There has been considerable confusion and debate over the line "Are we human or are we dancer?" in the song's chorus.[6] Debate raged across the internet over whether the lyrics said "denser" or "dancer", a misunderstanding which invoked conflicting interpretations of the song's meaning.[7][8][9] Entertainment Weekly's Pop Watch section called this line the "silliest lyrics of the week".[7] They were puzzled by the interpretation, stating "most dancers are generally human".[7] Ganz with Rolling Stone called the line "classic Killers' nonsense."[4]
On the band's official website, the biography section states that Flowers is singing "Are we human, or are we dancer?" and also says that the lyrics were inspired by a disparaging comment made by Hunter S. Thompson.[10] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Flowers said that he was irritated over the confusion: "It's supposed to be a dance song, [the beat] goes with the chorus...If you can't put that together, you're an idiot. I just don't get why there's a confusion about it." [11]