Because I am going to see The Killers in concert this week, I feel obligated to analyze one of their many amazing albums. “Sam’s Town”, released on September 27, 2006, is compiled of 12 songs, each contributing to the overarching theme of transition from place to place in one’s life and the importance of keeping in touch with these places. Before I dive in to the individual songs, it is crucial that I provide some background about the band’s past. The Killers are an American rock band originating in Las Vegas in 2001. They went to London here and there to spread their music and work on albums. Brandon Flowers, one of the leads in the band, said that this album represents, “everything important that got me to where I am today”. Sam’s Town is a hotel and gambling hall located in the outskirts of their hometown, Las Vegas.

From Brandon Flower’s perspective, his town was the type that nobody ever made it out of and he originally considered it a boring place to be, not appreciating all the small beauties within it. In the first song of the album, Sam’s Town, he describes it as a place where, “nobody ever had a dream ’round here, nobody ever pulls the seams ’round here”. In the same song he mentions how he wishes he could get out of his town and how has “got this energy beneath [his] feet”. Brandon wants to do something with his life and not live stuck in his hometown. As him and his band eventually do make it out of the town, traveling to different places around the world, he starts to realize how much he misses Las Vegas and his time growing up there. He repeats in the song the lyrics, “I see London. I see Sam’s Town.” Brandon is torn between both places which have become very important to him over the years, and it unsure what to do about it. In the song, When You Were Young, he thinks even more about his prior experiences in his hometown through the lyrics, “and sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live, when you were young”. Through this struggle of wanting to be at two places at once, Brandon ultimately realizes that he can live both lives: “But I know that I can make it, as long as somebody takes me home every now and then”. Upon returning home for a visit, Brandon has a newfound appreciation for where he used to live, and in one of the last songs in the album, This River Is Wild, he says, “You know I could stay here all night, and watch the clouds fall from the sky”.

Like Brandon, us as college students might also be recognizing that despite the love we have for our college town, we also have love for our hometown. After being away for a prolonged period of time and realizing that we might never fully live there again, the idea of a home starts to feel distant. Thinking back on our childhood experiences, I am sure there are many moments we would rather not remember, but also many more memories that we wish we could return to. Memories with our old friends. Memories with our family. Memories with our neighbors, our coworkers, random people we meet. Realizing that you can have multiple favorite locations and that it is possible to keep in touch with many places is the primary message of the album, “Sam’s Town”.