The Killers’ “Terrible Thing” Lyrics Meaning

The Killers’ “Terrible Thing” most pointedly centers on a subject who is an outcast in his community. And as alluded to another Pressure Machine song entitled “West Hills“, being so is a particular cross to bear when such an individual is placed in a small-town community, as this album is set.

So while everyone else is out and about doing their communal thing, this character, as portrayed by the vocalist, is “in (his) bedroom on the verge of a terrible thing”. That statement reads as if he’s contemplating harming himself. His present predicament would be the direct result of the stress of his outcast status. 

So it can be put forth that on top of not fitting in, the narrator is also bullied or is dealing with experiences where his state of being has also resulted in the development of low self-esteem.

Also, it really doesn’t take much imagination to figure out, especially when taking the first verse into consideration, that what it is that’s probably making the vocalist’s life so is the fact that he’s gay. And verily, Brandon Flowers has confirmed that this song is largely about a classmate from his youth who was in fact gay but, due to the machismo culture of the ‘hood, kept it in the whole time. 

And by extension he is relating it to others who grew up in a similar manner, i.e. keeping their homosexuality hidden, with The Killers imagining how hard concealing their true selves must have been.

In Conclusion

So conclusively, we can say that the main sentiment behind this song centers on the band empathizing with homosexual youth. And more comprehensively, they are speaking to the plight of those who are such outcasts in their cultures they were borne into that they may even be driven to thoughts of suicide.

Facts about “Terrible Thing”

It has been noted that “Pressure Machine” is an album which has been “heavily influenced by Bruce Springsteen”, i.e. the 20^th century music icon’s artistry. This song in particular is one in which Flowers sort of admitted to that influence.

Flowers wrote “Terrible Thing”, describing it as the “most austere… most stripped-down song (the Killers have) ever done”.

The release date of this track was the same as that of “Pressure Machine”, i.e. the album it is featured on, on 13 August 2021. And both are products of Island Records.

The Killers and “Pressure Machine”

To date The Killers have released six studio albums besides “Pressure Machine”. The fifth of those, “Wonderful Wonderful” (2017), was a Billboard 200 list topper. However, the band’s most commercially-successful project remains their debut album, “Hot Fuss”, which has sold in the region of 7,000,000 copies internationally.

And to note all seven of “The Killers” studio albums, including “Pressure Machine”, have reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

To note, “Pressure Machine” is an album which is by and large based on Flowers’, i.e. The Killers’ lead singer/songwriter, childhood. And most notably, he grew up in a small-town, Mormon-dominated part of Utah known as Nephi.

Other notable songs from the “Pressure Machine” album include the likes of:

1. The Getting By 
2. Pressure Machine 
3. Desperate Things 
4. In Another Life 
5. Runaway Horses 
6. Sleepwalker 
7. Cody 
8. Quiet Town