Midnight Show

Album: Hot Fuss (2004)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the second part of the Murder trilogy. The first song is "Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf," which was released in 2007, and the third song is "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine," the first track on their debut album Hot Fuss. "Midnight Show" is about the actual murder of a girlfriend who wasn't being faithful. Lead singer Brandon Flowers says, "The murder has something to do with water, but it's not drowning." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bryan - Bismarck, ND

Comments: 28

  • Rachel from Lititz, PaThe meaning I infer from this song:
    He's either already killed her or has kidnapped her and he's driving
    "I know what you want, I'm gonna take you to a midnight show tonight, If you can keep a secret" - he's out of his head, taunting her
    "I got a blanket in the back seat on my mind, And a little place that sits beneath the sky, She turned her face to speak but no one heard her cry" - He thinking back (it's on his mind) to earlier when he killed/kidnapped her under the sky (outside), but he's also very much thinking about her body in his back seat, wrapped up
    "Drive faster, boy!" - he's panicked at what's happening, and tells himself to drive faster to get away from it as soon as he can
    "I know there's a hope, There's too many people tryin' to help me cope" - he knew that there was hope for him to get over it (break-up/her cheating), because all his friends and/or family were helping. He may be bitter towards the idea of getting over it and thinks it's "too many"
    "You've got a real short skirt I wanna look up" - this could be a metaphor to how he can't get over it, it's so tempting to do something about her (kill her)
    "We were just in time, Let me take a little more off your mind" - he's taunting her again
    "There's something in my head, somewhere in the back sayin', We were just a good thing, we were such a good thing" - somewhere in the back of his head he's questioning why they ended up like this
    "Make it go away without a word" - he'll make their problem go away without a word
    "But promise me you'll stay and fix these things I've heard" - either a nosensical plea to her or he's thinking back to when he was trying to mend the relationship
    "Make it go away!" - he begging for those previous thoughts to go away or he's trying to comfort himself by saying what he's doing will make the problem go away
    "The crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl" - he has or is going to throw her body into the ocean, but even that can't wash away how guilty he sees her to be (probably for cheating on him)
    "With jealous hearts that start with gloss and curls" - she's made him a jealous heart, he might be picturing how she looked while cheating on him
    "I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier Of stars and atmosphere, and watched her disappear, Into the midnight show" - he either just killed her or is looking back to when he did, outside at night. "Midnight show" is either referencing how he watched her slip into death or the ocean
    "Faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster! Oh, no no no no no no, no no no no no!" - he's seriously freaked out. He has to get away from the crime scene and the thoughts that plague him. Possible regret or just scared of being found. Either way, he's really tormented in his head.
    "If you can keep a secret, Well, baby I can keep, if you can keep a secret" - taunting her again/trying to comfort himself
    "(She said she loved me)" - how could she do this?/what am I doing?

