The Rock Frontman Who Inspired Rufus Wainwright’s “Tulsa”

Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright released his fifth album, Release The Stars, in 2007. Near the end is a short, fun song called “Tulsa”. It was inspired by a short chance encounter with the frontman of one of the biggest bands of the early 2000s—Brandon Flowers of The Killers.

The Chance Encounter

“We were both playing the same night in Tulsa, and after our shows we ended up in the same bar,” Flowers explained in a Q&A with Rolling Stone. “We hung out for an hour and a half, tops, and I’m so impressed with how he turned that into a song.”

Although the lyrics to “Tulsa” imply something more transpired between them, Wainwright confirmed Flowers’ version of events.

“I spent one night with him at a bar, swooning over him along with everybody else,” he said. “Brandon was being very, very nice to me, because he’s a fan, and I was therefore in the coterie, and together we formed this shield of beauty and brains, and it was all in this tiny bar in Tulsa, which had never seen the likes.”

In “Tulsa,” Wainwright sings, “You taste of potato chips in the morning/Your face has the Marlon Brando club calling.” He then goes on to describe Flowers’ attire that night and compare him to Jesus. “Your suit was the whitest thing since you-know-who/I fear that that savior I mentioned may be you.”

Flowers disputed the lyrics’ claim he tastes like potato chips. However, he enjoyed being compared to actor Marlon Brando, saying, “I’ll take that all day.”

Wainwright has described Flowers as “so sexy yet so unhappy and also somewhat sane and crazy at the same time.” He continued to compare him to Brando after the song’s release.

“I haven’t met anyone who quite fits the Brando mold as much as he does immediately,” he said. “There’s this dark, moody, restless, annoyed by compassionate figure that’s sucking up all the energy out of the room.”

Flowers has also joked that he might “owe” Wainwright a song in return.

When the two crossed paths again at a music festival in 2007, Flowers was “very flattered” and said the two “had a laugh about it.”

Photo by Harold Cunningham/WireImage