Historical Background
• Released: September 30, 2008
• Genre: Alternative; New Wave; Indie Rock
• Label: Island Records
• Producer: Stuart Price
• Writer(s): Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci Jr.
• The single was released on 7” picture disc with the song, “A Crippling Blow” on the B-side.
• Lead singer Brandon Flowers has described this song as being “Johnny Cash meets The Pet Shop Boys.”
• According to the bands official website, the lyrics of “Human” were inspired by famous Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Flowers has said about lyrics, "It's taken from a quote by [author Hunter S.] Thompson. ... 'We're raising a generation of dancers,' and I took it and ran. I guess it bothers people that it's not grammatically correct, but I think I'm allowed to do whatever I want," he laughed. " 'Denser'? I hadn't heard that one. I don't like 'denser.' "
• The song lyrics were written along with some help from Stuart Prince during the production of their compilation album, Sawdust, but was not released on that album because it was “too good” according to Brandon Flowers.
Open listening
Listening to the song with an unbiased intent a few things popped out of the music right away. The first thing I noticed was the driving rhythm. Beginning on an extremely strong downbeat, a fast dance-paced rhythmic pattern is introduced on the electric guitar. I could not help but immediately internalize this beat. I felt victim to its heavy drum kick that kept me “moving” giving it a tribal dance feeling. This feeling prompts an earlier hot topic offered by Marshall Mcluhan about technological mediums linking our world on a human cultural level. This tribal sound reminds me of this cultural link, calling us together through rhythm and music. I also notice the different textures that give it a soaring feeling. The classic rock drum kit keeps the listener grounded yet constantly moving while electrical timbres such as the electric guitar, electric bass, and various synth elements from electric piano to saw-wave synth sounds give us that lifted sensation. These combinations gives the song an overall get up and go feeling.
• The song lyrics were written along with some help from Stuart Prince during the production of their compilation album, Sawdust, but was not released on that album because it was “too good” according to Brandon Flowers.
Open listening
Listening to the song with an unbiased intent a few things popped out of the music right away. The first thing I noticed was the driving rhythm. Beginning on an extremely strong downbeat, a fast dance-paced rhythmic pattern is introduced on the electric guitar. I could not help but immediately internalize this beat. I felt victim to its heavy drum kick that kept me “moving” giving it a tribal dance feeling. This feeling prompts an earlier hot topic offered by Marshall Mcluhan about technological mediums linking our world on a human cultural level. This tribal sound reminds me of this cultural link, calling us together through rhythm and music. I also notice the different textures that give it a soaring feeling. The classic rock drum kit keeps the listener grounded yet constantly moving while electrical timbres such as the electric guitar, electric bass, and various synth elements from electric piano to saw-wave synth sounds give us that lifted sensation. These combinations gives the song an overall get up and go feeling.
Syntax
Length: 4:05(album version)
Tempo: 4/4
Key: Bb Major/G minor(bridge)
Form: [A, A’] (verse I); B (chorus I); [A, A’] (verse II); B (chorus II); C (bridge); B (chorus); B’ (chorus); D (Outro)
Progression: {I-iii-IV-I/ iii-vi-ii-V} reduced to {I IV vi V}
- This progression is what adds to the momentum of the song. Coupled with the strong downbeat kick and the snare hits on beats 2 and 4, the progression causes a strong pulling force that drags us forward linearly though the song.
(Very modest instrumentation and yet its song is packed full of texture mostly synth sounds stretch across the stereo field to create a total surround sensation)
Usually, tonal music can be defined characteristically as establishing a tonal center, moving away from this center to a mid-point, and then an ultimate return to center to complete the circle. This motion, described musically as tonic-dominant relation or I-V-I, is classically the cause for stability in music. By the manipulation of chords around this base structure, any musical piece can have influence over the feelings of the listener by working with anticipation, expectations, and tonal completeness. In "Human," the basis of this classic progression, that dates back to the greeks and even further, is utilized in an expanded form to give the sensation of cyclical motion. The song loops around in a circle that ends where it starts and vise versa. Most popular music uses some iteration of the progression I-IV-vi-V to cause this sensation of movement. This progression is utilized for eighty percent of the song until we reach the bridge where we temporarily shift into a minor quality and quickly outline the relative minor adding a bit of tension and mystery layered beneath the lyrics that question the nature of humanness and existence.
