Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Human, The Killers - Denser or Dancer?



Top Track at elbo.
Human, by The Killers
Not a huge favorite, but deserves some time on my mp3 player, and it's growing on me.

From wiki, Is it Dancer or Denser?
There has been much confusion and debate over a lyric in the chorus of the song. This is regarding whether or not Brandon Flowers is saying "denser" or "dancer", when posing the question "Are we human or are we denser/dancer?"

Some have said that the lyrics do make sense because "dancer" might be appealing to the "marionette" sense of the word, in which case the song is asking whether we are human and make our own independent decisions or whether we just dance in a show made by, and perhaps even made for, someone else.

On Amazon, the editorial review for the album states the song says "Are we human, or are we dancer?" and also says that Flowers said the lyrics were inspired by a disparaging comment made by Hunter S. Thompson about how America was raising a generation of dancers.[4]

(NOTE: Now Wiki says nothing about marionette, and lists IslandRecords link for the Thompson reference.

Comments from popwatch:
" 'Dancer' is poetic and I believe it refers to a lack of truth, substance, emotional depth."

"dancer is singular because it's a play on words...the word dancer describes us much better as a species than the word human. "

I googled for idioms that might be similar in meaning.

Came up with:
"Dance to someone's tune" and "song and dance."
Also "pulling the strings."

LINKS:
To find the song at youtube, Google it.
songmeaning
songfacts

What else do I have of The Killers?
Mr. Brightside
Somebody Told Me

2 comments:

elena said...

Hi Marilyn! I found your site when researching this topic, and really appreciate everything you've pulled together here. I mention you, too, in my blog, so come on over and take a look!

http://elenabella.blogspot.com

Marilyn said...

Hello, Elena.
Thanks for the comment.
I will visit your blog.
Marilyn