All These Things That I've Done

Writing

Lyrics

The song is about television host Matt Pinfield. 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. The two wound up at a Las Vegas bar, 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."

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

Performances and covers

The song is a concert staple for the band, having been played live the third-most frequently of all songs. 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 [Gallagher] 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."

The band performed the song at Live 8, a charity campaign series of concerts held in July 2005. 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. 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!. A popular song among alternative rock bands, "All These Things That I've Done" has been covered live by numerous artists including U2, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Walk the Moon, Kris Allen, and Robbie Williams.

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. 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

Awards

Track listings

All songs were written by Brandon Flowers except where noted. UK 7-inch single :A. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version) :B. "Andy, You're a Star" (Zane Lowe Radio 1 session)

UK CD single

1. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version)
2. "Why Don't You Find Out for Yourself" (Zane Lowe Radio 1 session) (Morrissey, Alain Whyte)
3. "All These Things That I've Done" (radio edit)
4. "All These Things That I've Done" (enhanced video) European CD single
5. "All These Things That I've Done" (radio edit) – 3:50
6. "All These Things That I've Done" (album version) – 5:01

Australian and New Zealand CD single

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) (Flowers, Dave Keuning) – 8:22
4. "All These Things That I've Done" (video)

Personnel

Personnel are adapted from the liner notes of Hot Fuss.

The Killers

• Brandon Flowers – vocals, synthesizer
• Dave Keuning – guitar
• Mark Stoermer – bass
• Ronnie Vannucci Jr. – drums

Additional musicians

• Sweet Inspirations – gospel choir

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

In other media

• The song is mimed to by Justin Timberlake in a drug induced dream sequence in the 2006 Richard Kelly movie Southland Tales.
• The song was prominently featured in the pilot episode of the TV series Jericho, when the main character (played by Skeet Ulrich) returns to his hometown.
• Comedian and musician Bill Bailey frequently pokes fun at the song's refrain during his shows, providing his own version: "I've got ham, but I'm not a hamster". According to Bailey himself, the band was aware of the parody, finding it quite amusing.
• The song has also been featured in commercials, including an ad for Nike.
• The song was featured in the credits of the 2005 film The Matador and at the end of the 2008 film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
• The song is featured on Big Shiny Tunes 10.
• The song was played during Hockey Night in Canada's season ending montage after the Florida Panthers won the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
• In the 2024 documentary The Blue Angels, the song plays over footage of the final show of the 2022 Blue Angels airshow season.

References

References

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