Somebody Told Me by The Killers
June 11, 2004 | 
62 Comments
The Artist: The Killers
The Song: Somebody Told Me
The Album: Hot Fuss
Released 2004
Note: Thanks to Sven for helping me recover the original text for this post!
When I was little I was a huge fan of Queen.
As I got older I never gave that up. To this day I’m still into Queen. I’m also a child of the 80�s. I�ve always been and always will be into synth-pop and wave rock. Bands like Echo and The Bunnymen, New Order, The Alarm, The Smiths and Oingo Boingo are still in heavy rotation for me.
That’s why I love the whole 80’s throwback thing going on right now. But, yeah, 80’s and Queen�.got lost for a minute. Sorry.
ANYway, if Freddie Mercury were around today I bet he’d be into the whole “new” new wave movement. He might be into bands like The Stills and Interpol and he could very well front a band like The Killers.
The Killers are�well, killer. It took a few listens before I really got into them and the whole time I kept thinking about how they reminded me of Queen in some way.
They’ve added a little flash, a little spice and a little drama to what would be just some more decent genre filler. Sure, they’re a bit on the cheesy side, but I challenge you to give this album a listen and not have at least on song stuck in your head.
Start with this week’s tune, “Somebody Told Me”, it’s corny, to be sure. With a hook like this:
Well somebody told me, you had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend, that I had in February of last year. It’s not confidential, I’ve got potential.
I guess you can�t expect to be taken too seriously. But it’s catchy and lots of fun and sometimes that�s what it�s all about folks!
Recommended if you like: The Stills, Franz Ferdinand, The Faint, The Strokes, Interpol
Filed under: Song of The Week
Comments
1. craig v said:
yeah, this is great. i usually watch subterranean on mtv2 on sunday nights to see what strikes me. this song stopped me in my tracks. thanks for reminding me of it. i think i’ll pick up the cd tonight.
Posted on June 11, 2004 12:53 PM | #
2. Brandon said:
I saw these guys first on Carson Daly’s late night show a few weeks ago and was hooked. I have yet to buy their album, but from what I’ve heard of it .. its really good. I may have to go out & buy it this weekend.
It’s not confidential, I’ve got potential.
I love the basslines in their songs. So good.
Now you’ve got me singing.. thanks. ;)
Posted on June 11, 2004 01:50 PM | #
3. craig said:
just saw that it’s not going to be out until tuesday the 15th. there’s a 3 song single/ep available on the itunes store that i might have to get to hold me over.
Posted on June 11, 2004 02:55 PM | #
4. daniel said:
The Killers are awesome! I just saw them last night (9|10|04) in San Diego. I can’t wait for the cd to come out here in the states. They rocked in the most chill way ever. I don’t know how descriptive that is, but hey, their style and music is awesome. A must have for sure.
by the way, I sweat I’m not a 17 year old teeniebopper. I’m just stoked over the show.
Posted on June 11, 2004 08:56 PM | #
5. Chris Hester said:
Good stuff! But I can’t hear any Queen at all here. Are you sure you’re not thinking of The Darkness? :-)
Posted on June 13, 2004 01:54 PM | #
6. Matt Robinson said:
Agreed with #5 - I really enjoyed this song, so I guess I’ll stumbling back into Fopp this lunchtime, damn you. But if you pine for the old style Queen, then The Darkness has it all. Deliciously cheesy; wailing voices and guitars; way-over-the-top, glorious.
Posted on June 13, 2004 11:55 PM | #
7. paul haine said:
Keith, you have *excellent* taste in music.
Posted on June 14, 2004 09:17 AM | #
8. Mark said:
Weid - I am listening to Queens Ogre Battle right now as I stumbled on to this page.
Yes Darkness are sort of a neuvo-proto-Queen! Long may they reign!
Posted on June 14, 2004 02:04 PM | #
9. Keith said:
It’s funny, a few songs on “Hot Fuss” do make me think of The Darkness a bit as well. Not sure what it is.
It’s a great album though, gets better with every listen.
Posted on June 14, 2004 03:47 PM | #
10. Ste said:
I first heard a track from this band last weekend on Kerrang radio. The track was “Somebody Told Me” and I thought it was a bit like Hot Hot Heat. I just bought the album today (Monday) and am about halfway through listening to it. Im a big big queen fan and can’t really see the link or similarity between them and The Killers, so far…
There is some similarity though to ELO with a kind of Beatles sound mixed with electronic.
Posted on June 21, 2004 09:40 AM | #
11. ssp said:
I can send you the ‘diff’ between your original post and the new one as provided by NetNewsWire in case you care for the original text.
Posted on June 21, 2004 12:29 PM | #
12. Oskar said:
It’s this a remake of any song??? *somebody told me* because i think i’ve heard this song before. And i keep thinking it’s a remake of an old disco song.
