Human - The Killers song

"Human" is a song by alternative rock band The Killers, and was released as the first single from the band's third studio album Day & Age. The song was leaked onto YouTube on September 21, 2008, a day before it was scheduled to be played for the first time on Zane Lowe's evening show on BBC Radio 1. It began receiving airplay on September 22, 2008, with a digital release on September 30, 2008. It became the third song by the band to enter the top 5 of the UK singles chart, (peaking at #3). It was their first top ten hit in the Netherlands (peaking at #2). The song was released on a 7-inch picture disc throughout the world in various dates in November, with a B-side entitled "A Crippling Blow".

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine's Smoking Section, Brandon Flowers described "Human" as "Johnny Cash meets the Pet Shop Boys". Flowers stated that the song was created with Stuart Price during their work with him on the Sawdust album, and has changed very little since then. He confessed to not putting it on Sawdust as "it was too good".

The cover art for the single is a portrait of the band's guitarist Dave Keuning, and is one of the four portraits drawn by Paul Normansell for the album.

On November 25, 2008, the song was available as downloadable content for the game Guitar Hero World Tour.

This track has also been remixed by popular trance DJs Armin van Buuren and Ferry Corsten.

An interview in The Observer newspaper stated that the track "is a cross between New Order and Bruce Springsteen - that should please fans of 'Mr. Brightside'." Chris Williams of Billboard gave a positive review, echoing The Observer's description of "merging a Boss-like melody over a New Order-injected rave-up." He also praised the song for "stretching the soundscape of alternative rock, which has increasingly become difficult to differentiate between mainstream rock". Music Radar complimented the song in their review of Day & Age, saying "A gentle, phased, clicky guitar riff opens this gorgeous nod to the gentle side of '80s new wave." Caryn Ganz with Rolling Stone gave the tune three-and-a-half stars, calling it "delicious."

"Human" was voted the Best Song of 2008 by the readers of Rolling Stone.