The Killers - Get Trashed

So, B-sides. They're a funny thing. Sometimes bands put their all into their B-sides. Using them as an opportunity to expand their musical horizons. I have to admit - Get Trashed definitely sounds unlike any other Killers song. I'll give it that. Expanding musical horizons is a double edged sword though. Get it right: it's brilliant, creative and can push an artist's career to new heights. Get it wrong: its a disaster and can leave listeners wishing they hadn't bothered. I have to admit, when it comes to Get Trashed, I definitely take the latter opinion. Well, I think it has some interesting ideas but ultimately it doesn't translate into a good song. Get Trashed served as the B-side to Hot Fuss single Smile Like You Mean It. I think that makes a bad song even worse. It's disappointing enough having a sub-par B-side but it gets emphasized moreso when it's the flip side of a really strong song. So, what's so bad about Get Trashed? For me its the arrangement. The song hasn't got much in the way of melody nor structure. And it's got a dark and sinister sort of tone. I couldn't even categorize into a genre if you paid me. It sounds, and feels, like a cheap experiment in the demo process. Like it's being made up as it goes along. I suppose that's fair enough if this was the band's intention whilst writing the track. If so though, whilst they would have fulfilled their intentions entirely - it makes for a song that's very hard to listen to. I could count on one hand the amount of times I've been able to listen to this in its entirety. Try as I might (and believe me I have); I just can't listen to it. There's too little in the way of structure for me. The one positive thing I can say about the song though is that the arrangement seems to musically embody the lyrics. They do signify the lyrics very well. Basically, the song is about someone who's lover is gone. I'd say not because of death because the narrator says they're jealous.Moreover, they're broken because of this. It's similar, thematically speaking, to Mr Brightside except the narrator in this song is in a far worse place. The only way the narrator can make their pain go away is if they "get trashed tonight". Mr Brightside has a slight glimmer of optimism in its lyrics, in Get Trashed I'm left with the distinct impression that the only conclusion to the story told in the lyrics is a dark one. Personally, I feel the arrangement of Get Trashed is musically symbolic of the hazy, messy state of the mind-set of the narrator. I have to admit - I like that. I just wish that the end result was easier to listen to. As it stands, Get Trashed is one of the most unpopular Killers songs as far as I'm aware. Interesting in theory, but the end result was a letdown.