Meaning Behind a Favorite Song, The Killers' Read My Mind

I seem to recall, in an early spot of my childhood in Lorain, Ohio, I acquired a lot from my own personal experiences. Numerous occasions being the constant gang wars within and all the hate and anger towards my family. I also adapted a secure personality, not revealing much to those who don't attempt to get to know me. I already figure that by the fact that people grow weirded out of my bizarre habits and peculiar ways of talking. For example, when I see a stoplight and it's multiple glowing colors, I cannot help but think of fruit at that time. So, when it goes to "Apple", "Banana", and finally "Lime", I shout to the driver to accelerate immediately by saying, "It's LIME! GO!"

But, I digress. I always indeed find myself separate from a lot of people, just because I think so differently than them. Now, I live in Iowa. Pella, Iowa, to be exact. Ironically, the bass guitarist to the band of my favorite song was born here. His name? Dave Keuning. A friend of mine's dad taught the guy how to play the guitar, too. And the band? The Killers, recently a mainstream band with rock-hard tunes and many influences from previous bands. Now, the song? "Read My Mind".

Now, before getting into it's meaning for me, I just thought I'd let you in as to how the band feels about the song. Apparently, it is their favorite of their own songs, something that I can totally understand. The music itself is relaxing, making one think of a nice laying-by on top of a hammock in the cool and cold breeze, rustling through the branches underneath and causing light leaves to drop along your face. In fact, that is the perfect example of how the music makes me feel all the time.

This song has a lot of great parts in it's lyrics to show what my personal life has been like, so maybe it were best if I actually showed you bits and pieces of the lyrics before I actually began through my lecture. And I shall:

"On the corner of main street
Just tryin' to keep it in line
You say you wanna move on and
You say I'm falling behind"

When I would be walking during my middle school years in Ohio, It was because my mother always worked late night shifts at Wal-Mart, being unable to get there in time to take me to my classes. So, I had to go alone, afraid of every single thing outside, having to quietly talk to myself to keep myself in focus. However, every week or so, I had to go past the aftermath of a boner or a crime or even a gang's warfare. Blood being still on the sidewalk and everything, all of the guns marked down with chalk, just all gruesome stuff that no little 10-13 year old would want to see. I had to hold myself back from not crying because I couldn't, and still can't, understand why all this pain and suffering happens here. Because of these disturbances and disruptions, I began to fail in school, losing my grades. I wasn't happy at all, really trying to cope with everything. But, suddenly, my father had gotten an invitation from a friend of his to move to Iowa for a new job and a better school. When I heard this, I knew immediately that I wanted to go here. To move on and start with a clean slate. I started to feel slightly better.

"I never really gave up on
Breakin' out of this two-star town
I got the green light
I got a little fight
I'm gonna turn this thing around"

After thinking further about moving away, as well as the fact that I had previously been given the worst possible beat-up by a bully, my thoughts centered on getting out of the horrible place called Lorain. The grime and twisted wreckage all over the place didn't make me feel safe one bit. Not to mention, because my father offered for me to go there first to see how the city is, I knew this was my chance for a new beginning. To kick my grades up more.

"Oh well I don't mind, if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go, can you read my mind?"

As for the actual chorus, I'm one of the most laid-back people you will meet, especially if there is a difference of opinions between us. If I'm Jewish and you're a Neo-Nazi? "HI!" But, because of my laying-back a lot of the time, people don't get to know the real me. It tends to be my friends are the ones who figure me out without having to ask me. I never really had many friends, actually, because nobody tried to 'read my mind'. Honestly, who would want to read the mind of a person who thinks that it'd be better if religion were replaced with an organized group of people who pray to some omnipotent being? (Note: They're the same thing.)

"The teenage queen, the loaded gun;
The drop dead dream, the Chosen One
A southern drawl, a world unseen;
A city wall and a trampoline"

As much as these may not be chronological events within my life, I find that they are essential to put into this analysis. Teenage queen....Ah, there was this girl I once had a big crush on. Her name was Casey and, admittedly, she had a large size of assets, in the cleanest sense of the phrase. Though, because of my own worries that she wouldn't like me for being me, I caused her to get freaked out by me. One of those things I have major regrets about, though it has slightly decreased over time. But, soon after noticing that she didn't like me in that way, as well as narrow-minded people badgering me about myself and my personality and constant claims that I was a homosexual, my mind wanted to just be done with my life. I dreamed of death, of killing myself in multiple ways including guns, knives, fear, and the like. Though, it wasn't until I met a friend named Mike that I got over my suicidal tendencies. You see, Mike practices parkour, or the art of movement. Basically, he runs and gets over obstacles in the easiest possible situations. For example, climbing up a wall can involve running up a wall. I participate when I can, like that time I climbed this one city wall and ended up on a rooftop of a building as I hid there for a short while. Nowadays, though, we go to a community center where they have a lot of space for gym equipment. One specific piece of equipment can be a trampoline, which helps you with your own personal balance on top of objects. Ever since I started into parkour, I have been a-ok.

To sum up, "Read My Mind" by The Killers is one of my favorite songs because it represents me. My personal life. My life as it has gone so far. Not to mention, it actually made me like The Killers. Next to another favorite song of mine, at least. Ha, can you read my mind?