"Human" is a song recorded by British synthpop band The
Human League. It was released as the first single from their
1986 album
Crash. The track was written and produced by US
producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
In 1985 the recording sessions for the Human League's fifth
album were not going well; and the band did not like the
results which was causing internal conflict. Virgin Records
executives, worried by the lack of progress from their
at-the-time most-profitable signing, suggested the band accept
an offer to work with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who
already had material to work with; and had expressed an
interest in the band from their U.S. releases. Jam and Lewis
had recently emerged as in-demand talent due to their success
with Janet Jackson and her
Controlalbum.
Of the ten songs on
Crash, Jam and Lewis wrote three, "Human" being one of
them. It is a mid-tempo ballad which lyrically is an exchange
between a man and a woman in a relationship who have reunited
after a separation. In the first two verses Philip Oakey is
apologizing to his partner for being unfaithful during her
absence, and in the song's breakdown Joanne Catherall's
spoken-word confession reveals that she too was unfaithful. The
song's title is derived from the chorus, in which both parties
in the relationship explain that they are "only human" and
"born to make mistakes".
"Human" became the second million-selling number-one single
for The Human League on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (after
"Don't You Want Me") and their second chart-topper on the U.S.
Hot Dance Club Play chart (after "(Keep Feeling) Fascination").
Jam and Lewis' R&B-based production was also popular on
American urban radio, bringing the Human League into the top
ten of the U.S. R&B chart for the first time. In the UK,
where R&B was less popular "Human" peaked at number eight
in the UK singles chart.
It was a welcome success for the Human League, who were
starting to suffer from creative stagnation and a slight
decline in fortunes after a hugely successful start to the
1980s.
"Human" was reworked and re-released in 2003 as a remix in
the form of "The Chinese Whispers Mix", principally in Asia. It
was the creation of Hong Kong based British producer Ian
Widgery who had recently had major success in the Asian music
market with the album
Shanghai Lounge Divas. Widgery took the original, mixed
in traditional Chinese instruments and recorded a new chorus in
Mandarin by female Chinese vocalist Li Ya, which is interwoven
with Oakey, Catherall and Sulley's vocals. Oakey's lead vocals
are faded to give the music greater impact.
The remix was so popular that it crossed over to the UK and
U.S. markets where it received radio airplay and play on music
television stations during the height of the electroclash
revival. Although it was not released as a single in either
country it appears on some versions of the band's
The Very Best of the Human Leaguealbum of 2003.
The music video for "Human" was filmed in London during June
1986, in a studio using Chroma key overlay. It is heavily
stylized to give a 'water reflective' effect and blue hue
throughout. In the first time that the band had been presented
as a "Phil and the girls" trio, images of Oakey, Catherall and
Sulley are constantly layered and blended. The video was
conceived and directed by Andy Morahan.
In 2003, a new video was created and released to promote the
Chinese Whispers mix. This music video used the original
footage of Oakey, Sulley and Catherall from 1986 and interlaced
it with traditional Chinese imagery of silhouetted water grass,
water lilies and Cantonese characters. It was subject of a U.S.
MTV featurette which was introduced by Oakey and featured Ian
Widgery talking about the creative process in the reworking of
the original Human.