Posted on June 22, 2004 10:17 AM | #
13. Laura said:
Oskar, I totally agree with you…the song DOES sound like a remake. That’s exactly what I thought the first time I heard it. For some reason or another I keep thinking I may have heard it on the Trainspotting soundtrack.
Posted on June 24, 2004 02:04 PM | #
14. David said:
I love the song Somebody Told Me. I cant stop listening to iy its so adictive. I was wondering if their album is available in Canada. If it is I cant wait to get it.
Posted on June 30, 2004 02:10 PM | #
15. David said:
Have you seen the music video for this awesome song its so kewl. Will someone answer me if they have a cd available in Canada Its eating me alive
Posted on June 30, 2004 04:47 PM | #
16. Kristelle said:
It’s just rather unusual how you compare them to queen. . because Queen is such an eclectic group in a rock sense. I could see where you could compare these guys to David Boey mating with The Darkness though…
do you know where i can get a press release of these guys too?
Posted on July 16, 2004 05:15 PM | #
17. Valerie said:
The more I hear this song, the more I am convinced it is a remake, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. The first time I heard it I knew the lyrics…I just have to dig deeper into my memory and figure out what it is that’s being triggered!
I do love the song, though. Very cool band.
Posted on July 20, 2004 03:19 PM | #
18. Joel said:
No, its not a remake. The whole band wrote it together. None of the music on the album is a remake.
Yeah, its a great album. I bought it last week in the States, and have listened to it pretty much over and over everyday.
DAVID: If you don’t know already, you can buy it in Canada, right now its at Future Shop for $12.99 CDN
Posted on August 12, 2004 09:10 PM | #
19. Trish said:
It is a great song. Are you sure it’s not a remake? I also knew the words of the chorus the first time I heard it … It’s got to be a remake … from the late 70s or early 80s?
Posted on August 22, 2004 12:08 PM | #
20. hazza said:
Somebody told me is da bomb!
love it
Posted on August 23, 2004 02:10 AM | #
21. Joel said:
100% sure its not a remake, if you look at the cover booklet thing, it shows who wrote which song and all four group members helped write it.
Posted on August 23, 2004 02:45 PM | #
22. chris said:
remake…..I got them same feel when the chorus hit…sounds like an old Elastica song maybe?
Posted on September 3, 2004 11:30 AM | #
23. David said:
That is definitly a re-make of something. I first heard this song a few days ago and im like “hey turn it up I like this song” and after it was over the station said it was the first time they had ever played it. And that is the only station that I listen to. If this truly is a new song then I must have time travelled and listened to it. :-)
Posted on September 8, 2004 05:05 PM | #
24. Ekaterina said:
Um, it does sound very familiar…perhaps it’s similar to something by New Order??? For some reason I hear the song and I think of New Order….anyone agree with me on that??? Great song tho..
Posted on September 11, 2004 03:24 PM | #
25. Andrew said:
from someone that has worked in the music industry for many year, may I say that this is one of the freshest songs with the most killer chorus I have heard in years.
Posted on September 26, 2004 02:26 AM | #
26. Elias said:
it is the best song i have heard in ages
Posted on October 1, 2004 06:41 PM | #
27. Liz said:
this song is definitely a remake. sure, they may have written the lyrics and all…but the sound is not original at all.
Posted on October 19, 2004 10:32 AM | #
28. Keith said:
Stumbled across this site trying to figure out who this is a cover of. Put me down for one in the “it must be a remake” column - I too knew the “its not confidential - I’ve got potential” line before I heard it. I was sure these guys are British - I thought maybe Blur? My Bloody Valentine?
Posted on October 20, 2004 12:18 PM | #
29. Sam said:
Wow. Funny. I also *swear* its an 80’s song, and a remake… but I keep hearing its not… we’re all time travelers and The Killers are awesomely successful at making all our deja-vu memory synapses trigger…, warm and fuzzy feeling “retro new wave” rockin music… I love it!
Posted on October 26, 2004 12:42 AM | #
30. Josh B said:
yeah, awesome song! I heard it on a local radio station and did some research to find it. But tell me, queen, the lead singer was gay. So…if this reminds you of queen, and the lyrics are “somebody told me, you had a boyfriend that looked like a girl friend that I had february of last year” Who exactly is he singing to? Is it his Boy friend, or his Boy friend in Drag? Like, maybe my mind is in the gutter and all but, I’m really confused! So, is he gay??
Posted on November 2, 2004 07:36 PM | #
31. TJ said:
It’s definitely got borrowed lyrics. The “somebody told me..” is from an 80’s song, and I cannot place the original artist, either. I sang it straight off the first time I heard it. If anyone finds the original, please post!
