| The Killers – My List Lyrics | 9 years ago |
|
I've read a few comments here pointing out that Brandon Flowers wrote this about his wife, so I assume that was the original meaning behind the lyrics. But, I'd like to go ahead and voice what I thought. This strikes me as a story told in the perspective of Death (think The Book Thief). Death is calling to someone dying, maybe of heart failure, cancer, old age, anything. He puts all his emotion into this reaping, possibly because this person is very important to him. She was the first person Death grew to truly love, but they are mortal. Death outlasts everyone, eventually. Death knows he is snuffing out a resilient, beautiful light, one that pierces through the darkness and drab of the world. And this saddens him. But he knows it must be done, and he is the only being who can carry that cross. "I need those eyes to tide me over, I'll take your picture when I go." Death still needs a remnant of the person with him; he can't go on without them. "Don't give the ghost up just clench your fists." The girl loved Death back. She has struggled with letting him go because she knows they can never have a healthy relationship. But Death urges her to stay strong, to never let the love go. He needs her to do that, and in the end it makes her happy as well. "You should have known you were on my list." This is the verse that brought me around to the "Death" line of thinking. The girl was on Death's list from day one, at birth. Everyone is on Death's list. When she grew to love him she tried to ignore that fact, and maybe even succeeded, for a while. Maybe Death regrets letting them grow close because he feels like he took advantage of her emotions. They both knew the day would come when she would be reaped, just like everyone else. "When your heart is not able." The girl's heart can't beat forever. "And your prayers, they're not fables." At some point, the girl may have turned away from God or any hope of a heaven or afterlife because of her intimate relationship with Death. But Death knows there is a god, because God and Death have existed forever; they simply rule separate realms. Death knows the girl's prayers, however infrequent at this point, matter. And he knows that he will never see her again, not where she is going—heaven. "Let me show you how much I care." Here's the catch. Yes, Death could save her. The girl's heart could go on for a while longer—a long while, even—if he pulled some strings with the Fates and talked to the right people. But it would throw off the order of things—people would die at 26 who were never supposed to die young, key events would be wiped from the map, wars could arise that would never have existed. The butterfly effect. Not only that, but he couldn't bear to see her grow so old. He didn't want put her through what he bears—seeing entire generations die, atomic bombs dropped, the environment deteriorated, civilizations destroyed. He cares too much about her. And so she will die, in the natural way. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.