The Killers, "Hot Fuss" -- review and a plea for help

[rikibeth]

OK. So, "Mr. Brightside" was attention-getting enough when I heard it on the radio the first time about a month ago (mind you, I rarely LISTEN to the radio) that I did what I hadn't done since I was 15: went out and bought an album on the strength of a single song. I was so pleased to actually hear something I enjoyed on a countdown!

"Hot Fuss" is a lovely album, tremendously 80s-retro in feel, to the point where I can pick out certain evocative riffs and sounds -- "Smile Like You Mean It" would segue perfectly into Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon," and "All These Things That I've Done" is the Icicle Works' "Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream)" through a sort of British Invasion/Merseybeat filter, and "Change Your Mind" has a particular whistle-y, Cars-ish feel to the synthesizer part. I've been enjoying it a lot.

But one thing is driving me crazy, and my Google-fu is not strong enough to resolve it. "Mr. Brightside" contains the lyric "choking on your alibi." I could swear that phrase was in a song lyric I heard over and over again in high school, possibly old David Bowie rather than anything 80s top-40, or something equally unlikely.

WHERE IS IT FROM? HELP!

Comments

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Closest I've come so far is Def Leppard: "Burnout"

Like a, like a thief with a water-tight alibi
High hopes are sinking like a stone
I swallow my pride but I'm choking on a fishbone

But I'll keep looking.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

No, definitely not that. It might have been "choking on her alibi" or "choking on their alibis," but it was definitely all strung together like that. Google loves me not on any of those phrases.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

My google search is currently choking alibi lyrics -killers -"def leppard", which still nets me tons of stuff. I love things like this, though, so I'll keep looking.

[wyoming-knott.livejournal.com]

Oh. I hate that. And now my brain is circling around that phrase. It's right there... stupid stupid crap recall.

[follybard.livejournal.com]

Awright, here's my try:

Googling '80's lyrics alibi' I find:

Cover me with kisses baby, cover me with love
Roll me in designer sheets, I'll never get enough
Emotions come, I don't know why
Cover up love's alibi...

...from "Call Me", by Blondie. It's got the right rhythm, even. Is that it?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

No. It was absolutely "choking" and the sense of guilt that went with it.

Squeeze? The Pretenders?

Or, again, it could have been pre-80s, I know I listened to plenty of classic rock, and absorbed quantities of 70s AM-radio pop from what my mother listened to.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Sounds familiar to me, too, and I've got a lot more classic rock than 80s in my music base, so I suspect it's there. Unless I'm getting echoes off the modern song you're referring to (I hear a lot of modern pop, too). It's not "Lying Eyes" or "Like a Rolling Stone," so I'm currently stymied and hoping someone else will be brilliant.

[hangingfire.livejournal.com]

That does sound vaguely familiar ... ack. Now it's going to be plaguing me as well.

Your Adam Ant icon fills me with glee, for reasons I cannot fully articulate.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Just for the sheer 80s crushworthiness, of course! And his music was notably gleeful.

Mmm, Burundi beat!

[hangingfire.livejournal.com]

The digital cable channel VH1-Classic has a weekly show called "The Alternative", which is kind of like watching "120 Minutes, except with less charismatic hosts and an even weirder playlist. Recently we were treated to Adam Ant's "Prince Charming" (hands down the campiest video EVER), and a few months ago, "Stand and Deliver" (which, believe it or not, is even LESS campy than "Prince Charming").

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I am the Girl Without Cable, so this is useless to me -- but I remember both videos from my adolescence, and agree with you.

Thin Lizzy?

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

David Bowie's producer Tony Visconti produced Waiting for an Alibi by Thin Lizzy; unfortunately, the word "choking" doesn't appear in the lyrics. But could this be it?

Copywritten lyics here.

Re: Thin Lizzy?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Nope, not that either. This is going to drive me around the bend.

[snarkyman.livejournal.com]

Sorry, no real answer, yet. I'll keep looking.

I'm glad you found The Killers. If you have sufficient internet bandwidth, you might want to check out my favorite internet radio station: BBC 6 Music. Highly recommended.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/

cosmicgarden and I have been listening since Feb 2004. This is where we first heard The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Keane, Delays, Kings of Convenience, Grand National, Arcade Fire, Muse, The Bravery, etc. I now own several of these albums (I'm now buying CDs for the first time in 10 years).

BTW, they will also mix in older '80s tracks from The Cure, New Order, Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy. The occasionally, we'll hear David Bowie, The Beatles and some old blues mixed in.

Please give 6music a listen. I think you'll like it.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Once I get my sound card fixed!