"Tranquilize" is a song by Las Vegas-based

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 ...

the Killers, featuring

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

. Written by Brandon Flowers, it is featured on the compilation album '' Sawdust''. The song was made available for download on iTunes from October 12, 2007. A limited edition etched 7-inch vinyl of "Tranquilize" was available from November 5, featuring a lyric from the song hand-picked by Brandon Flowers etched on one side. The song reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and also charted in Australia, Austria, and Canada. It won Best International Alternative/Indie Track at '' NME''s first ever USA awards. It was featured in a trailer for the fifth and final season of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's original series ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and ...

''.

Background

"It took a day to break the ice with him," Flowers said of Reed. "The second day of recording was a lot nicer than the first. On the first day we were all really stiff. It's funny, because you refer to him as 'Lou Reed', not 'Lou'. I remember somebody came into the studio. They could only stay in the room with him for two minutes. They left, saying, 'Lou Reed's really freaking me out.'"

Music video

The music video features

and was released on the 29 October 2007 in the UK. The video features Flowers wandering around an empty house. Somewhere in the house is Lou Reed, sitting at a piano. Flowers sings the song, including Reed's parts, making it look like he has been possessed. Intercut with this are shots of the rest of the band in a darkly lit, red room, around a table, apparently performing a seance. The video ends with Flowers finding and pointing at Reed, singing his outro.

Live performances

In concert, Flowers changes the lyrics at the end from "the Bushes and the bombs are tranquilized" to "the vampires and the bombs are tranquilized".

Awards and nominations

, - , rowspan="2", 2008 , rowspan="2", NME Awards , Best Indie/Alternative Track , , - , Best Video ,

Track listing

UK single-sided 7-inch vinyl # "Tranquilize"

Charts

References

New song featuring Lou Reed

External links

Watch "Tranquilize" on YouTube
{{Authority control 2000s Island Records singles 2007 singles 2007 songs The Killers songs Lou Reed songs Music videos directed by Anthony Mandler Political songs Protest songs Songs written by Brandon Flowers Vertigo Records singles