Andy, You're A Star

Album: Hot Fuss (2004)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The lyrics seem to suggest a gay schoolyard crush, though lead singer Brandon Flowers has been heard to say that it concerns a stalker and his object of desire (the same thing, perhaps?). >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Steph - Ottawa, Canada
  • The video was shot in black and white by Anton Corbijn, who also famously shot videos and photos for U2 and Depeche Mode.
  • The choir in this song is the Sweet Inspirations, a female vocal group most famous for touring and recording with Elvis Presley during his last eight years. The group has had a variety of members, including Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney) and Dee Dee Warwick; the configuration the recorded with The Killers was Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith and Sylvia Shernwell. They also sang on the Hot Fuss track "All These Things That I've Done."
  • The Killers got their name from a fictitious band in New Order's video "Crystal." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Erourke - Raleigh, NC, for above 2

Comments: 46

  • E Wolves 123Andy's a bully and a star
  • Dane from Enterprise UtAndy is my neighbor and he is a great guy. He coaches my son on the football and wrestling teams. I know Brandon Flowers' niece and asked her about this song. She said that Andy was one of Brandon's only friends in high school. Their friendship wasn't perfect but they still keep in contact today. The niece said that she is not sure what the song is about but she is sure that they don't dislike each other.
  • Kevin Morrill from Enterprise (where Andy Is Now) UtAndy is amazing. He is the head football and wrestling coach and he is cool so yes he is a star
  • Catlover243 from Fairview UtahI went to high school at north sanpete, a rivals of juabs high school. Story i always heard was Brandon was gay for Andy but pretty sure that was small town trash talk rumor. Small town jocks are just like the old movies so it wouldn't surprise me if Andy was his bully. Even Nates story he heard right from andys mouth i have doubts about. Comparing andy to our jock, he'd lie and not think anything about it. Only truth I trust about it is what Brandon sings about.
  • Nate from ProvoOk, I hid my real name just in case Andy ever comes across this comment. Haha. I played football and was coached by Andy messersmith for two years. Like everyone else, I heard the story floating around about his encounters with Brandon flowers. I was a really close friend to Andy apart from playing for him. We still keep in touch and I’m 23. Anyways, I felt comfortable just asking him and he explained that he was Brandon’s friend in high school. However, he said that they parted ways once Brandon stepped away from sports while Andy continued. Andy stays in touch with Brandon still here and there. Brandon even sends him vip tickets to some of his shows. I am pretty sure the fall out they had had to do with a girl. Frankly, I think Andy slept with Brandon’s girlfriend and betrayed him. Don’t take my word in that part but there was no gay encounter whatsoever. They are both married with children.
  • Hyrum Rousseau from Vernal , UtI go to Uintah high school in Vernal, Ut and we have a teacher named Andy Messersmith and one of our wrestling and football coaches he also teaches and he gets pissed when you just mention this song... Coincidence ? I think not .
  • Taylor from Nephi, UtPsh.. this song has nothing to do with gayness. Trust me. I go to Juab High School (where Brandon went) in Nephi, UT and I know the whole REAL story. Brandon's coach in high school was named Andy and Andy used to tease Brandon about his athletic skills... so naturally Brandon hated him. So now that Brandon is a famous, rock singer he decided to tease Andy with this song sarcastically. Now the coach is teased at my school because of this song and whenever we sing this song in P.E. he gets mad. He even tried to strangle i kid once. He doesnt work at my school anymore. heh heh
  • Taylor from Nephi, UtPsh.. this song has nothing to do with gayness. Trust me. I go to Juab High School (where Brandon went) in Nephi, UT and I know the whole REAL story. Brandon's coach in high school was named Andy and Andy used to tease Brandon about his athletic skills... so naturally Brandon hated him. So now that Brandon is a famous, rock singer he decided to tease Andy with this song sarcastically. Now the coach is teased at my school because of this song and whenever we sing this song in P.E. he gets mad. He even tried to strangle i kid once. He doesnt work at my school anymore. heh heh
  • Alexandra from Wellington, FlOkay, I created a profile here just to interpret this song. It's been stuck in my head for days and it is so dark and ambiguous that it is hard not to want to analyze it! I am just going purely on the thoughts I had upon my first listen of the song. Here goes.
    Andy and the Singer have, at some point, had a gay encounter. Who knows if Andy is straight or gay, but now the Singer is obsessed with Andy. Andy told the Singer that no one can know about what happened("Hey shut up, hey shut up...") but the Singer won't let it go and continues to pester Andy about it. The Singer is deeply hurt that Andy wants to ignore the "love" they shared and now he is following Andy. The Singer alternates adoration ("On the field...you were incredible") with irony (his legacy of being a macho man is a sham because he is gay) and continued insinuation of his homosexuality ("Leave your number on the locker and I'll give you a call" referring to their secret rendezvous,) all because the Singer feels jilted. He even goes as far to tell him he knows that he must feel so alone, "on the mats with the boys," because it must be so torturous to wrestle guys when you are trying to be straight! As for the "staff when the verdict is in," that could be referring to the teachers having a hunch that he is gay or that the verdict is in - he is really an All- American athlete and that all the boys should aspire to his greatness.
    This song, it seems, is a twisted, threatening love letter to Andy promising that if he does not confront how he truly feels and who is really is, that the guilt and secrecy pressing down on him will break his world apart. That is why the Singer seems to be hiding around every corner, narrating this song - it's because Andy is so nervous that someone will find out that he is not as perfect as everyone believes him to be.
    Whew. What a great song. I may be way off base but it seems so clear that I had to see if anyone else agreed with this interp! Peace, guys!

