Ok, so the catchy song by The Killers, ‘Human’ from their third studio album, Day and Age, seems to have stirred up a bit of a debate. Not just about how it compares to the bands other hit singles but about those rather ambiguous lyrics. After Mr Brightside and Somebody told me were played to death I failed to pay much attention to what else the much loved indie band produced until now. Having heard the song a few times and got the lyrics- Are we human are we dancers?- stuck in my head I was surprised when someone corrected me. Apparently the lyric is denser not dancers. Convincing myself that yes indeed this did make more sense in the context of the preceding lyrics I was satisfied. Until I heard the song again. Denser? Dancer? Dancers certainly sounds better-more poetic if you will. Nevermind- i’m sure I’ll get over it.
Confused too? Check out the video for Human here. Or drop by DesignTavern for a design based review of The Killers’ live performance of the song.
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It’s ‘Dancer’ not ‘Dancers’ or ‘Denser’ and its definitely not ‘Danza’ (as in Tony Danza). Brandon Flowers has said this many times in interviews…
“The words in the song’s chorus – “Are we human?/ Or are we dancer?” – have left critics and fans bemused since the song debuted last month.
While some have argued that Flowers lyrics aren’t grammatically correct, others have claimed that he actually sings “denser” instead of “dancer”.
Although Flowers has already confirmed that he sings “dancer”, he told the Daily Star he was upset by the confusion the song has caused.
“That sucks a bit. I don’t like, ‘Are we denser?’ as an alternative,” he said. “I really care what people think but people don’t seem to understand Human.
“They think it’s nonsense. But I was aching over those lyrics for a very long time to get them right.”
In an interview with MTV last month, Flowers said the lyrics was taken from the Hunter S. Thompson quote – ‘We’re raising a generation of dancers’. ”
(taken from http://www.gigwise.com/news/47627/Killers-Brandon-Flowers-Frustrated-By-Fans-Reaction-To-Human-Lyrics)
oh and just a helpful tip, all words in songs titles should start with a capital letter ‘Somebody Told Me’.
Killers may cause a fuss, but its nothing compared to Dylan Cross.