The Killers - All These Things That I've Done Lyrics Meaning

May 2024 · 4 minute read
anonymous

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Aug 6th 2014 !⃝

Even though I'm not particularly religious it occurred to me years later that this song sounds like it comes from Jesus while on the cross, both talking to himself to keep his courage up and to humanity to learn from his sacrifice:

(When there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
One more son)
The world has gotten bad enough "nowhere else to run" that there is one more of God's "sons", (Jesus) that will join it.

(If you can hold on
If you can hold on, hold on
I want to stand up, I want to let go)
Jesus telling himself to not give up even though it is difficult and also for his sacrifice to inspire future people.

(You know, you know - no you don't, you don't)
While he has lived as a normal person among people (you know), he is the only one without sin (you don't)

(I want to shine on in the hearts of men
I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand )
He wants his sacrifice to mean something, direct reference to his broken hand (part of the crucifixion)

(Another head aches, another heart breaks
I am so much older than I can take)
The weight of his sacrifice and his divine nature are weighing on him. Also, the blood drain and slow asphyxiation from crucifixion would likely cause headaches to say the least.

(And my affection, well it comes and goes
I need direction to perfection, no no no no )
A confession from him that internally his faith wavers sometimes as well, no more so than his final test.

(Help me out
Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner
You know you got to help me out )
A simultaneous plea to his Father to help him end the pain but also to humanity to not let his sacrifice be in vain, that people need to help themselves as well.

(And when there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
These changes ain't changing me
The cold-hearted boy I used to be)
Repeat of first stanza, and defiantly declaring that even this brutal death isn't going to change his divine nature. "Cold hearted boy" may be a stretch, referring to the missing period in his life from the Bible, possibly when he was younger and trying to deal with the revelation that he was holy and eventually had to be sacrificed.

(Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner
You know you got to help me out
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down)
Repeat of the plea to be helped, but toward the end he reminds himself that he will bring himself down (come back down from Heaven after dying to be resurrected).

(I got soul, but I'm not a soldier)
He is fighting for humanity, but not in a physical way as a soldier. His weapon is his soul.

(Yeah, you know you got to help me out
Yeah, oh don't you put me on the backburner
You know you got to help me out
You're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down
Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down)
Repeat of the above stanza, but I like to think this time instead of asking for help from God and reassuring himself he has accepted his fate and is now speaking to people and asking them to live better lives, to not forget his example, and to remember to not fall back into sin.

(Over and again, last call for sin
While everyone's lost, the battle is won)
He and the criminals crucified with him are about to die, but in doing so they will ascend to heaven and triumph over the sins of humanity with absolution.

(With all these things that I've done
All these things that I've done
(Time, truth, hearts))
A final reminder to remember his teachings, most importantly his final lesson (the sacrifice for mankind) and what he has given (time on Earth away from his Father, the truth about sin and forgiveness, and the heart to sacrifice for all the sinners)

(If you can hold on
If you can hold on)
With his final breath not asking anything from himself, but still encouraging and inspiring future generations to fight the good fight.

Anyway, just my two cents!

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