  • Alexis from Las Vegas, NvI'll explain: A guy named Andy Messersmith went to school with Brandon Flowers. They went to Juab High School in Nephi, Utah, and Andy was the popular sports star, and he tortured Brandon and made his time there miserable. So Brandon wrote this song sarcastically.

    Most ironic thing: Brandon Flowers is a famous, rich celebrity, and Andy Messersmith still works at Juab High School in Nephi, as a gym teacher. Karma.

    tada! it could possibly be about brandon and maybe some issues w/ homosexuality, but he has a wife and two children, so really it wouldn't matter.
  • Alyssa from Spring Lake, MiWow, I bet Andy doesn't even appreciate the fact that Brandon wrote this song about him. haha That's so awesome. Thank you to everyone who explained the true meaning. :)
  • Colten from Nephi, UtThis has nothing to do with a gay lover. I go to Juab High School where Brandon and Andy both went. Andy is now a teacher. And this is talking about him because when you tell andy he is a star he freaks out. But andy was the jock. Brandon did not like him because he was a jerk and he was cocky. He Brandon made this song to make andy look bad. Thats what it means When he is telling him to shut up. Because andy was being a cocky jerk. That is the true meaning of the song i know for a fact.
  • Tristen from Nephi, UtThis song is about a guy named Andy Messersmith, and Andy is the son of the vice principle of Juab High School. He was an all state wrestler since he was a freshman, and he played for our football for our high school! He was an amazing athlete, but anyway he wasn't very nice to Brandon during school and now he's my history teacher and he coaches football and wrestling in a 3A high school while brandon is making millions of dollars and living up!!
  • Paris from Cardiff, United Kingdomi also called my horse Andy because of this song..i have another called Brandon, and my mams is called Flowerpot :D we are ever so slightly obsessed :P
  • Paris from Cardiff, United Kingdomi completly agree with Maz, Manchester, they are the most amazing, influential, and lovely guys on the planet, and i feel so blessed to be able to listen to such amazing music..... i'm so glad he wrote that song and put it on the album for the whole world to hear, i admire him all the more for it XXXXX
  • Theresa from Murfreesboro, TnJust a cool song, everyone should have this album.
  • Maz from Manchester, United KingdomCan I just say - omg how lucky are you guys who went to school wiv brandon!!!! Wow!!! Sounds like this Andy guy was a real influence on him when he was at school (gay/friend/whatever!)- this theory sounds like the most probable one to me - but hey who knows - if it's true - how cool of him to actually write a f*ckin wicked song about it - obvously doesn't give a s--t lol - most amazin man on the planet! Brandon n the rest of the guys are so amazin!! xx
  • Jay from Edinburgh, United KingdomI always thought its about a friend called Andy who has been dumped by his girlfriend ('With the pain that you drain from love In a car with a girl, promise me she's not your world Cause Andy, you're a star ') and his mates are trying to cheer him up and tell him he'll find some better.
  • Sean from Nephi, UtPeople, I have the facts. In Nephi, Utah, we go to Juab High School. Back when Brandon Flowers went to high school he was the kid the jocks picked on. Andy Messersmith was a football player and wrestler in the school. BIGGEST JERK EVERYONE KNOWS. Well now he teaches at the school, history teacher in fact. He was big in high school, the Big Fish, the loser that pushed that he was better than you in your face.
    But look at him now, he teaches history while Brandon Flowers is literally on top of the world.
  • Erica from Portland, MaEVERYONE - The song is clearly about High School homosexuality. Brandon is a guy singing about a guy. NO, BRANDON ISN'T GAY, but that's besdie the point. Ther person he's pretending to be is a stalker. "On the field I remember you were incredible" means that Andy is a football player probably.
  • Nichole from Redmond, OrSo My Friend and i were stoned at the park one day, and any fellow pot smoker would know that smoking really makes you think harder about some little things, that usually the sober mind doesnt catch, am i semi right? anyways...so were sitting ther and my friend Zydlei listend to andy your a star, and when he got done, he was like "omg, i think i just figure out the meaning to this song"

