“Desperate Things” is the ninth track from The Killers' seventh studio album, Pressure Machine. The song tells a fictionalized tale of a cop who falls in love with a domestic-abuse victim, and winds up murdering her husband. In an interview for The Rolling Stone Magazine, Brandon Flowers stated:
I...
[Verse 1]
She was doing sixty in a thirty-five
I hit the lights and pulled her over
When I reached the window of the driver side
There was blood from her mouth, dry on her shoulder
I've never had much patience for guys that hit
For more than just obvious reasons
I asked if she wanted me to take him in
She laughed it off like lemonade
[Chorus]
When you're in love, you can be blinded by your own heart
You'll bend your own truth, so twisted up, you could justify sin
And when people in love are desperate enough to abandon their dreams
People do desperate things
[Verse 2]
I've been taking lunch breaks at her work
When the restaurant ain't too crowded
She knows me and my wife got a little girl
We don't talk too much about it
The other night, she met me way out west
Things went further than they should have
But when she undid the buttons of her dress
I didn't stop her, but I could have
[Chorus]
When you're in love, you can be blinded by your own heart
You'll bend your own truth, so twisted up, you could justify sin
And when people in love are desperate enough to abandon their dreams
People do desperate things
[Verse 3]
I know where he drinks most every night
It's our local hero sports bar
I've got him cuffed and sweating cold
In the back of my patrol car
You forget how dark the canyon gets
It's a real uneasy feeling
I've never had much patience for guys who hit
For more than just obvious reasons
[Chorus]
When you're in love, you can be blinded by your own heart
You'll bend your own truth, so twisted up, you could justify sin
And when people in love are desperate enough to abandon their dreams
People do desperate things
Desperate Things was written by Jonathan Rado & Brandon Flowers.
Desperate Things was produced by Jonathan Rado & Shawn Everett.
The Killers released Desperate Things on Fri Aug 13 2021.
This was a little scandal that took place [in Nephi] that I took some liberties with in the third verse, where I take it off the rails. I like telling stories, and there’s people like Nick Cave and Johnny Cash and people that are great storytellers who are really influential to me. You don’t get a l...