"Human Nature" is a 1991 song performed by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Gary Clail. It is produced by

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques ...

and features Lana Pellay on backing vocals. Released as the first single from his second album, ''Emotional Hooligan'' (1991), it peaked at number ten on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number three on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...

. It was also the theme tune to BBC 2's TV-show ''

Snub A snub, cut or slight is a refusal to recognise an acquaintance by ignoring them, avoiding them or pretending not to know them. For example, a failure to greet someone may be considered a snub. In Awards and Lists For awards, the term "snub" ...

''. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was also produced to promote the single. It was originally intended to use a sample of a speech by

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

on the track, however his representatives refused permission, so the song used portions of the speech re-recorded by Clail. However some promo 12" singles featuring the Billy Graham sample were pressed and distributed.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine '' Music & Media'' deemed it an "outstanding" song from the ''Emotional Hooligan'' album. James Hamilton from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' called it a "bassily chugging angry roller". James Brown from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' described it as "another electrifying club track that brings the old On-U Sound up to date and bullies the social conscience with its words. Boxheads will recognize its staple technique as being the

signature tune, but of course there's more. Comic strip-per Lana Pellay adds a Bacchanalian chorus call, and Sherwood and Oakenfold do the business at the controls. Light, tight, and destined to beat up the charts. The man has presence." ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' picked it as Single of the Week. Jack Barron wrote, "With all the momentum of a nailbomb explosion in the privates, Gary Clail spins once more into orbit riding on the back of a stellar keyboard riff, which you'll instantly recognise as the theme tune to 'Snub TV'". He added, "As a purely physical club experience, 'Human Nature' is like strapping yourself to a roller-coaster that suddenly leaves the rails."

Chart performance

The single peaked at number ten on the

, number three on the

, number 27 in Ireland, and at number 69 in the Netherlands. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 29 in April 1991. Outside Europe, it peaked at number 38 in Australia.

Track listing

* 7" single, UK & Europe (1991) #"Human Nature" (On The Mix Edit) #"Human Nature" (Why Is It? Mix) * 12" single, Europe (1991) #"Human Nature" (On The Mix) – 6:18 #"Rumours" – 4:40 * CD single, UK & Europe (1991) #"Human Nature" (On The Mix Edit) – 3:40 #"Human Nature" (On The Mix) – 6:18 #"Rumours" – 4:40

Charts

References

1991 singles 1991 songs Perfecto Records singles Electro songs House music songs {{1990s-single-stub