I agree with the death and euthanasia connotations.

"Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind"

Sounds like a guy who's going to die, but is ready to go.

"my sign is vital, my hands are cold"
still alive, but just barely. Right before my grandpa died, his hands were very cold.

and the whole "will your system be alright" verse
I think it means the narrator's loved ones go home feeling very sad about the loss of their loved one. they've both lost their "heartbeats"

in addition, saying goodbye to all his virtues and qualities, seeing as he's dying.

all in all, I love this song. Very sad, yet very beautiful.

I wonder if the lyrics mean dancer as in a state of mind. instead of saying 'are we humans' it says human. it could just as easily be dancers instead of dancer.

Are we humans or are we dancers
Are we human or are we dancer

for right now i cant think of what it means by dancer but i can relate to the state of mind. i've listened to it a lot and i cant hear an 's' at the end of dancer and i know it doesn't sound like denser. If it does say denser than i would take i as ' are we human or do we have more to us than that?'

It is definately "dancers". Not only does it not sound like "denser" and the fact that "denser" doesn't make sense in the context of the song, but "denser" just sounds awkward, as most people believe it needs to be "more dense".

I'm actually interested with the above post. If it is "dancer" isntead of "dancers". It seems to me to make more sense that he would be saying "dancer" instead of the plural, because "human" is in the singular. So asking "are we human, or are we dancer?" makes more sense. This is a very interesting question, because to me "human" represents an individualistic thing, whereas "dancer" represents something part of a group, or a bigger whole. For example, what is a dancer without music, or a beat, or a dance TO dance, or even other dancers? However, a human can be a human without anything else. So essentially, to me, he's asking "Are we individuals, or do we sink into the crowd?"

The "cut the cord" line is interesting too. It makes me think of an umbilical cord, really. When that cord is cut, you are forever on your own. You're no longer attached to your mother. Symbolically, you become an individual for the first time. However, whether or not people continue to be individualistic or not, or fade into the rest of the "dancers", is yet to be determined.

I think what they mean by "dancers" is not a puppet, and is not looked at in the way of exact, mechanical movement, but really is thinking of the pure emotional movement of dancing. How that movement can mean so much. Being "human" can be cold. So many people go through the motions of their life, live in a constant routine, almost like we are on one giant conveyor belt. And by "cut the cord" I think its not only saying out were tied down to the ways of our lives but also, when youre born, your life and your journey has started. Your not just a human, which in a way, is just another species of animal, youre a person. I think they mean "dancer" in a more magical way. Being a "dancer" is having a more romantic and soulful existence than being "human".

it's DANCER.
they say it on their official page.
http://www6.islandrecords.com/site/artist_bio.php?artist_id=547

i think that "human" is referring to the continuous, fast-paced life that is so common now. how humans dont stop and enjoy anything, we just keep going to onto the next thing. we dont REALLY live, we just fumble through the actions of life. i think brandons questioning if this disconnected way of life is truly where humanity is. while "dancer" refers to the core base of humanity. our emotions. our irrationality. our passion. and its all so beautifully fit into "dancer".

not only is he questioning humanity as a whole, but also himself. hes wondering where he stands in this. "My sign is vital, my hands are cold" in this line i think hes saying that yes, he's a human, he has a heartbeat. BUT he counters it with my hands are cold. yes, his hands function, but he doesnt have the warmth in his hands, and they cant FEEL the way a dancer's hands do. showing that just because his heart is beating doesnt mean he's ALIVE.

i think he essentially chooses to go for dancer. hes telling himself to cut the cord, just clear out all the impossible rules of humanity, and go for dancer. the feelings. he says goodbye to grace and virtue and good. all ethical human aspects. he's giving them up so he can experience true passionate life.

Its denser, dancer would make no sense

Its denser, dancer would make no sense

Are we really alive – or are we just flopping around meaninglessly?
“I did my best to notice when the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender I was brought but I was kind”

Read: This is a drug reference, I was surrendering to the lure of drugs.

“And sometimes I get nervous when I see an open door” = paranoia

“Close your eyes, clear your hear, Cut the cord” = just suck it up and inject it and cut the cord to real-life -- I want to be high.

“Are we Human, or are we dancer?” = are we real humans when taking serious drugs – or just zombie-like lifeless souls flopping around meaninglessly under the influence?

“My sign is vital, my hands are cold”
= I am not alive now, I have cut the cord to being a real emotion-filled human

“And I’m on my knees looking for the answer. Are we human or are we dancer

Say good-bye to ‘good’ ‘grace’ ‘virtue’ ‘soul’ and ‘romance’ – cause when I’m on drugs, I’m just like a zombie (dancer) without any of these emotions.