    heres his meaning: Well the singer (who is not named) Is singing about this guy named andy. Who was lets say a football player, and possibly a wrestler. anyways, this andy has "this girl" and to the pulic eye the girl is Andys girlfriend, but in reality she is his bestfriend who is hiding his secret. his secret is? well andy is gay, and the person singing is his boyfriend who is out and opened about his personality. pretty much what the singer is say is that if andy did come out it wouldt matter if he lost all of his friends, because no matter what andy is a star in the singers eyes. ofcourse andy doesnt tell anyone he is gay because he has to keep his reputation.

    i then found out the real reason might be becasue when brandon flowers was young he has a crush on a football star named andy, and oufcourse andy was straight. so brandon was just singing about his broken heart.
  • Rick from Chicago, IlI think it's about a guy who was a star in HS and got everything he wanted but treated Brandon badly. Now Brandon is the star and he's taunting Andy by saying he's a star - in noone's eyes but his.
  • Louise from London, United KingdomThis does make me think maybe this is about a girls called Andy, and how she is maybe a lesbian, but Brandon really liked her.When he says that they're a star in nobodys eyes but mine, he could be saying that everybody looked down on her for being who she was, and Brandom respected in someway.
  • Cody from Nephi, UtThis song is about a kid from the same high school as Brandon his name was Andy Messersmith, he was a football player and an all American wrestler, hence, "I remember on the field you were incredible," and "On the mat with the boys,". I know him and he always says "hey shut up" just like the song.
  • Jackie from Harrison Twp.,i thought Andy your a star was a song about a retarted kid named andy! we all call our friend andy a star because of this song.
  • Daryl from Henderson, KyBrandon says in a live performance that Andy was a friend of his. So I think this is Brandon's way of saying look Andy you a star now, theres even a song about you. They both are probaly still laughing about it.
  • Ben from New York, NyGiven the possibility of Justin's comment being fictional, I have always interperated this song as being about losing a friend (Andy) to some form of drug addiction. Just given the title, theme, and tone of the song alone. "Andy you [were a star as a child; everyone loved you]." "Hey, shut up [and don't give me any explanation concerning the person you've become and where your life is now]." "With the pain that you drain from [heroin, cocaine, whatever -with love being a metaphor for the chemical bliss of recreational drug abuse]."
    "In a car with a girl" [or: sitting in your car shooting up], "promise me she's not your world." [promise me you can still break this addiction] "Leave your number..." [Leave some way for me to get in contact with you] "Leave your legacy..." [Look at what you used to be and what you've become] "On the streets" [We all know what this infers] "such a sweet face jumping town" [A youth who's well known in the community leaving to pursue his new lifestyle] "in the staff room the verdict is in." [Andy is lost.] [The line "In nobody's eyes but mine" could insinuate that the vocalist is expressing that he is the only person who's still trying to save Andy and hoping that he'll leave his number behind on his locker, etc.]
  • Justin Klatt from Las Vegas, NvYou guys have it all wrong. I also went to school with Brandon and Andy. Andy from the song "Andy your a star" was then, and is still now my best friend. His name is Andy Taylor. All three of us were on the track team together. Andy and Brandon were both pole vaulters. And yes he really is a Star, in a lot of eyes, not just Brandons!!!
  • Declan from Waterford, IrelandI used to think that this song was about a homosexual obsession with a war hero. "on the (battle)field I remember you were incredible" "on the mast with the boys" like the mast of a naval ship, "leave your legacy in gold on the plaques that line the halls" he's highly decorated. Kinda an interesting twist on the whole thing.
  • Tommy from San Antonio, TxFirst off this is a really dark song. The song in my opinion is about obsession. This straight guy is obsessed with this semi-popular guy who possesses everything that he wants, fame a girl a legacy. So he kidnaps him and is now telling him everything; just look at the first few lines in the song. ?Hey shut up, hey shut up, yeah? he?s telling the ?jock? to shut up. ?In a car with a girl, promise me she's not your world? the jock has the girl that he wants. He?s telling him you better not love her because he does. You can tell that the jock is semi-popular because he says ?Cause Andy, you're a star in nobody's eyes but mine?, nobody?s eyes but mine come on. The reason why he?s so popular to the obsessed, is because that?s what he wants.
  • Jonas from Bonn, GermanyFlowers once sad on an interview the song is about a Boy he had a crush on in school. Later he only answerd anybody could interprate it as he wants...
  • Scotty from Millington, TnIt's about that guy in highschool. The Jock.

