"Humans Being" is a song recorded and contributed by the

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two gui ...

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

for the film ''

Twister Twister may refer to: Weather * Tornado Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design Entertainment * ''Twister'' (1 ...

''. The song marks the last recording to feature vocalist

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo ca ...

before his departure from the band in June 1996.

Background

"Humans Being" was included on both the ''Twister'' soundtrack – along with an instrumental by Eddie and Alex, "

Respect the Wind ''Twister'' is a 1996 American epic disaster film directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. It was produced by Crichton, Kathleen Kennedy and Ian Bryce, with Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes, Laurie ...

" – and the band's '' Best Of – Volume I'' compilation, although the version used in the video for the soundtrack release is an edit with 3:28 of the 5:10 length of the album version, removing several solo sections, a bridge, and shortening the ending. The band played it live during the III Tour and the Summer Tour 2004.

Composition

In January 1996, as the band rested following the end of The Balance "Ambulance" Tour in November 1995, manager

Ray Danniels Ray Danniels is a Canadian music executive, record producer, and talent manager. He's the founder of SRO (Standing Room Only) Management group, as well as independent record labels Moon Records and Anthem Records. He first rose to prominence a ...

suggested to

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

and his brother

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple p ...

to write songs for the movie, ''Twister''. Singer

was reluctant to work on the tracks as his pregnant wife Kari was expected to deliver their child in April, and he felt the Van Halens should fix their medical ailments – Eddie was walking around with a cane on painkillers because of a hip injury caused by

avascular necrosis Avascular necrosis (AVN), also called osteonecrosis or bone infarction, is death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply. Early on, there may be no symptoms. Gradually joint pain may develop which may limit the ability to move. C ...

, and Alex had a

neck brace A cervical collar, also known as a neck brace, is a medical device used to support and immobilize a person's neck. It is also applied by emergency personnel to those who have had traumatic head or neck injuries, and can be used to treat chronic m ...

on due to a vertebra problem stemming from various injuries over the years. Eventually the singer relented as Danniels talked about the financial benefits of the songs.""Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"
David Huff, ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original arti ...

'' (April 1997) "Humans Being", which was written with Alex as Sammy wrote a ballad with Eddie, "Between Us Two", was originally named by the singer as "The Silent Extreme" but Alex eventually gave it the new title. The song's lyrics proved a major source of contention. Alex called the film's director,

Jan De Bont Jan de Bont (; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch cinematographer, director and film producer. He is best known for directing the films ''Speed'' (1994) and '' Twister'' (1996). As a director of photography, de Bont also worked on numerous blockb ...

, to ask him how closely he wanted the lyrics to be related to the movie's context, to which De Bont replied "Oh, please don't write about

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

es. I don't want this to be a narrative for the movie." Hagar obliged, and then asked De Bont for some footage of ''Twister''. Considering that film dealt with "the infatuation people have with fear and how it can suck you in", he decided to write lyrics about how "sometimes you're afraid to fall in love with a chick, but she sucks you in anyway." De Bont and Budd Carr also sent Hagar a folder with terms used by

storm chasers ''Storm Chasers'' is an American documentary reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2007, on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Original Media, the program follows several teams of storm chasers as they attempt to intercept ...

as the singer felt he could add lyrics with terms such as "suck zone". The brothers still disliked Hagar's first lyrics ("Sky turning black/knuckles turning white/headed for the suck zone"), and he had to come up with new ones. Hagar wanted to record his vocals from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, where he and his wife had arranged for a natural delivery of the baby. The band refused, wanting him to work with them at Eddie's

5150 Studios 5150 Studios is Eddie Van Halen's recording studio in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The studio is located at 3371 Coldwater Canyon and was built so that Eddie Van Halen could have more control over the recording proce ...

in Los Angeles. After three trips to California, Hagar eventually decided to move with his wife back to his San Francisco home to keep her near. After the first recordings of both songs, Hagar was about to leave for Hawaii when Eddie announced that they wanted to ditch "Between Us Two" and instead extend "Humans Being". Hagar wrote two verses with producer

Bruce Fairbairn Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are '' Slippery When Wet'' a ...

and recorded them in about an hour and a half before departing for his flight. When a second track ended up being required, attempts to bring Sammy back and rework "Between Us Two" were unsuccessful, so Alex and Eddie instead recorded an instrumental titled "

". The process of recording for the movie ended up being the final straw to Sammy's first tenure with Van Halen, as his and Eddie's continued disagreements reached the breaking point.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' praised the "tasty riffs and vocal acrobatics" of the song, but

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

described it as "one of Van Halen's worst tracks", panning its inclusion on ''Best of Volume I''. Chuck Klosterman of

Vulture.com ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

ranked it the 15th-best Van Halen song. The song reached #1 on the ''Billboard''

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

chart for two weeks, becoming their 11th chart-topper. It won a 1996

Metal Edge ''Metal Edge'' was a magazine covering heavy metal music published by Zenbu Media. The magazine was founded in the summer of 1985, during the height of glam metal's success. Zenbu Media acquired ''Metal Edge'' in February 2007. Both ''Metal Ed ...

Readers' Choice Award for "Best Song from a Movie Soundtrack."Metal Edge, June 1997

Personnel

–

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

Alex Van Halen Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie, David Lee Roth, and Mark ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of th ...

* Michael Anthony –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, backing vocals

References

{{authority control 1996 songs Van Halen songs Music videos directed by Rocky Schenck Songs written by Michael Anthony (musician) Songs written by Sammy Hagar Songs written by Alex Van Halen Songs written by Eddie Van Halen