I jiist loved this song the first time I heard it on the radio. It is really catchy and upbeat, but when i listen to the lyrics I feel that the killers are portraying a very depressing image of humanity and what we believe in.

This might be somewhat farfetched, but i get the impression that all the things that are said goodbye to in this song are things that the killers believe is fake. Devotion, grace, virtue, good, soul and romance are just abstract human creations that arent real. We are all dancing after the tune of these things, but are they really anything more than imagination? How can we know that we are anything more than animals, biological systems and chemistry? Maybe if we cut the cord to all our abstract perceptions we'll be free and be true humans? Or at least we'll see what humans really are without any belief in anything more that what we can see and feel.

Its gotta be denser

its denser

Okay, I have a burning fascination for language, etymology, and historical accuracy. Let me parse these "dancer", "dancers", "denser" words.

First, if Flowers is specifically referring to a comment by Hunter S. Thompson's disparaging remark about America raising a generation of dancers, then I am afraid "denser" MUST be thrown out the door. A postmodern literary critic will tell you that you can interpret whatever brings you a sense of meaning, and if you prefer to interpret "denser" then by all means do so. But there is no basis on which you can claim that interpretation is "correct" in any larger sense IF THE SONGWRITER ACTUALLY SAID OTHERWISE! Can we put that to rest?? Whatever it actually, really, really is, it is NOT, CANNOT BE "denser" because Hunter S. Thompson wasn't referring to America raising a generation of "densers". You can make up whatever kind of story you want to about why he could have said that, but let's face it, you'd be stretching yourself too far. Occam's razor necessitates a meaning of "dance", not "dense", in this context.

NOW... The really interesting part begins. If we set aside all discussion of "denser" (which, if the songwriter HAD meant it, could have been very, very interesting in its own right, but he didn't and apparently he actually said so, so PLEASE let's moveon.org) we have the issue of "dancer" vs. "dancers."

This is the crux, and it is a linguistic curlicue. Songwriters are usually very careful in their choice of words because unlike prose writers, songwriters are constrained by concision, and more by concision than by consistency or accuracy. The only word we have in the song that we can compare phonetically with "dancer/s" is the corresponding word "answer." Unfortunately, a final "s" in English is frequently an easy sound both to drop or to add at the end of a sentence without being particularly noticed. When I heard this song, I heard "answerS", not "answer"! And that rhymed perfectly with "dancerS", and everything made nice sense.

Counterargument: he's only asking one question, how can he be looking for more than one answer? The question is an either/ or kind of question as it is phrased, so this argues for "answer", singular. But the question being asked is more complex than that (though here Occam's razor starts to work against me): multiple pieces of information might be necessary before the "answer" can be given, and especially if you are on your knees looking for them (the pieces must be difficult to find if you have to get down on your knees to look). Each piece can be considered an answer, and therefore "answers" becomes a plausible alternative to "answer", making "dancers" more likely than "dancer."

But more than this, the question, "Are we human or are we dancer?" is linguistically poor. "Human" in this sense is an adjective; "dancer" is a noun. If we allow that the songwriter isn't trying to be too too clever, such a pairing is awkward. "Are we humans" matches well with "are we dancers", but no one here is arguing or believes that he is singing "humans". If we allow that he is singing "human," and that he means "human" as an adjective, "dancer" becomes untenable NOT because it is a noun but because it cannot be USED as an adjective! (At least, not in normal speech: "Well, captain, we found one: it seems to be mostly human but this part is clearly dancer"). This becomes nonsensical. BUT you can, with all linguistic validity, ask the question, "Are we human or are we descendants from an alien life form?" Note that "human" is an adjective" and "descendants" is a plural noun and the sentence works just fine this way. It works much better, sounds much more coherent, and, taking Occam's razor back into my hands, is "simpler" to hear the words as "Are we human or are we dancers?" In English we do not use the word "dancer" as an adjective, we use it as a noun; but we can be "human" as well as "a human". "Human" as adjective implies all of the qualities of "humanity" (and "inhumanity"); being "a human" simply distinguishes us from baboons and gibbons and says nothing about our sense of compassion, goodness, dignity, grace, etc.

And now for the curlicue: the question poses the two concepts, "human" and "dancers", as opposites, as something of which "we" (people) are either one or the other. THAT is the trick! We are all human, and we are all dancers! Asking the question should make you think that the choice means we are both, and that dancing is human! This is why this song is so wonderful! I am human! I am a dancer! We are human! We are dancers!