    My evidence "I remember on the field, you were incredible."
  • Tabitha from Brooklyn Park, MdI've heard from some people that this song is a story that reflects a man's first gay experience. "Andy, you're a star in nobody's eyes but mine" means that no one sees Andy the way the speaker does, and "promise me she's not your world" is his way of showing his jealousy that he's with a woman instead of him, and that he's hoping andy love him, not her.
  • Joseph from Missoula, NvI went to high school with Brandon, cool guy, when I found out he was the lead singer of the Killers at first I didnt believe it, way to go Brando!!! There was a jock named Andy M, I used to play football with him. And I remember that Andy used to make fun of Brandons last name, Flowers. But Brandon was such a nice guy, he would just laugh it off. I was in the same grade as Brandon, the class of 99, Juab High Wasps, Nephi Utah. Its a crappy little town. Brandon spent most of his time on the Golf coarse.
  • Alexei from Dallas, TxI think this song is just about a stalker/extreme fan admiring some celebrity figure (more than likely an athlete).

    First of all he states that the guy was "incredible on the field," to which the athlete has heard it all before and either ignores him or tells him to shutup. The athlete "thinks he's all alone" as well, because he doesn't have "real" friends, only the people who seemingly admire him.

    The fan then starts to see Andy as above human, and Andy should only focus on his supposedly "incredible" athletic ability. This is why the fan urges him to promise that the girl in the car isn't everything to him, because the obsessed fan sees this girl as a potential downfall for Andy. Extreme fans tend to belittle everything athletes do if it could be harmful in some way to his career.

    Eventually it gets to the "verdict," or the opinions everyone else seems to have about Andy and his abilities. This line, and the lines that follow, implies that Andy is "guilty" of not being as good as everyone may have first thought, or that he did in fact give everything up for "the girl in the car." The fan, even after being ignored and told to shutup by his hero, then still refuses to give up his beliefs, basically stating that "You may not have anyone else on your side, but you'll always be a star in my eyes."

    Every time i hear this song I think of the fantastic movie "The Fan," with Robert DeNiro.

  • David from London, EnglandI like the idea that Andy's a girl, maybe even a closeted lesbian. The repitition of 'promise me she's not your world' could merely be a reflection of what she's saying to herself. Rather than fancying the boys at the match, as she presumably feels she should, she feels alone, wallowing in the pain she draws from love. She wishes that these voices in her head would just 'shut up', so she could settle for the 'legacy in gold on the plaques that line the hall', but of course she can't.
  • Katie from Tuscaloosa, Aldid anyone else think that mabye Andy is a bisexual girl? I'm just saying that Andy can be a girl or guy's name.
  • Katie from Tuscaloosa, AlOkay, I just had to say this. Has anyone else noticed that a lot of Killers songs could have like 50 different meanings? I guess Brandon wants us to think......
  • Jepha from Citra, FlThis song is(in a wierd stalker kinda way)totally hott!lol
  • John from Boulder, CoI believe that Brandon has a crush on Andy Dick. It all just makes sense. Only Brandon truly understands the talent that Andy possesses.
  • Christina from Richmond, Vaok, my opinion, after listening to this song about a million times, is that andy is the boyfriend of the girl brandon liked, and andy is screwing up the girl's life, but nobody can see this because andy is so popular and looked up to...it does make sense
  • Silas from Bountiful, VaI thought maybe Andy could have been a nickname for Brandon Flowers himself. I thought maybe some girl (or guy) had a crush on him or anything. also, it mentions a car and a crime, which are some prevalent themes in his songs, which make me believe that every song is linked somehow. this is one of my favs, along with the midnight show and all these things that i've done
  • Natalie from Coon Rapids, MnI have heard that this song is a joke... about when Brandon was in high school, there was a guy named Andy, who was "the jock" in the school. People used to tease brandon because he admired Andy, and people said Brandon was gay, but he wasn't. This song is making fun of his high school years.
  • Taney from San Diego, CaI believe this song is about a coach / mentor / teacher telling andy not to give up what he's good at (some kind of sport) .. "the pain that you drain from love" .. his love life is taking the best of him .. it makes all kinds of sense .. because it hints about the verdict which links to the murder trilogy songs .. this appears to be the beginning ..
  • Maura from Orlando, FlBeautiful chorus line when they bring in the choir. The entire album is awesome.
  • Shauna from Waterford, IrelandThis is definitley one of the best songs on this fantastic album!!!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."

Philip Cody

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

Tom Waits Lyrics Quiz

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

Name the Character in the Song

Name the Character in the SongMusic Quiz

With a few clues (Works at a diner, dreams of running away), can you name the character in the song?