It was released as the second official single from the group's debut studio album Hot Fuss (2004), and was written by band members Brandon Flowers, Mark Stoermer, Dave Keuning and Ronnie Vannucci Jr.

'"[10] Entertainment Weekly hailed the single as "three smashingly punchy minutes of garage pop so tightly wound that singer Brandon Flowers seems to be accusing his girl of cheating on him with another woman.

"[11] Rolling Stone said the single was a "nightclub anthem in the making" and continued, "the acid-tongued 'Somebody Told Me' blasts into outer space on a wave of synthesizers and singer Brandon Flowers' cheeky chorus.

"[12] Michael Paoletta of Billboard praised the remixes done by, respectively, Josh Harris and King Unique for "maintaining the original song's integrity" but recommended readers to buy the album, Hot Fuss, rather than the single.

It shows the Killers performing their song in the moonlight of a desert location, with a giant LED screen displaying scrolling characters and flashing images of their logo, as well as an alternate version of the video shot during the day.

The band performed the song during an appearance on an episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Topher Grace in 2005.