"Spaceman" is a song by

the Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

. The song was released as the second single from the band's third studio album ''

Day & Age ''Day & Age'' is the third studio album by American rock band the Killers. It was released on November 18, 2008, by Island Records. Frontman and lead vocalist Brandon Flowers described it as the band's "most playful record". , ''Day & Age'' had ...

'' on November 4, 2008, as a digital download on iTunes, and as 7" and promo CD in the US, Canada and UK. It has been released to radio in Australia and has gone into regular rotation on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. This song was number 17 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. The song has been used regularly as the opening song during the band's tour.

Live performances

The group began performing the song at shows during their summer 2008 tour and played it as part of a two-song set on the October 4, 2008, episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''. They also performed the song on November 4, 2008, on BBC2's '' Later... with Jools Holland''.

Popular culture

The song was featured in the ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'' episode "The No-Brainer", as well as on the trailer of the animated film ''

Planet 51 ''Planet 51'' is a 2009 computer-animated science fiction comedy film directed by Jorge Blanco and co-directed by Javier Abad and Marcos Martínez, from a script by Joe Stillman, based on an original idea by Javier Abad, Jorge Blanco, Marcos ...

'' starring

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

. The song was also released as a downloadable track for the

music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

series ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

'' on November 25, 2008.

Radio performance

In the Los Angeles market, "Spaceman" was a big radio hit, with radio-airplay longevity into 2010. On

KYSR KYSR (98.7 FM) is a commercial alternative radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., KYSR is the flagship station of syndicated morning drive program ''The Woody Show''. T ...

98.7 FM, it was their #1 most-played song in June 2010, while

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

106.7 FM added the song back into regular rotation in May 2010 due to its regional popularity.

Music video

The music video was directed by American director

Ray Tintori Ray Tintori is an American director, screenwriter and founding member of Court 13, the filmmaking collective behind ''Beasts of the Southern Wild''. He has directed three short films, as well as several music videos for bands, such as MGMT, Chairlif ...

, and shows

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. In addition to his w ...

walking around a party in progress, happening on a unique tiered structure adorned with long white vertical lights. Many humanoid creatures (all dressed up in very colourful, carnival-like costumes) are dancing, occasionally as a group, but usually individually. The other three band members can also be seen at the party throughout the video. As more of the structure is revealed, it can be seen that it is in the middle of a wide open space, surrounded by the camera crew filming the video.

Track list

Promo CD #"Spaceman" (radio edit) – 4:13 #"Spaceman" (album version) – 4:44 UK 7" Picture Disc #"Spaceman" – 4:44 #"Tidal Wave" – 4:14 Limited Edition 12" Picture Disc #"Spaceman" – 4:44 #" Four Winds" (

Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander Venu ...

) – 3:56 German CD/German iTunes EP #"Spaceman" - 4:44 #" Four Winds" (

) - 3:56 #"Tidal Wave" - 4:14 Promo Remix CD #"Spaceman" (Bimbo Jones vocal mix) – 8:04 #"Spaceman" (Bimbo Jones dub) – 8:03 #"Spaceman" (Bimbo Jones radio edit) – 4:33 Promo Remix CD 2 #"Spaceman" (Bimbo Jones Radio Mix) – 04:33 #"Spaceman" (Bimbo Jones Vocal Mix) – 08:05 #"Spaceman" (Lee Dagger Club Mix) – 09:03 #"Spaceman" (Max Jackson Dub) – 06:26 #"Spaceman" (

Sander van Doorn Sander Ketelaars (; born 28 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sander van Doorn () or the initials SvD, is a Dutch electro house DJ and record producer from Eindhoven. Background Sander van Doorn began his recording career in 200 ...

Remix Part 1) – 06:38 #"Spacemen" (

Remix Part 2) – 07:39 #"Spaceman" (

Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was ...

Remix) - 7:07

Chart performance

"Spaceman" debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 67 on November 22, 2008. The song fell off the chart the following week. On Sunday 16 February 2009, "Spaceman" finally broke into the UK Top 40 at number 40.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Music video at youtube.com
{{Authority control The Killers songs 2008 singles Songs written by Brandon Flowers Songs written by Dave Keuning Songs written by Ronnie Vannucci Jr. Songs written by Mark Stoermer Song recordings produced by Stuart Price 2008 songs Island Records singles