Nme.Com . February 22, 2011.
  29. Web site: 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years . October 6, 2011 . Nme.Com . October 24, 2013.
  30. News: 100 greatest songs of all time. June 3, 2015. Telegraph.co.uk. McCormick. Neil.
  31. News: 100 greatest songs of all time. June 3, 2015. Telegraph.co.uk. McCormick. Neil.
  32. Web site: Adam Offitzer . #14. The Killers – All These Things That I've Done « PMA . Pretty Much Amazing . December 11, 2009 . August 23, 2014 . May 1, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140501222207/http://prettymuchamazing.com/music/14-the-killers-all-these-things-that-ive-done . dead .
  33. Web site: Billboard Staff . The 100 Greatest Song Bridges of the 21st Century: Staff Picks. Billboard . May 13, 2021 . May 13, 2021.
  34. Guild of Music Supervisors Awards: ‘Once Upon a Time,’ ‘Queen & Slim’ Among Winners. The Hollywood Reporter.
  35. All These Things That I've Done. The Killers. 2004. UK 7-inch single sleeve. Lizard King Records. LIZARD012X.
  36. All These Things That I've Done. The Killers. 2004. UK CD single liner notes. Lizard King Records. LIZARD012.
  37. All These Things That I've Done. The Killers. 2005. European CD single liner notes. Island Records. 0602498836453.
  38. All These Things That I've Done. The Killers. 2005. Australian & New Zealand CD single liner notes. Island Records. 9883644.
  39. Web site: The Killers Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs). Billboard. December 23, 2018.
  40. R&R Canada Rock Top 30. Radio & Records. 1620. 67. August 19, 2005. October 11, 2019.
  41. 2005 The Year in Charts: Top Modern Rock Songs. Billboard Radio Monitor. 13. 50. 52. December 16, 2005.
  42. New Releases: Singles. Music Week. 39. August 28, 2004.
  43. Going for Adds. Radio & Records. 1612. 33. June 24, 2005.
  44. Going for Adds. Radio & Records. 1614. 20. July 8, 2005.
  45. Web site: The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 18th July 2005. ARIA. 28. July 18, 2005. dead. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20050719140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20050720-0000/issue803.pdf. July 19, 2005. October 7, 2021.
  46. Bill Bailey on the Graham Norton Show, 2012
  47. Book: A Companion to Sport. Andrews. David L.. Carrington. Ben. June 21, 2013. John Wiley & Sons. 978-1-118-32528-5.
  48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vtJiblAmMc
  49. Web site: Blue Angels Soundtrack . imdb.com . 18 July 2024.

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