Sound-In-Time
:00 immediately a deep bassy sawtooth wave form hit is heard then slowly fades and electric guitar begins with a simple galloping pattern
:04 out of the decaying drone of the opening sawtooth hit the drum beat emerges with a simplistic tick that sound like that of a clock
:07 first verse of the vocals begins/ muted synth-strings lurk quietly behind the vocals
:16-34 synth-strings begin evolving and sneaking up to the forefront of the mix
:35 Synth-strings peaks in full resonance now with a buzzier sound; hi-hat ticks widen and swell into a peak with a bright white noise sound
:36 hi-hat tick rhythm is taken over by kick drum which is exactly one half the rhythmic value of the ticks that are previously heard
1:03 full drum beat returns and a new electric guitar theme is heard and new synth timbres are introduced to the stereo field
1:17 vocals return, tom-toms now heard with a tribal sounding pattern in the drums, and another squeezed and even more buzzing sounding formant wave synth adds in
1: 45 swooping rush of wind sound crashes through
2:15 the mix simplifies as guitar cuts out and only a bass line, drums, sythn, and vocals are heard
2:29 some cymbal crash is heard which leads into yet another simplification of the mix to the original electric guitar pattern that began the song, along with vocals and a simple kick beat with some accents on the tom-tom(another hint towards tribal quality by using native American originated instrument used for communication—the tom-toms)
2:50 Mix begins to build again adding in one layer at a time raising in excitement
2:57 Full mix returns again now with vocals, full drum kit, synth-strings, electric guitar, bass, and the squeezed formant wave sounding synth
3:24 Vocals break for an instrumental elaboration
3:44 Vocals return and instruments again peel away one by one from the mix
3:54 only first guitar pattern and formant synth and vocals are heard
3:59 all sounds fade into the distance and the last thing to be heard is the original guitar pattern which doubles in on itself and then bounces away giving the red-shift sound in acoustics similar to that of an ambulance traveling into the distance and slightly decreasing in pitch
:00 immediately a deep bassy sawtooth wave form hit is heard then slowly fades and electric guitar begins with a simple galloping pattern
:04 out of the decaying drone of the opening sawtooth hit the drum beat emerges with a simplistic tick that sound like that of a clock
:07 first verse of the vocals begins/ muted synth-strings lurk quietly behind the vocals
:16-34 synth-strings begin evolving and sneaking up to the forefront of the mix
:35 Synth-strings peaks in full resonance now with a buzzier sound; hi-hat ticks widen and swell into a peak with a bright white noise sound
:36 hi-hat tick rhythm is taken over by kick drum which is exactly one half the rhythmic value of the ticks that are previously heard
1:03 full drum beat returns and a new electric guitar theme is heard and new synth timbres are introduced to the stereo field
1:17 vocals return, tom-toms now heard with a tribal sounding pattern in the drums, and another squeezed and even more buzzing sounding formant wave synth adds in
1: 45 swooping rush of wind sound crashes through
2:15 the mix simplifies as guitar cuts out and only a bass line, drums, sythn, and vocals are heard
2:29 some cymbal crash is heard which leads into yet another simplification of the mix to the original electric guitar pattern that began the song, along with vocals and a simple kick beat with some accents on the tom-tom(another hint towards tribal quality by using native American originated instrument used for communication—the tom-toms)
2:50 Mix begins to build again adding in one layer at a time raising in excitement
2:57 Full mix returns again now with vocals, full drum kit, synth-strings, electric guitar, bass, and the squeezed formant wave sounding synth
3:24 Vocals break for an instrumental elaboration
3:44 Vocals return and instruments again peel away one by one from the mix
3:54 only first guitar pattern and formant synth and vocals are heard
3:59 all sounds fade into the distance and the last thing to be heard is the original guitar pattern which doubles in on itself and then bounces away giving the red-shift sound in acoustics similar to that of an ambulance traveling into the distance and slightly decreasing in pitch
Textual Representation
VERSE I
I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind
And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes
Clear your heart…
Cut the cord
I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind
And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes
Clear your heart…
Cut the cord
CHORUS
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I'm on my knees
Looking for the answer
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
VERSE II
Pay my respects to grace and virtue
Send my condolences to good
Give my regards to soul and romance,
They always did the best they could
And so long to devotion
You taught me everything I know
Wave goodbye
Wish me well…
You've gotta let me go
CHORUS
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I'm on my knees
Looking for the answer
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
BRIDGE
Will your system be all right
When you dream of home tonight?
There is no message we're receiving
Let me know is your heart still beating
CHORUS
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I'm on my knees
Looking for the answer
You've gotta let me know
CHORUS
Are we human?
Or are we dancer?
My sign is vital
My hands are cold
And I'm on my knees
Looking for the answer
Are we human Or are we dancer?
OUTRO
Are we human? Or are we dancer?
Are we human Or are we dancer?
The main lyric of the chorus echoes like a caution to beware, as a sort of rhetoric for becoming conscious of our humanness or lack-there-of. Are we “human” who have free will and total control over choices or, as a choreographed “dancer,” just taking orders from the music that keeps us moving around cyclically towards some unknown goal we can not be certain exists? Also significant is the singular nature of the word “dancer.” This could be referring to the way there is no individuality only singularity in this cycle. We are all dancing toward the same material dreams of prosperity and fame. We collectively agree on being content with this blind focus on material value as a means for creating power and identity. It seems that it would take the knowledge of some omnipotent force to be able to decipher whether or not we are making evolutionary progressing or floundering about, stuck in a time warp, always on the move but not really headed anywhere. Just like a dancer confined to the playing space or stage in which (s)he performs according to the pre-described movements before (s)he has even arrived into existence.