    R.I.P. Jenny~
  • Cazza from Sydney, New ZealandOR they're just songs... good songs but not murder songs... ridiculous.
  • Erika from Fox Valley, WiTo Fiolum Ritehjsmoynag: exactly WHAT is he protecting himself from? Its a trilogy, Trilogies can only be 3 songs, never more, never less, thats why its called a Trilogy...end of story. So these theories that Under the Gun or Mr. Brightside or any other song might be part of this story are just not right.
    As far as the murder being water-related but not drowning, I've always felt like he either strangled her or snapped her neck and then threw the body in the water hoping the tides would wash her away...Either way I have always been really fascinated with this story and agree that they just HAVE to make a video for the 3 songs to accompany the story.
  • Paris from Cardiff, United Kingdomi just love this song, i love every song by the Killers, but this is one of the greats!
  • John from Newbridge, Irelandmake it go away without a word obviously means murdering her(making her and his jealousy go away)
  • Fiolum Ritehjsmoynag from Carson City, Nvin move away he refers to 'jumping out of your skin" as going nuts and crazy then he says he wants to jump out of his skin.
  • Fiolum Ritehjsmoynag from Carson City, Nvtry listening to midnight show or sams town
  • Fiolum Ritehjsmoynag from Carson City, Nvperhaps Jenny wasn't murdered, in "under the gun" he was talking about a car crash
  • Fiolum Ritehjsmoynag from Carson City, Nvwhat if he called it a trilogy to protect himself but realy there is 4 songs
  • Kylie from Ventura, CaOkay, so the boyfriend takes Jenny to a place under the stars, by a lake, they sit on a blanet, he suffocates her. The "drive faster boy" is him telling himself to drive faster away from where he killed her. The "we were such a good thing" is him having second thoughts about killing her, wishing things hadn't come to this. "I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier of stars in atmosphere"(I love that line) means he killed her outside under the stars."A crashing tide can't hide a guilty girl" means the water can't hide her body."Watched her dissapear into the midnight show" means watched her die. This is an awesome song, by the way. If they had only made movie, everything would be very clear.
  • Cristi from Mequon, WiNow, I think this song takes place as he's getting rid of the body. That's why he's "driving faster" He is singing to her as if she's alive because he's either insane or still severely drunk. "Watched her disappear into the midnight show" is when he has disposed of the body by, IMO, dumping it in some river or lake (which would include the water that Flowers mentions).
  • Beeeanca from Melbourne, Australiai have a slightly different theory for midnight show... i think it encompasses what her boyfriend thinks after and when he kills her but also the guy shes cheating with (youve got a real short skirt etc)and when she says 'i drive faster boy' its kind of a metaphor for sex, the first time its sung its with the other guy, and the second time it her boyfriend like thinking about it or the guy gloating about it. anyway, its sound better in my head lol
  • Xial from Sofia, BulgariaUh... It's obvious that the second song is 'Midnight Show', and the third - 'Jenny Was A Friend of Mine'. First he kills her, and after that, in the last part of the trilogy, he is questioned by the police. That's why he mentions there is no motive, and that he knows his rights and they have to release him.

    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6mC9hk4JVjw - that's the trilogy played live.
  • Stewart from London, United Kingdom"And watch her disappear
    Into the midnight show... "

    She has become a star ? (eg "watching us from heaven")
  • Mike from Chicago, Ili JUST figured it out...

    Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf;

    jenny leaves the guy

    Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine;

    they take a walk to talk about things and she tells him that shes really leaving so he grabs her and doesn't want to let go and suffocates her.

    Midnight Show;

    the "blanket in the back seat" is jenny's dead body wrapped in a blanket in the back seat. the "chandelier" is the "stars and atmosphere" also stated in the song where he takes his "baby's breath". he watched her disappear in the midnight show by throwing her dead body in the water. Brandon Flowers stated that the trilogy has to do with water but not drowning. there you go.


    OR!

    midnight show can come second and the blanket in the backseat is him wanting to lay on it by a lake with jenny and kills her dumping her body in the water. jenny was a friend of mine can be just a store explaining the past to the police after they found her body in the water.

    idk which order it is in but jenny's body was definitely thrown in water after suffocation.
  • Hugh Burton from Cambridge, United KingdomAND!!!! he was jealous of jenny's other lover (With jealous hearts that start with blossom curls) and we have a clue to WHERE he killed her with (I took my baby's breath beneath the chandelier) meaning he killed he underneatht he chandelier!!
  • Jaye from Cincinnati, OhI'm curious. I've seen a few posts that lists the order of the Murder Triology as 1.) Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf; 2.) Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, and 3.) Midnight Show. Where did this info come from?
    I could be wrong, but to me, it seems that the logical order would be:
    1.) Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf - where he finds out she's leaving him/cheating on him;
    2.) Midnight Show - where he kills her; and
    3.) Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - where he's being interrogated by the police about her murder.
    Am I right?
  • Jonas from Leverkusen, GermanyI'm not sure if he just wanted to have sex.
    I think he loved the girl, noone would kill a girl just because she didn't want sex. Jenny was his girlfriend who had another boyfriend, and he killed her following to the "fight on the promenade" in Jenny was a friend of mine. Then he drives in his car and more and more regrets what he's done. And perhaps he wants to commit suicide ("drive faster" "into the midnight show" -> he wants to follow her). And the "blanket on the backseat" is only "on his mind", so I think it's the bad thing he's done, he regrets, wants to forget ("make it go away without a word" "and fix these things I've hurt") and that's making him mad.

