Human (song)

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"Human"

Single by The Human League
from the album Crash
Released	1986
Format	7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1985
Genre	Synthpop, R&B
Label	Virgin Records
Writer(s)	Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Producer(s)	Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Chart positions
#1 U.S. #8 UK
The Human League singles chronology
"The Sign" (1985)	"Human" (1986)	"I Need Your Loving" (1986)

"Human" is a song recorded by English synthpop band The Human League. It was released as the first single from their 1986 album Crash. The track was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, best-known for their work with Janet Jackson.

The recording sessions for the Human League's Crash album were not going well and the band did not like the results. After scrapping what they had recorded, they made the unusual choice of Jam and Lewis as new producers. Jam and Lewis had recently emerged as in-demand talent due to their success with Jackson and her Control album.

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 long 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 their home country, "Human" peaked at number eight in the UK singles chart; the song was also a big hit in Germany, reaching number five, with an impressive chart run of 13 weeks.