The Killers single “Human” has the lyric “are we human or are we dancer?” which has caused some stir because of the singular use of dancer. A bit of research shows that the singer made it as a reference to a quote by Hunter S. Thompson about America raising a generation of dancers.
The best interpretation I have seen so far is a comparison to free thinkers (human) verses people who have their strings pulled (dancer). Another line in the song refers to having the cord cut.
Try as I might, I cannot find the source for this quote. The attribution to Thompson seems to be ubiquitous, but I have never seen a citation.
Does anyone know where this quote by Thompson came from? I would love to read more on this.
While I haven’t read everything Thompson wrote, I’ve read a bunch of his work. I’ve never come across this line and it doesn’t strike me as the kind of thing he’d say. It sounds like a line somebody might stick in an email about the misplaced priorities of youth and then attribute to Hunter Thompson. I did a little Googling and could not find where or when the good doctor was alleged to have made or written this remark.
I’ve read far more Hunter S. Thompson quotes in the past few weeks than I ever thought I would in my life, and so I feel quite acquainted with his style at the moment. I agree with Marley that it doesn’t sound like the sort of thing he’d say. While I generally like the Killers, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Brandon Flowers latched onto some quote that had been mistakenly attributed to Thompson and didn’t bother looking it up.
Whenever I’ve searched on the phrase, all I get is sites saying that Brandon Flowers says Hunter S. Thompson said it. Not exactly the best proof, there. Nobody can offer a book or article or anywhere that Flowers might have read it, or so it appears.