It started with a low light
Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed
And then they took my blood type
It left a strange impression in my head

You know that I was hoping
That I could leave this star-crossed world behind
But when they cut me open
I guess that changed my mind

And you know I might
Have just flown too far from the floor this time
'Cause they calling me by my name
And the zipping white light beams
Disregards the bombs and satellites

That was the turning point
That was one lonely night

The star maker says it ain't so bad
The dream maker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, "Everybody look down
It's all in your mind"

Well now I'm back at home, and
I'm looking forward to this life I live
You know it's gonna haunt me
So hesitation to this life I give
You think you might cross over
You're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea
You better look it over
Before you make that leap

And you know I'm fine
But I hear those voices at night sometimes
They justify my claim
And the public don't dwell my transmission
'Cause it wasn't televised

But it was the turning point
Oh, what a lonely night

The star maker says it ain't so bad
The dream maker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, "Everybody look down
It's all in your mind"

The star maker says it ain't so bad
The dream maker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, "Everybody look down
It's all in your mind"

My global position systems are vocally addressed
They say the Nile used to run from east to west
They say the Nile used to run
From east to west

I'm fine but I hear
Those voices at night
Sometimes

The star maker says it ain't so bad
The dream maker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, "Everybody look down
It's all in your mind"

The star maker says it ain't so bad
The dream maker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says, "Everybody look down
It's all in your mind"

It's all in my mind
It's all in my mind


Lyrics submitted by ShotgunXXWedding, edited by monkey19, J4mag, Intnop, Artemisia24, Beeeeeef, marilynftw

Spaceman Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Spaceman song meanings
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  • +5
    General Comment

    I agree with Lauren_Leah, too; that interpretation was most likely the closest to the actual meaning of the song. But, just to add a few things:

    The zipping white light beams disregarding bombs and satellites could be the point where he has an out-of-body experience. Essentially, when a person comes near the moment of death, they have a realisation about the life they've led when confronted with the opportunity to either continue onward to Heaven or stay on Earth -- he chose to live. They're angels, meaning bombs, satellites, and all of those things man-made do little to impede their movement.

    Because no one seemed to post the actual meaning of the phrase: the phrase "trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea" is a fairly old one. It refers to a situation where a person's predicament is so bad that they aren't able to avoid the issue any longer. The Spanish version does a little more justice to the meaning; it's translated as something like "to be trapped between the sword and the wall" -- meaning there isn't any place left to run from the whatever it is that troubles you. In relation to the song, he keeps emphasising the enormous loneliness of "that night" and it's probable that during one point of that night, that loneliness just let out all of his issues and it overwhelmed him -- he had no place to turn to try to console himself and, as a result, got sick of the world and attempted to commit suicide. The Killers, however, take the meaning of the phrase to another level at the part where it speaks about reconsidering taking "the leap". Essentially, following the meaning of the song, what happened that night is that the singer was the one trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea without any place left to run from his loneliness; his issue finally caught up with him; but instead of being able to settle himself down, he took the final leap off of that cliff, and into the deep blue sea, in an attempt to take his life. So, having experienced this and found how valuable life is to him, he's attempting to instruct others to really think through their issues and see if those problems are worth taking one's own life to avoid.

    Regarding the part about the Nile, I assume that it could have something to do with the passage of time and the progression of life -- about the rising and setting sun. Basically, when plagued by issues, it isn't as if life simply stops until a person resolves them. Nor is every problem solely directed at one unlucky person -- though it's really easy and common to feel singled out when you have such issues. So, I assume that he speaks about life moving on, both as a way to tell a person considering suicide that evidently their issues will even out and to explain that one death will not stop the world as life will keep moving.

    Otherwise, I agree with Lauren's interpretation, particularly at the part where it mentions the Star-maker and Dream-maker. I think, though, that when referring to the spaceman, he actually refers to himself in a state after he had the out-of-body experience. He's essentially looking down on the planet and the people, observing their problems and how many people tend to 'look up' to god or whatever else they believe in as a sort of way of asking for help in resolving their issues. The spaceman, contrarily, explains that the issues are all within their minds and presumably temporary -- not physical and indefinite -- and to simply look back down and help themselves to move onward.

    That's mostly my two cents.

    Kiiteon December 24, 2008   Link

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