Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll by The Killers

Album: Sawdust (2004)

Charted: 113

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This song is a send-up of indie rock, which can come off as pretentious. Many listeners didn't hear the irony and thought the song was sincere salute to the genre, which ruffled some feathers when Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers explained to these indie rock fans that he was actually making fun of them.

"The song is very misunderstood, especially in America," he told Q magazine March 2009. "I hear people think we're trying to be indie... Not a moment in my life has been spent trying to be indie. It's embarrassing when you think about it that way. I feel I need to put a memo out: Look at the lyrics! It's ironic!"
One of the earliest Killers songs, "Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll" was released as a single in 2004 and included on some editions of their debut album, Hot Fuss (released on Island Records - not an indie). They re-recorded it for their 2007 compilation Sawdust with the backing vocals overdubbed from the original 2004 version.
The song was a live favorite in the early years of the band, showing up in their setlists through 2007. In America, it did pretty well, earning some airplay and even making the Hot 100, where it bubbled under at #113 in September 2005, a few months after "Mr. Brightside" took off. The band revisited it live from time to time, including on their 2016 tour.
Brandon Flowers told Rolling Stone in 2009 that this was his least-favorite Killers songs. Said Flowers, "When I hear 'Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll,' I want to crawl under a rock."
After years of seeing how crowds react to this song when The Killers play it live, Brandon Flowers leaned into it. During the first show of the group's 2024 Las Vegas residency, he said:

"In the early days in Vegas, we were outsiders. Somewhere in that desert between our longing to be accepted and the musical snobbery we were experiencing, I reached down and I wrote a sneery, satirical song. But not everybody got it."

"Some people heard a joyful song celebrating the spirit of indie rock and roll," he added. "And it's taken me 20 years to realize, they were right. So let's not argue over semantics – let's celebrate."

Comments: 3

Leon from Waterbury, CtAccording to a recent interview with Brandon I read in Rolling Stone, he dislikes this song the most compared to their others.
Paris from Cardiff, United Kingdomi complety agree! its so funny, but at the same time its a really good song, Brandon just can't seem to go wrong! and i so agree with Brandon- if you look at the lyrics, it is ironic!
Kylie from Ventura, CaThis song is brilliant! It is really quite obvious and funny that the song is poking fun at the ridiculous indie attitude.

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