Battlestar Eclectic

I think sometimes I, and just about everyone, minimize the importance of Brandon Flowers and The Killers.

Yes, I know, everyone loves the Killers. But are we really aware of the genius of their lyrics, or of the band’s power to shift the listener’s mood.

I consider songs like “When You Were Young,” the hottest single of the band’s sophomore album “Sam’s Town,” to be masterpieces of storytelling.

I’ve rarely heard words so bold, so active and so evocative as these: “We’re burning down the highway skyline/ On the back of a hurricane that started turning/ When you were young”

And suddenly I don’t need to know the details of the song’s protagonist. I get it. Simple if romantic expectations. A life rough enough you need a savior. And that final charge of desperation.

Will she break out of her cage, beyond her limitations? Will we?

Sometimes, the struggle is so taxing we need to blow off some steam, scream in a tunnel next to a roaring train. We’ve got to burn down the highway skyline.

—Sarah Torribio

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