Human

Exactly correct. This song alludes to an alternate reality where we are being controlled by another force. It would be like us being a game controlled by someone in another (their own)reality.<br /> And I dont think he says whether we are "human" or "dancer" he says "you gotta let me know". So he is leaving it up to us to help him find the answer.

Excellent analysis! After reading this i looked at the way (lead singer of killers, dont know his name) moves in the Human music video. He makes such puppet like movements and postures, mimicking the loss of flexibility and dexterity that comes with being controlled by strings, yet again supporting your theory that puppet means loss of freedom or to be let go.

great replies!<br /> <br /> <br /> like you were saying, if his cords are cut [as a puppet/dancer] that would mean he gets his freedom, but he would be dead as a human as well...<br /> so the song might also have allusions to Plato's Allegory of the Cave.. as a human he isn't truly free because he is bound by his senses and 'cords'<br /> <br /> so dancers and humans are the same, in a way- as a puppet he isn't free and as a human he isn't free as well<br /> <br /> <br /> lol. maybe I read too much into it<br /> <br />

Yes, i think you have the right idea with the puppet thing...'Dancer' to me is structered routine, nice to watch and possibly fun to do; I think he could have used the word 'Dancer' as opposed to 'puppet' possibly because we don't realise the strings are there? There's the illusion that we control where the 'dance' so to speak is going? Like he says 'I did my best to notice when the call came down the line' but he really wasn't aware of his life moving or even ending. It wasn't his choice. And the singular thing is perhaps because we're not a group of separate beings, we all simply are manoueverd as one.<br /> <br /> It's the 'so long to devotion' thing that interest me i think...it's like he's spent his life in this dance, and at death he's almost aware of it (hence the end to his devotion to it) and is wondering possibly what his life was? I wonder who he's speaking to as well, in the second half of the song...<br />

Yeah, this makes sense to me. All though I think it very well could be talking about if there is a god, and if there is some greater being controlling/influencing us.

I think you're definitely in a closer ballpark than everyone else I've heard from. The second verse, where he's saying goodbye virtues is most intriguing to me. If you're not spot on, you're definitely very close to what the song is expressing.

Right on.

I think the reason he is saying goodbye to all those feelings: romance, devotion etc. is that after all we as humans are slaves to our feelings as well. In order to "cut the cords" and not be a puppet any longer, he has to let go of the human feelings too. That is the only way he can be completely free.

Wow, you have a very good analysis of the song. I agree with you, but I'm still confused on if he letting go of his freewill and following his fate or he letting go of his past and the "open door" is his future.

I like the idea but I think your making a bit of a leap from 'dancers' to 'puppets'. Dancers to me suggest someone who is free and in complete control of their movements, puppets are the exact opposite. Also why would the lyrid be 'dancer' rather than 'dancers'? I read that the lyric is derived from a Hunter S Thompson quote that 'America is producing a generation of dancers'. That would explain why it's in the singular, ie a dancer or a human. I've no idea how that works in relation to the rest of the song but I thought I'd say it anyway...

I think the reason the song says "dancer" is because it is refering to a completly different "type of being" or kind (ie. "dancer kind" instead of "human kind"), which does not have full free will. Thinking of the nature of dancers, they are able to move freely, however, they are secluded within a space and are told to move a certain way to a certain beat while having to look a certain way, therefore they have the illusion of free will but not the real thing. To me thats what this song is refering to."Cut the Cord" is refering to the breaking way from the norms and rules of society (possibly specific to the U.S.) and being truly free.

"Are we human or are we dancer" seems like a rhetorical question. "My sign is vital, my hands are cold" and "cut the cord" all suggest that we are all dancers (or puppets on strings) in the broad schemes of things, and that Brandon wishes to be freed from those cords that is tying him down.

good analysis! I'll try to explain what i think. dancers use choreography, which is planned.so although they may look free, it is all planed and well they are sort of marionettes so to speak. and i think he is trying to get it across that most people these days are dancer/s, and that very few people have individuality or are free(not real free but you know what i mean) and people with individuality are human, and people without - that follow others and are slaves to trends and society are dancer.and i guess he is also confused because we should all be human, but these days it seems that alot off people are dancer(sort of a race in this context i guess), and he doesn't know what the world is coming to if few people are human. just makes it sound more drastic and better than saying "are we people with individuality, or are we people without individuality", and it makes you understand more clearly, and helps you realize it. just my 2 cents, for what its worth

Yes, I have to disagree with a lot of the analysis here, if only because, if the singer wanted to to emphasize that we were "free" humans instead of "puppet" dancers, he would have phrased it to put the accent on "human" (i.e., "are we dancer, or are we human?). When you make a rhetorical point, you always put the emphasis on the last word / phrase, not the first (like, "are we mice or men?" or "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"). I can't imagine the singer would have used "dancer" in a disparaging or scornful way, as if to say that dancers have no freewill but humans do. To be a dancer is to be more than human, or it's another way of saying that being human is always about being more than "simply" human (i.e. vital signs and cold hands). So, virtue, grace, devotion, all those values prepare us to be human, but in the end, life is a toss-up and you just have to call the shots as you see them, you have to learn to dance through (or maybe with) life's adversity.

Dude, you are taking the lyrics WAY too literal. You are clueless.

The guy who said were taking this to literally seems to have no ability to grasp depth. Anyways, Icarus this is a great analysis. Great job!

Yea. I don't listen to the killers. I've never listened to this song. But when I read the first versus, it was so good that I needed to keep reading. Anyway I read the whole thing then read Icarus Fixius's inYea. I don't listen to the killers. I've never listened to this song. But when I read the first versus, it was so good that I needed to keep reading. Anyway I read the whole thing then read Icarus Fixius's interpretation and it spoked to me. Also made the lyrics more understanding and opened my eyes more with the interpretation. I like it.