How Brandon Flowers made peace with his younger self in The Man

14 June 2022, 19:42 | Updated: 20 June 2023, 15:39

The Killers - The Man

By Jenny Mensah

"I put a lot of negativity out there", admits the Killers frontman.

The Killers released their single The Man on 14 June 2017 and it was the lead single from their fifth studio album Wonderful, Wonderful.

The track marked the Las Vegas band's official comeback since 2012's Battle Born, so Brandon Flowers and co didn't pull any punches.

The song is unmistakeable, with Flowers playing the proud male peacock, but who and what is it inspired by?

READ MORE: The full story behind The Killers' Murder Trilogy

The Killers' artwork for The Man single
The Killers' artwork for The Man single. Picture: Press

Who is The Killers' The Man inspired by?

The artwork might feature Brandon Flowers' son Henry on the artwork, but the song was inspired by the frontman himself and his somewhat arrogant attitude in the band's early years. The most famous example of this was when Flowers laid into the US band The Bravery, who he claimed were Killers copyists, adding "I've heard that the keyboard parts are all pre-programmed, and that singer can't reach the high notes."

Brandon Flowers of The Killers in June 2004 and February 2019
Brandon Flowers of The Killers in June 2004 and February 2019. Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage/Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Flowers told Radio X in 2017: "When we first started I definitely thought that I was God's gift. That pretty much eroded away really quickly."

Asked if he still felt that way now, he replied: "No, but it was nice to go back and inhabit that person, and I had to do that to really figure out why I am who I am now".

Who is the mysterious character on the cover of the new Killers The Man single?

He elaborated on the theme to the NME: "Around about the time that The Killers started I guess... that's where The Man harkens back to, and years after as well."

He added: "I think a good chunk of [the new] album is making peace with that. I've been cleaning it up for a long time. I don't think that was really a great representation, an honest representation of who I am.

"It came from a place of insecurity and I would just puff my chest out and say things and put a lot of negativity out there. I basically came to regret that and I'm sure a lot of people can identify with that."

00s Live Playlists

Radio X 00s

More on The Killers

Mr. Brightside - Why The Killers' saddest song

Mr Brightside at 20: Inside The Killers' saddest song

The Killers in 2006: Brandon Flowers, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci Jr and Dave Keuning

Why is The Killers' second album called Sam's Town?

The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers was influenced by author Hunter S. Thompson.

Why is THAT line in The Killers' Human so controversial?

Brandon Flowers of The Killers and Sam Endicott of The Bravery

Why Brandon Flowers "trash-talked" The Bravery