Have you ever noticed frank bewilderment in the look of pets when they watch your actions? It is also good that they are not able to analyze the behavior of people. Otherwise, we will not see either love or respect for pets. Icelandic singer Björk thought about the way fauna look at us. The result of her reflections was the song Human Behavior.
The story of creation and the meaning of the song Human Behavior
Björk co-wrote it with composer and producer Nellee Hooper, known for his work with many popular artists and bands. In an interview with David Hemingway, Björk recalled the history of the track:
I think after The Sugarcubes I had a mixture of liberation and fear. It has long been clear that my preferences did not coincide with the tastes of other members of the group. This is quite fair – there is no such thing as the right taste. I wrote the music for Human Behavior as a child. I wrote a lot of the tunes on Debut as a teenager and then put them aside because I was in punk bands and they weren’t punk. The lyrics of the song are almost a child’s point of view, and the video we made with Michel Gondry was based on childhood memories.
In response to questions from readers of The Guardian, Björk explained the meaning of the line about the lack of logic in human behavior:
When I wrote it, I referred to my childhood and probably talked about how much more comfortable it was for me to walk by myself, singing and the like, than to communicate with people … I was in harmony with the children, the mountains and the ocean around Reykjavik and the animals, and adults seemed rather chaotic and absurd to me.
Release and achievements
In June 1993, the song was released as the first single from Debut. It climbed high on several Billboard charts and also charted in other countries.
Human Behavior video
The music video for the track was directed by the then little-known French director Michel Gondry. Björk explained that the use of a teddy bear in the video is directly related to the main message of the song:
Human Behavior is the view of animals on humans. And the animals should definitely win in the end. One might ask why the winning bear is presented as an artificial toy? I dont know. I guess I just feel like it would be unfair to have an animal play a role in a video. In other words, it would be an advertisement for what I am against. I told him [Мишелю Гондри]: “I want both the bear and the textures to look like handmade wood, leaves, ground, and I want it to feel like animation”
Rolling Stone 1993
Michel Gondry shared his memories of working with Björk:
When we did our first video, for Human Behavior, I thought, “Great, we’ll go to Iceland and shoot beautiful landscapes”… she wanted to use animals to show human nature. And it was great, because as soon as she started tossing ideas, they started bouncing around in my head and imagination, to which I immediately responded with other ideas, and we worked closely together to shoot a video.
Let’s watch the famous clip of Human Behavior.
Interesting Facts
- Human Behavior opens a musical trilogy, which continues with the compositions of Isobel and Bachelorette.
- The song uses a sample from Go Down Dying by Antonio Carlos Jobim performed by the Ray Brown Orchestra.
- There is an opinion that the clip was created under the impression of the tale of the three bears and the cartoon “Hedgehog in the Fog” by Yuri Norshtein.
- The music video was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards and was also nominated for a Grammy, but was left with no awards.
- Rolling Stone magazine included Human Behavior Björk’s video in The Top 100 Music Video of All Time.
Human Behavior Lyrics by Bjork
If you ever get close to a human
And human behavior
Be ready, be ready to get confused
There’s definitely, definitely, definitely no logic
to human behavior
But yet so, yet so irresistible
And there’s no map
They’re terribly moody
A human behavior
Then all of a sudden turn happy
But, oh, to get involved in the exchange
Of human emotions
Is ever so, ever so satisfying
Oh oh, and there’s no map
human behavior
Human Behavior by Bjork Lyrics Alternative
If you get close to a person
And you will know his habits,
Be prepared to be confused
Definitely not even a hint of logic
In human behavior
But at the same time it’s so attractive.
And his card does not exist
Their moods are terribly changeable
Human behavior
Then suddenly they rejoice
But watch the changes
human emotions –
This is so nice
And their card does not exist
people behavior
