SONG #33: The Killers - Human

Inducted on January 14, 2015

I'm not sure if I could have predicted this entry based on my first exposure to The Killers. "Somebody Told Me" was a quirky song that in my mind almost felt like a "novelty" song in the mode of "Monster Mash" and "Disco Duck" (remember that one?). But it was a catchy enough song for me to buy on Napster (after Napster went legit). It was on an .mp3 album I had put together with some other alternative bands at the time like Modest Mouse and Hot Hot Heat. This was before Spotify, and I didn't really make the effort to listen to the rest of The Killers' songs off their debut Hot Fuss album. However, from "Somebody Told Me", the seeds were there for me to like The Killers' music... I just hadn't realized it yet.

Flash Forward to February 6, 2016, and I will tell you that I consider Brandon Flowers (The Killers' lead singer) among the top 10 songwriters of all time. I can't tell you exactly how the switch came about, but I'd say it was with their "Day & Age" album in 2008, and this song in particular. I know now that some fans didn't particularly like the dance beat and the sound change on this album, but I think it really shows Flower's willingness to try new things and explore all musical aspects of his band. It's that dance riff/beat that drew me in at the very first bars of this song. That led to a very melodic verse/chorus pairing that I still can't get enough of despite listening to it 100+ times. I almost find the verses catchier than the chorus, but that's saying a lot because I'm a huge fan of the chorus:

"Are we human, or are we dancer
My sign is vital, my hands are cold
And I'm on my knees looking for the answer
Are we human, or are we dancer"? 

Apparently a website or two nominated this for the most puzzling lyrics in a song, but I think Flowers

made it perfectly clear when he said he was inspired by something that Hunter Thompson said about this being a generation of dancers. Still though, a lot of lyrics sites still confuse this chorus to this day.

I find it to be a haunting lyric about searching that is cousins to a song like U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".

Elements I Like: 

The bass "riff", the synth parts, the particular dance beat, and this particular verse...

"Pay my respects to grace and virtue, send my condolences to good
Give my regards to soul and romance, they always did the best they could
And so long to devotion you taught me everything I know
Wave good bye, wish me well, you gotta let me go"

There aren't any particular memories that "Human" stirs up other than the fact that this was a song I listened to quite a bit with a friend who who shared the same love for the Killers that I did. Good times.