Now with the understanding that there is some primal driving force at work, the opening verse (“I did my best to notice when the call down the line”) seems to take on quite a significant meaning. This recalls the ideas of Heidegger’s “throwness”, thrust into this world from birth with the task of figuring it all out as soon as we arrive. If you remember his term Dasein, roughly translated to “being there,” referring to being fixed in human form in a tangible day-to-day world. You can use this perspective to see how doing one’s best to “notice” as soon as the “call” to existence comes might be an allusion to Dasein.
The next verse feels like an extension of the latter idea, explaining the feelings of dealing with the situation of being human and what being thrust into existence is like. How do you feel once you know you have been tossed into a world that is fully defined before you even have the chance to get in the “door” and impart your perspective? Rather, the very moment you show up your being told how and what to say, what to do, and how to use things, etc. This would make an open door an uneasy situation because it would suggest that some new experience might be just outside and that an escape through the door might be possible, however, since it was never an option before it could be totally confusing. It is much more comfortable, as humans, to stick to the cultural ritual in order to maintain the best chances of survival--strength in numbers. So unless we are all in agreement on going through the "door" we might as well shut it because it is much more safe that way. These clever themes, whether consciously intended or not, continue throughout the entirety of the song. Constantly, the words reach back to the collective experience of existence and calling into question if these agreements on the "dance like moves" are worth continuing.
Virtual Feeling
The virtual feeling discussion within the eclectic analysis is part of the referential area in which the emotional sense rises to the forefront of attention. “Human” has a blatantly cheerful sound, especially within the opening verse. Though cheery and bright, something seems to lurk just below the surface. The lurking causes an unexpected anxiety that juxtaposes the jubilation the melody, in Major quality, is attempting to preoccupy us with. Like the emotional equivalence of a person who is just on the verge of a full mental breakdown, the sound skirts along the razor sharp edge of stability. One can experience the instability through the timbre of the synths that warble, modulate, and buzz under the main melody. This is the lurking uneasiness behind the questioner’s plea for self-actualization. It is sort of propagandist by maintaining the illusion of a completely optimistic perspective. The beat drives us to continue the forward motion, without realizing the state of existence in the music, which is a total surrender to the sound-- complete submission to the external driving force. This slight-of-hand is amplified by the tribal beat that pulses and cleverly takes advantage of the primal need for order. The beat calls us together like that of the ancient drums signaling us to gather around the tribal fire. The beat provides a clock, keeping us all in sync so that we all can execute the choreographed dance with perfect rhythm. Out of this, one voice cries out for realization, “Are we Human? Or are we dancer?” The questioning of existence adds to the uncertainty of the sound. It is a paradox of the sounds of excitement and joy against the inquisitive nature of the rhetorical questions.
Onto-Historical
Being born in 1981, Brandon Flowers has most likely heard the music of bands like Kraftwork, Devo, and Depeche Mode. The influence of bands such as these along with being at the center of a whole world who was welcoming an electronic age, at an ever increasing speed, can absolutely be heard in the depths and breadth of this music. The songs existence in the current time period makes it more of an homage to the late eighties/early nineties dance music rather than authentic dance music. Companies like Casio, Korg, Yamaha and others where taking full advantage of new “chip” technology as well as DSP or Digital Signal Processing to create and emulate sounds for amateurs and professionals musicians to use. These new amazing sounds were considered quite exciting and aesthetically pleasing to those who enjoyed dance music and even other genres as well. Also, not to long before the availability of commercial synthesizers composers like John Cage, Harry Partch, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Harold Budd, and Wendy Carlos, to name a few, were utilizing electronically generated sounds to see if they could be implemented in new ways to create music. These adventurous many, who have been called everything from bullshit artist to geniuses, have nevertheless paved the way for the types of music we hear today. The advent of sampling and looping so often used in rap, R&B, techno, Hip-hop, Trip-hop, trance, funk, and more would not have been possible were it not for these pioneers who figured out that computers could make music too.
Open Listening
In this second listening, the actuality of the song truly comes out. You can hear how charged the lyrics are, how insightful the seemingly nonsensical and ungrammatical sentence structures really are. Now this time the layers separate quite distinctly from each other making it permeable to the sonic space that exists in the “center” of the music.
Meta-Critique
I enjoyed looking into this piece for a multi-perspective deeper understanding. The whole of the findings is sort of a mirror of the analysis process itself. In the way this song seems to touch on personal responsibilities for acquiring truth, so does this analysis serve as a method for discovering underlying truths. Pertaining to music entertainment, you usually click on the radio, sit back, and let it wash over you, oblivious to many of the implications the artist has planted deep into the roots of the music. Marshall Mcluhan would call this a Hot medium, stealing away your attention and just pumping you with information with little participation.
I feel one of the weakest parts was unfortunately the syntactical analysis. Without an available score I was only able to touch a very little on the musical relationships and musical elements. I was held only to the basic form and arrangement of the song. In doing another analysis of a piece of music I would make sure to somehow obtain the music to also look at the note-to-note relationships as there is much to be discovered within these relationships as well.
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