Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Human by the Killers, December 31, 2008
By Nanice

"I've gone to several sites to read reviews about this song and I am amazed to see that no one really understands the meaning of the words. Maybe that is because the usual audience is not the type of people who really understand the transformation process that this song talks about. I have never written an online review but this song has effected me so profoundly that I am compelled to share my thoughts and insights and hopefully help do what I believe the song intends to do - WAKE US UP!

My commentary is after each verse:

I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
The “call” is from a higher power that speaks to us. Unfortunately, most of us have been in silent slumber and we don’t “notice” that inner voice. The “call” is a call to wake up from the human existence – to remember that we are just a “dancer” and when the dance is over, we still exist. Being human is not our sole experience – it is just the dance.

Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind
Platform indicates that there is something higher than us that we answer to. When we surrender to this higher power, we allow it to work through us.

And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
The door leads to GOD (to “the one”). What must we “let go” in order to go through it? The rest of the song tells us what to do in order to go through that doorway.

Close your eyes
Stop looking outside yourself – look inside

Clear your heart…
Clear your heart of all the pain, stories, hurt, pain and fear you have been carrying in your heart.

Cut the cord
Cut the cord to your attachments in the human dimension (this can also represent the golden cord that connects us to the body when we have out of body experiences)

Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
Are we ONLY human or are we something greater than a human? Are we like a dancer who plays a part or expresses something greater but exists beyond the act of dancing? The one who is dancing exists even when the dance is over.

My sign is vital
My hands are cold
The spirit is vital beyond the physical body

And I’m on my knees
Looking for the answer
When we get down on our knees, it signifies that we are looking to a higher power for the answers. We recognize that our human form does not contain those answers and we surrender to that higher power.

Are we human?
Or are we dancer?

Pay my respects to grace and virtue
He respects grace and virtue but is ready to let it go.

Send my condolences to good
He recognizes that “good” is a human judgment and does not exist in the higher realms

Give my regards to soul and romance,
They always did the best they could
This comes from the expression “give my heart and soul”. He realizes that soul and romance can only take you so far and they have limitations and will not allow you to enter the higher realms as long as you are attached to them.

And so long to devotion
You taught me everything I know
He’s saying that through devotion he learned about life but again it’s small in comparison to where he is going.

Wave goodbye
Wish me well..
You’ve got to let me go
He’s asking these very human qualities and experiences to release him so that he can go beyond the human form and experience, and truly know himself as “the one”.

Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I’m on my knees
Looking for the answers
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?

Will your system be alright
When you dream of home tonight?
These two lines for me are the confirmation of what this song is about. When he asks “will your system be alright?”, he’s referring to the body as the system and wondering if it will be o.k when we venture “home” (to “the one”) at night when we sleep (or experience and altered spiritual state). In other words, he is asking if the body will continue to exist when the spirit ventures “home” (to “the one”)

There is no message we’re receiving
Let me know is your heart still beating
When we are out of body, we receive no conscious messages from our body and we do not know if our heart is beating. He’s also saying that we wants to continue life and he is not ready to die.

Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I’m on my knees
Looking for the answers
You got to let me know
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I’m on my knees
Looking for the answers
Are we human
Or are we dancer?
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
Are we human
Or are we dancer?

Thank you, Killers! AMAZING!
Nanice@Nanice.com"

6 of 16 people found this review helpful.