Posted on November 17, 2004 09:41 AM | #
32. tk said:
I hear another story emerging like the one about Vanilla Ice swearing he didn’t steal anything from Queen. This is too familiar to too many people for it to be merely nostalgic sounding. I knew most of the chorus lyrics and the entire melody of the chorus the first time I heard this re-make. They did a good job of choosing an obscure song to ‘copy’. none of us can figure out the original.
Posted on November 18, 2004 12:18 PM | #
33. rip-off said:
If this band is claiming they wrote all music & lyrics for this song, they are liars. If it is not a remake, then it is a total rip-off of an 80’s song (I thought New Order as well…it’s definetly from the same era as N.O & Depeche Mode).
I do not understand why radio stations play songs that are clearly not the band’s own, and when there is no credit given to the actual band.
The same thing happened with Good Charlotte when they ripped off Blur with their ‘Girls & Boys’ song. The first time I heard it I said, “Yeh, I used to like that song…back when Blur wrote & performed it.” I believe they ended up getting sued by Blur.
Posted on November 26, 2004 09:09 AM | #
34. Keith said:
Hey y’all – there is a reason why no one can place the lyrics. It’s not a cover song or a rip.
Posted on November 26, 2004 09:41 AM | #
35. Janet said:
The Killers have stated they are big fans of eighties music, so that may be why the song “Somebody Told Me” sounds so familiar. This was taken from an interview with the guitarist, Dave Keuning.
HV: Where did the name come from, “The Killers”?
Dave: We kind of borrowed it from a New Order video, for “Crystal.” There’s a band that looks really cool in the video and they’re called The Killers, but it’s a fake band. So we thought we’d just take that and become the band in real life, sort of. We just thought it was a cool name for a band. We’re big New Order fans.
Personally, I don’t find that the song is a copy of, or even similar to, any New Order song I’ve heard; lyrics- or other- wise.
Posted on November 29, 2004 07:23 PM | #
36. Shane P said:
Without question, this is a remake of some sort… The very first time I heard it,I was able to sing along to it (with the words)… Came upon this site looking for the answer. Will have to keep looking.
Posted on December 5, 2004 07:55 PM | #
37. Trish said:
This is absolutely a remake…Again, sang along with it the first time I heard it and was so surprised to hear the Dj say it was a new release. I knew the words…and had never heard of the Killers before that. Definitely an 80’s tune.
Posted on December 10, 2004 11:17 AM | #
38. anonny mouse said:
I would like someone to explore the trainspotting idea. Everytime I hear it I think of the movie, Maybe its not a remake, but could the verses be copied from the band in that movie? I don’t have the soundtrack and can’t find which song I mean
Posted on December 11, 2004 01:02 PM | #
39. AlGood said:
i know i’ve heard Somebody TOld Me before too….so there no way in hell its completely original. I just read that it might be Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me out”. I havent checked that out yet, but i hope to god it is because ive been trying to figure it out for weeks.
Posted on January 7, 2005 11:57 AM | #
40. Scott said:
Hi all, the confusion may be arising because The Killers have released “Somebody Told Me” before (in the UK at least) - back in March 2004. I’ve done a few lyrics searches on the net and found nothing, and it’s definitely not “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand. I’m fairly certain the song is not a cover
Posted on January 12, 2005 12:24 PM | #
41. Rick said:
Ok…I am yet another one who first heard the song and knew the words of the chorus……it has GOT to be a remake…..I just don’t have “words” pop into my head from a song that is supposeably new……hmmm….this is starting to bug me…lol
Posted on January 15, 2005 07:25 PM | #
42. Teri said:
This is totally a cover–I remember dancing to a faster version of it in the techno clubs in the mid 1990s. It was a club favorite and was played quite frequently.
Posted on January 15, 2005 09:26 PM | #
43. none said:
For the record, found this page by being sure it was a remake, but in all fairness, if no one can provide the name of the song it is allegedly remade from, then no one can claim it is “for sure” a remake. This is something you either think or can prove, one cannot prove what is merely an opinion. Then again, it’s not the first time an original song came on that I knew the lyrics to, but at least I like this one. :)
Posted on February 4, 2005 08:35 AM | #
44. Grrrr... said:
Omg… this is driving me insane!
Posted on February 11, 2005 04:50 PM | #
45. AnyWho said:
Hey guys, ever hear the phrase “put up or shut up”, and ever hear of the Internet and Google? Holy Cow! If it was a remake, you could find that out in about 10 seconds flat. So if no one has found it in like 8 freaking months, I’m gonna have to go with the “it’s original” crowd. Besides, I’m prolly older than all you combined and I’ve never heard it :-)
Posted on February 22, 2005 06:40 PM | #
46. jules said:
i myself have just spoken to a friend and we said exactly the same thing,its 80’s and we sang it straight off.its got to be a remake,(and as for #43 comments,my friend and i are both in our 30’s and not suffering from dementia!!)maybe we cant find the original because the title wont be the same?? i think there should be some sort of enquiry into the fact,maybe they wrote it but totally ripped off the lyrics.we shal have to wait and see.i cant wait to find the person that knows where the original is from-id give them a big kiss! lol fingers crossed!
