West Hills by The Killers Song Info
"West Hills" is the opening track of the seventh studio album, Pressure Machine, released by The Killers. Brandon Flowers was brought up in the rural Utah town of Nephi. Not all the town's population follow the straight-laced Mormon lifestyle, and this song finds Flowers singing from the perspective of one of these non-religious folks. The man Flowers sings of doesn't fit the mold of most of the people who live in the religious small town. The dude sarcastically talks of feeling "free in the West Hills" when in reality he and his partner are hooked on "hillbilly heroin pills." The guy gets arrested and receives a 15-year sentence for possession of enough drugs "to kill the horses that run free." Flowers told Apple Music that although he "took some liberties," he based the song on a true story. The Killers frontman wrote the track about a subculture he came across in Utah of people who don't adhere to religion. "There's this whole thing of dirt bikes and four-wheelers and beer," he explained, "and finding different ways to find your salvation, other than in a church pew on Sunday." The topic of drugs also crops up on the Pressure Machine track "Quiet Town". Flowers reflects there on the ugly mark opioids have left on Nelphi.