I hope that lengthy argument hasn't worn anyone out. But I felt the point worth the effort. BTW: the earlier interpretation about drug use must come from the mind of a drug user. There's nothing in this song about drugs. If you look hard enough, you can see drug use in "Swing low, sweet chariot". But it ain't there. Go get another hobby and stop viewing all music as being about the magic of drugs. Some music is, yes; this music is not, and you are a fool for trying to make it so.

I take back everything except the part about the drug use. It's just "dancer". Damn. I hate being wrong!

WOW.

"Are we human, or are we dancer?" is a refrence to the work of Hunter S. Thompson.

I think this song has do with a religious upbringing about which he now has doubts/questions and what will happen after death.

"Are we human or are we dancers?" - are we humans or puppets of God?

"Pay my respects to grace and virtue
Send my condolences to good
Hear my regards to soul and romance
They always did the best they could"

- He agrees with the values of the religion - grace, respect, soul etc. but "And I'm on my knees looking for the answer" he's not sure of the overall picture. "On my knees" being an analogy for prayer.

"And so long to devotion
It taught me everything I know" He's turning his back on the literal [biblical?] beliefs (devotion) that he's been raised on.

"Wave goodbye, wish me well
You've gotta let me go"
- He's urging his community to respect his own beliefs and let him go on to do his own thing even if it goes against their teachings. Potentially his parents/family?

"You've gotta let me know" - awaiting proof/ a message from God.

"I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind"

This verse could be talking about baptisim/initiation. He was "bought" i.e. not his choice, but he "was kind" i.e. didn't speak out against what he was being inducted into despite his questions/doubts/suspicions.

The only verse that really confuses me with this interpretation though is:

Will your system be alright
When you dream of home tonight
There is no message we're receiving
Let me know, is your heart still beating?

Maybe he's been cut-off for rejecting his upbringing and wants to know he's still loved at home despite this?


I don't know anything about Brandon Flowers' upbringing, assuming he wrote these lyrics, so can't know if I'm really onto anything. But I do wonder if these lyrics are connected to:

"I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier" from All These Things That I've Done. I.e. He's got some beliefs, but he's not a soldier of the religion.

Quick correction to "dancin short" above: NO, Hunter S. Thompson DID NOT ask, "Are we human or are we dancer?". I guess I was unclear: Mr. Thompson made a critical REMARK at some point about America raising a generation of "dancers." The Killers are the ones using the remark and putting the IDEA of it in a song lyric. Please don't misquote me misquoting a literary giant... It makes me feel a little ill and as though I was not careful enough.

i think its about giving all you have in life and wondering what comes out of it amazing song

It's fixed. The lyric is definitely "dancer," not denser. But I changed it from dancers. So stop commenting about it XD

My guess is;
this song is about living life like a clumsy human does or transcending that and living life like a dancer.

Dancing is co-ordinated/choregraphed movement - movement with purpose, movement instigated by the cues found within music i.e. beat, timing, repetition, etc.

Imagine if all the movements you made from getting out of bed in the morning to going back to bed at night were smooth, rythmical, like clock-work or even musical - you're day would become a dance and hence you'd be like a dancer.

Most humans don't see the patterns/rhythms in life so we forgive people who are clumsy, innapropriate, repulsive and say things like "we're only human".

This is a shit explanation and I'm getting hungry but suppose there was a song that went for an entire day, imagine this song matched whatever task it was you were trying carrying out at any particular time of the day - think the start of flloyds money and think of a banker sitting there piling up his money all day in time with the music - the music helps to transcend the mundane task and the task becomes more like a dance - the task is still being completed but its more harmonius with the universe/spiritually uplifting.

The cut the cord reference is a call for people to stop living off what your elders fed you at the "platform of surrender" and see for yourself that this all could be one big dance if we wanted it to, if we changed the current "system" that is.

seriously

this song makes me freaking mad

ive been a killers fanatic for three years
and i think this song is pure genius and is amazing


but this denser dancer thing is soo GAHH!


i agree with denser
but i was fighting with this girl i know about it and she had some really valid points on the dancer




someone get brandons number and call him

My opinion on the chorus when it says "are we human or are we dancer?" keep in mind i could be and probably am totally wrong, haha.
I think that human and dancer are meant to be complete opposites. for example, humans are flawed and make mistakes, while dancers strive to be perfect with every motion. So in a sense it's like they are saying "Are we flawed or are we perfect?"
Any opinions?

I agree LyricsAreHerStory; it's a call to transcendance/beauty/perfection.

Bottom line this song is awsome!!!!....lol...n yes its DANCER!!!...lol....I luv it!!!

The bottom line is this.

Are we just dancing around each other or will we fuck?

I wouldn't normally say this to a girl but I think it's a winning line. ;)