{"id":5370,"date":"2026-09-04T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=5370"},"modified":"2026-09-04T09:41:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:41:48","slug":"the-farewell-to-morality-in-human-by-the-killers-and-the-misunderstood-lyric-that-frustrates-brandon-flowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-farewell-to-morality-in-human-by-the-killers-and-the-misunderstood-lyric-that-frustrates-brandon-flowers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Farewell to Morality in \u201cHuman\u201d by The Killers and the Misunderstood Lyric That Frustrates Brandon Flowers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<em>Are we human? Or are we dancer?<\/em>&#8221; Brandon Flowers asks on The Killers&#8217; hit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/the-killers\/human\">&#8220;Human&#8221;.<\/a> the lead single from their third album, <em>Day &amp; Age<\/em>, released in 2008. The grammatically incorrect lyric has been a hot topic for fans ever since, with some believing the word &#8220;dancer&#8221; has been misheard or mispronounced and is actually &#8220;denser.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lyric even came out on top as the weirdest lyric of all time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/the-killers-35-1228853\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in a 2014 poll by <\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/the-killers-35-1228853\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blinkbox Music<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Misunderstood Line<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Killers - Human (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RIZdjT1472Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flowers has clarified that the word in the line is indeed &#8220;dancer&#8221; and is bothered by the suggestion of &#8220;denser.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI really care what people think but people don\u2019t seem to understand \u2018Human&#8217;,&#8221; he once told <em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. &#8220;They think it\u2019s nonsense. But I was aching over those lyrics for a very long time to get them right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While &#8220;denser&#8221; might make more sense grammatically, it would completely change the song&#8217;s meaning. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/brandon-flowers-wound-up-over-misquoting-of-killers-human-78756\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According to Flowers<\/a>, &#8220;dancer&#8221; not only fits with the song&#8217;s dance vibe, but it was also inspired by a quote from gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We\u2019re raising a generation of dancers, afraid to take one step out of line,&#8221; Thompson once said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I took it and ran,&#8221; Flowers said of Thompson&#8217;s quote. &#8220;I guess it bothers people that it&#8217;s not grammatically correct, but I think I&#8217;m allowed to do whatever I want.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Society&#8217;s Moral Decay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flowers has also said the verses of &#8220;Human&#8221; address &#8220;the decline in our values and our morals.&#8221; That&#8217;s especially clear in the second verse, in which Flowers bids farewell to traits like &#8220;grace and virtue.&#8221; The &#8220;devotion&#8221; refers to his parents&#8217; long-lasting marriage, which Flowers has called &#8220;a dying thing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Pay my respects to grace and virtue<br>Send my condolences to good<br>Give my regards to soul and romance<br>They always did the best they could.<br>And so long to devotion<br>You taught me everything I know<br>Wave goodbye, wish me well<br>You\u2019ve gotta let me go<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chorus presents the famous question of human versus dancer, as Flowers searches in vain for an answer. With Thompson&#8217;s quote in mind, the question seems to suggest that being human means we have free will, while being a dancer means doing exactly as we&#8217;re told and conforming. The lyric itself plays with this concept, as Flowers defies listeners&#8217; expectations and breaks the rules by choosing a grammatically incorrect word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Are we human<br>Or are we dancer?<br>My sign is vital<br>My hands are cold<br>And I&#8217;m on my knees<br>Looking for the answer.<br>Are we human<br>Or are we dancer?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some theories suggest the &#8220;dancer&#8221; in the song is a specific character, and as is always the case in music and art, no single interpretation is correct. &#8220;Human&#8221; is likely to keep listeners wondering for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by Rob Verhorst\/Redferns<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The lyrics to The Killers&#8217; hit &#8220;Human&#8221; have kept fans guessing for years, thanks to a single word that doesn&#8217;t quite make sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":547050,"featured_media":3619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":19,"post_id":80}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Rob Verhorst\/Redferns","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[164,18,416],"byline":[19],"class_list":["post-5370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","tag-2000s","tag-rock-music","tag-the-killers"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Facts","term_id":3,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/facts\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"2000s","term_id":164,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/2000s\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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