Quiet Town

Lore & Background

The song's lyrics recount the deaths of Tiffany JaNae Taylor and Raymond Leo Newton, 17-year-old students at Juab High School in Nephi, Utah, killed in a grade crossing accident with a freight train in 1994. Frontman Brandon Flowers, who was in eighth grade at the time, said he was still affected by the accident 25 years later, noting he had seen one of the victims that morning and that they had a baby. The un-abridged version of the song opens with a Nephi resident stating that "every two or three years, the train kills somebody" and that "the train is a way to find your way out of this life if you get hit by it." The second verse references opioid usage in Nephi with lyrics like "when we first heard opioid stories, they were always in whispering tones." Flowers said that since leaving Nephi, opioids have left "their ugly mark on the town" and that more overdose deaths occurred in 2020 during the pandemic than any other year in recorded history.

The song was written by Flowers and producer Jonathan Rado, who also worked on the band's previous album Imploding the Mirage. It was first teased on August 2, 2021, via a 56-second video on the band's YouTube channel showing the band walking around Nephi with the song playing from a jukebox. The title was revealed in a tweet of the Pressure Machine track listing the same day. A second trailer appeared on August 9, and the song was released as a promotional single on August 13 alongside an animated music video.

A documentary titled "Notes from a Quiet Town" was released in March 2022, directed by Robert Machoian, featuring performances of "Cody" and "Quiet Town" in a Nephi backyard, as well as "Terrible Thing" performed by Flowers and Jake Blanton in the Juab High School gymnasium. The documentary included interviews with Nephi residents, many of whom were the voices heard on the un-abridged album.

Reader's Guide

"Quiet Town" holds significance as a deeply personal and socially conscious work from the Killers, addressing both a specific local tragedy and the broader opioid crisis. The song's restrained vocal performance and lyrical focus on real events marked a departure from the band's more anthemic style, earning critical praise for its emotional depth. The accompanying animated music video, set in Nephi, follows the lyrics by depicting the day of the teenagers' deaths, the opioid epidemic, and Flowers as a child in the town. The documentary "Notes from a Quiet Town" further contextualized the song by showing the band performing in Nephi and interviewing residents, reinforcing the album's theme of small-town life. The song charted on Billboard's Rock & Alternative Airplay and Adult Alternative Airplay charts, and was ranked second on Ticketmaster UK's 2023 list of the best Killers songs. Critics compared it to the work of John Mellencamp, with one describing it as "essentially a sadder version of Mellencamp's 'Jack and Diane.'" The track's legacy lies in its ability to blend personal memory with social commentary, offering a poignant snapshot of a community's grief and resilience.

Did You Know?

• The music video was animated by Neighborhoods Apart, a Nashville-based production studio founded by directors Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard.
• A 33-minute documentary titled 'Notes from a Quiet Town' was released in March 2022, featuring performances and interviews with Nephi residents.