The Human league - Human (Euphoric Extended Remix) from the album "Crash" (1986)

"Human" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Crash (1986). The track, which deals with the subject of infidelity, was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song topped the charts of the United States, becoming the band's second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 after their 1981 single "Don't You Want Me". It also went to number one in Canada while reaching number five in Germany and number eight in the band's native United Kingdom.

In 1985, recording for the Human League's fifth album was not going well. The band did not like the results, which caused 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 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 owing to their success with Janet Jackson and her Control album.

Of the ten songs on Crash, Jam and Lewis wrote three, "Human" being one. A mid-tempo ballad, it is lyrically an exchange between a man and a woman who have reunited after a separation. In the first two verses, Philip Oakey apologises to his partner for being unfaithful during her absence. In the 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' is probably the best vocal that I ever did, but it took a month to record," Oakey recalled. "A really big influence on doing those monologues was Gary Numan, particularly 'Are "Friends" Electric?', which has two different spoken bits, and he pulls it off."

"Human" became the second million-selling number one 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. The song reached number one in Canada, giving the band their second and last number one there, and peaked at number eight in the UK.


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