The song is about a man at a nightclub who is unsuccessful in getting the attention of another person. The lyrics refer to rumours that can spoil your night ("never thought I'd let a rumour ruin my moonlight"). The rumour itself is rather ambiguous, and could mean anything from the addressee being homosexual to being straight with an effeminate boyfriend.

The song itself has a driving dance-oriented disco-influenced beat.

Lead singer Brandon Flowers refers to this song as "Our most Vegas-influenced song on the album. Sin city, The Strip. It's where I grew up and of course it affects the songs I write. This song has a lot of sexual energy."

When The Killers first started out, their music was little noticed by music-buyers and the media, which is why "Somebody Told Me" has been released twice in slightly different forms. The first, with the pink background cover, is the rarer version of the single as it was their first release of it; due to poor sales not as many were produced. When re-released, the cover-art sported a blue background colour and is the more common version of the single.