Human (The Killers song)

Lore & Background

Brandon Flowers described "Human" as "Johnny Cash meets the Pet Shop Boys" in an interview with Rolling Stone. The song was created with Stuart Price during work on the Sawdust album and changed very little from its original form; Flowers admitted he did not include it on Sawdust because "it was too good." The cover art for the single is a portrait of guitarist Dave Keuning, one of four portraits drawn by Paul Normansell for the album. The earliest digital release of the song was missing a hi-hat section at the beginning.

Reader's Guide

"Human" received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its composition, musical influences, and production. The Observer described it as "a cross between New Order and Bruce Springsteen," while Billboard noted it "merges a Boss-like melody over a New Order-injected rave-up." Rolling Stone gave the song three-and-a-half stars, calling it "delicious," and readers of the magazine voted it the Best Song of 2008. The song reached number six on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 32 on the Hot 100. In the UK, it peaked at number three and by 2012 was the 39th-most-downloaded song in the country. The music video, directed by Danny Drysdale, features the band performing in Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, and includes portraits of the band members. The song has been covered by artists including Minnie Driver, Kim Petras, and Go West, and was sampled by DJs Hardwell and Machine Made.

Did You Know?

• The lyric 'Are we human, or are we dancer?' was inspired by a disparaging comment by Hunter S. Thompson about America raising 'a generation of dancers.'
• In 2014, the line was voted the 'weirdest lyric of all time' by a Blinkbox survey.
• The song was the top globally streamed song on Spotify in 2008.
• The music video has been noted for heavy similarities to Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii concert film.