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ESL forum > Ask for help > Help interpreting lyrics.     

Help interpreting lyrics.



Judith@rwen
Argentina

Help interpreting lyrics.
 
Dear ESL teachers,

I �ve prepared the song " Human" by The Killers and before taking it to the classroom, I �d like to know if any of you can help with the intrepretation of it. What do you think the author means with:

"Are We Human?
 Or Are We Dancers?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I �m on my knees
Looking for the answer
 "Are we human?
Or Are We dancers?"

I �ve been looking for a web page which helps with interpretation of lyrics but I still haven �t found one.
I �d like to know what are your thoughts about this lyrics.
I �d appreciate your help very much!

Thank you!- Have a wonderful day and happy teacher �s day for tomorrow!!Hug

10 Sep 2009      





alexa09
Argentina

Hey dear country-colleague! as regards the paragraph u wrote, I �d say the writer is between the line life-dead i.e although he has still a vital sing ,his hands are cold , and therefore, he �s wondering whether he is still a humna or a dancer ( meaning I guess, dancers as dancers seem to "fly" and that is also associated with deaht, the soul dancing, kind og the soul getting out og one �s body, it starts "dancing"= flying" being released from the boy, as soon as I read waht u worte, that came to my mind....
have a great day tomorrow! tell me if u agree 

10 Sep 2009     



Songlessons
Ukraine

Ok, here �s what I found.

Ok first off it is are we human or are we dancer. No s. Human and dancer are both adjectives describing people. that is why there is no s. You don �t say they are nices or means. you say they are nice or mean. as the adjective human it means free thinker. Meaning we can do what we want when we want. Dancer is refering to a puppet dancing on string. Having someone move you were they want you to go, Thinking for you, and living our life like a routine that is all planned out. If you listen to the other lyrics you can see that brandon is actually refering to a puppet. "Cut the cord" or let us free is esentially what he is saying.

Some other thoughts:


and of course here

Hope this helps. :)

10 Sep 2009     



Zora
Canada

Okay as a native my take on the song is this.

The singer is asking if we are humans or if we are simple puppets. He feels alive but also his hands are cold (denoting perhaps a feeling of pain or insensitivity). He�s on his knees -meaning he would be praying or asking for an answer to to whether we are human or just mindless puppets.

Smile

10 Sep 2009     



Tint
South Africa

Songlessons, the correct grammar is: "Are we human or are we dancers". Dancer is not and can �t ever be an adjective. It is a noun. With singing and often speaking, letters tend to �disappear � on the end of words. I believe that is the case here. Human can be either an adjective or a noun. �I am a human � or I have human �qualities �.

From Webster`s Random House:
danc�er (dan�s�r, d�n�-), n.
1.    a person who dances.
2.    a person who dances professionally, as on the stage.

http://hyperdictionary.com/search.aspx?define=dancer
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dancer

I do agree that he is talking about whether or not he is a dancing puppet being controlled or a human : )


10 Sep 2009     



saninfe
Spain

I agree with Zora. In fact I read an article where the leader of the group talked about the lyrics of this song. He said that they had taken it from a quote  by a writer (I think) who wondered if we are human or mere dancers in the choreography of life.

10 Sep 2009     



wolfy
Chile

the official lyrics are "Are we human, or are we dancer?"  In this case, it �s artisitic license and "dancer" is being used as an adjective.  

As mentioned by others my take on it is:

Are we human (free thinking) or are we dancer (puppets). 
My signs are vital my hands are cold.  (there is conflicting information)
And I �m on my knees looking for the answer (he �s desperate for the answer / maybe praying)

10 Sep 2009     



Judith@rwen
Argentina

Thank you very much for your thoughts and interpretations.

I did think the author wonders whether we really are humans with free will or just puppets being controlled by, maybe, an invisible being.

On the other hand, thinking of cold hands, I associated this with the fact that societies, people seem to be getting insensitive, accustomed to violence, Cold, distant. Or so we are made to believe by the media every day.

Or maybe we are just a dream someone is dreaming? :)

10 Sep 2009