Posted on February 25, 2005 03:28 PM | #
47. Larry said:
Found the site searching for an answer to the ‘is it a cover?’ question, and found no satisfactory one. Like many people, I found myself singing along to the chorus first time I heard it, thinking ‘this is a cool jazzed up version of an 80s or early 90s song’
For a moment I was convinced by the release in Mar 2004 explanation, but I heard Somebody Told Me for the first time in about June 04 so that just doesnt ride with me. I’m still looking for an answer
With regard to what an earlier poster said about The Killers having a similarity with Queen, well, the first thing I thought after hearing All These Things That I’ve Done was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
Posted on March 20, 2005 03:09 PM | #
48. Hefelumpman said:
ARG
it’s totally a remake, but for the life of me, I can’t think from where! AND I can’t find it, which makes it more perplexing. The search continues.
Posted on March 28, 2005 04:13 AM | #
49. Greg said:
The song isn’t a cover damnit!
Posted on April 6, 2005 11:07 AM | #
50. Keith K. said:
This is really funny. The song isn’t a cover – it’s a really good song that get’s stuck in your head right away!
Posted on April 17, 2005 12:13 PM | #
51. misk said:
hey came across this site when i was trying to find who this song came from but cant find it anywhere!! which is getting annoying
im from australia and i KNOW ive heard this song before many times growing up but cant figure out where
anyone else from aus/uk have any recollections?
Posted on April 24, 2005 06:03 AM | #
52. Velda said:
Add me to the list! My buddy thinks I’m crazy for thinking this is a remake so I’m glad to have found a little validation here ;-)
Posted on April 29, 2005 09:04 AM | #
53. brad said:
Okay, it’s not a remake, but was it used in a movie on a soundtrack by the killers? I swore to a friend I’ve heard it before as well…
Posted on May 2, 2005 06:47 PM | #
54. jesus said:
I heard a song SIMILAR to the version made by the killers on an 80s internet radio station and when i looked it up it came up with the newly released killers version which was different slightly. Im sure this is a cover
Posted on May 17, 2005 04:03 AM | #
55. Rupert said:
YES its a borrowed lyric, heard it the other day in a club but didn’t ask what it was as i assumed it would be easy to find, I am also in Australia so maybe its an 80’s Aussie band.
Posted on May 30, 2005 11:34 PM | #
56. T said:
killing me too. no way I know the words the first time I hear the song… was it in a movie? played in clubs? tv advert??? somebody please end this mystery!!!!!!!!!
Posted on June 2, 2005 09:49 AM | #
57. jesse said:
Im doing my “google”ing now.. im searching high and low.. and i can usually find the most hard to find stuff online in under 2hours.. my girlfriend wanted to hear the “Mr Brightside” song.. and i went ahead and Downloaded a few Killers songs just for kix.. i listen to stuff from The Outfield to Skinny Puppy to The Anix.. i KNEW the first time i heard this song it was a cover or borrowed lyrics.. and i will not sleep until i figure this out!! :)
Posted on June 13, 2005 11:13 PM | #
58. Jessi James said:
As most of you, I also “knew” the song was a remake from an 80’s song, the first time I heard it. However, I have done several internet searches for the original, unsuccessfully, as well.
Therefore, I am convinced it must not be a remake. Though, I am surprised. If it were, it would be easy to find on the internet.
Posted on June 24, 2005 04:28 PM | #
59. K said:
the song everyone is thinking of is by Underworld. it is on the trainspotting II cd. it’s called “Born Slippy / NUXX” it is a remix version of “Born Slippy” on the trainspotting I soundtrack. it was driving me INSANE as well!!!
Posted on June 29, 2005 06:26 PM | #
60. Scott said:
Nope, not Underworld.
Posted on July 5, 2005 09:34 PM | #
61. Daughter's a Killers fan said:
Just heard “All These Things that I’ve Done”, by the Killers in the car and my daughter was saying this was her favorite song. I’m from the late ’70s and lived through the ’80s, and the song was soooo familiar and I swear it is a remake that I had heard before. Someone help on this one. Thanks!
Posted on August 16, 2005 05:19 PM | #
62. Mary said:
You haven’t heard it before. You’re thinking of “Girls and Boys” by Blur, which all you geniuses know is really by the Pet Shop Boys anyway.
Posted on August 27, 2005 03:23 AM | #
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