    (That would be my question, Jake: Do you really think he's just wanting sex with jenny? But if not, what do these lines about the short skirt and "i wanna look up..." mean? I don't understand
  • Matthew from CalgaryJake from monmouth is totally right!!!!!!!!!!!! i think. anyway it makes sense
  • Ellie from Sf, SdI kind of thought that maybe this is just after he killed jenny...expecially since he says everything in past tense and says stuff like "make it go away" and keeps repeating the word no...
  • Sal from My House, Englandoh my god! I always knew that Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine was an interrogation, but I never thought of this song as being connected with the murder! the theories make sense and now I can't stop listening to the song finding more clues!! Cant wait to hear how "bourbon..." fits in! x
  • Jake from Monmouth Jct, Njokay.first off, this song describes his emotions AFTER killing his wife/ gf jenny for cheating. Hes refering to a girl he picked up at a bar or something. and all he wants to do is haave sex with her. the lyric "make it go away without a word" refers to a sexual act. and he has this girl in the car and hes driveing her to a sceret spot were he hid jennys body. and while hes drveing with her he has flash backs of jenny in the car the night he killed her. "theres something in my head somewhere in the back seat saying we were such a good thing". Also the word midnight show may refer to the way he killed his wife. with that said i am infering that he killed the girl he picked up after he has sex with her. and when he saays yoyve "got a skirt i want to look up" it means he just wants to have sex with her hes not going to care if he does the right thing. "a crashing tide can hide a guilty girl" it means he may of hid jennys body in the ocean. :dricve faster could be eithier her telling him to actually drive faster. or pump faster like thier are having sex.
    LAStLY you hear a distoted voice at the enod of the song saying "she said she loved him" he is refering to jenny when she said she loved him and chaeted on him.... any further questions? just ask.
  • Katie from Tuscaloosa, Alreferring to Maria's comment, I think he means that the tide can't make him forget what she's done. The line isn't literal, it's saying that he'll always know what she did even if she's gone.
  • Kirsty from Devon, EnglandYeah, what you guys have said has made me put all the jigsaw together. I had bits of the meanings here and there, and then I saw this, and I understand this better. Thanks! :)

    Great song also.
  • Maria from Nowhere, Othersteph doesnt it make more sense if he says "A chrashing tide CAN hide a guilty girl..." according to your theory (which i think is good) he threw the girl (jenny, right?) in the water to hide her and says that the crashing tide can hide her... if that makes any sense...
  • Laycee from Jacksonville, FlTHis song is awesome...and the emotions that the murderer is feeling are so crazy, he's this cruel guy with his dead gf in the back seat ("a blanket in the back seat on my mind") but then his concious starts to play him after a while ("something in my head, something in the back said, we were just a good thing, we were such a good thing, make it go away, without a word") kinda creepy, the whole murder scenario, but also very interesting...cant wait to hear "leave the bourbon on the shelf"
  • Diz from York, PaGood theory, Steph. That's more or less what my theory's like.
    I love the song. I hope that "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" is on their new album. I look forward to hearing the entire 'Murder Triolgy.' It would be great in order.
  • Hannah from East Kilbride, ScotlandI love this song, I love all their songs actually because they're just amazing. I look forward to listening to "Leave the Bourbon on the shelf" on their new album when it hopefully comes out next year. Hannah x
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