"Human Sadness" is the debut single by American rock band

Julian Casablancas + The Voidz Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (give ...

. It was released on September 2, 2014 via Casablancas' indie record label

Cult Records Cult Records is an independent record label founded by Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) in 2009. Initially used as an imprint for Casablancas' solo releases, Cult later became a standalone label, and in June 2014 entered a label services ag ...

and is from their debut album ''

Tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

''. The song is nearly eleven minutes long.

Origin and composition

Drummer Alex Carapetis brought a sample of Mozart's Requiem in D Minor to lead singer Julian Casablancas attention, which was then used as a starting point. The lyrics of the song, "Put money in my hand and I will do the things you want me to," allude to their album's themes of greed and corruption, while the rest of the song examines the lead singer's relationship with his estranged father,

John Casablancas John Casablancas (December 12, 1942 – July 20, 2013) was an American modeling agent and scout who founded Elite Model Management. Casablancas is remembered for his development of the supermodel concept. He is the father of The Strokes frontma ...

, who died in 2013 from cancer.

Reception

"Human Sadness" has been described very positively by critics, some describing it as "a structure-less beast that features everything from jarring noise and warped, processed vocals to bombastic stadium rock solos and a hint of the gritty NYC punk Casablancas is best known for." It has also been compared to the

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

album '' The Age of Adz''.

Music video

The music video for Human Sadness was released on May 27, 2015. The video was co-directed by

Warren Fu Warren Fu is an American music video director, illustrator and designer. He has directed videos for artists such as Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, The Strokes, the Killers, Hayley Williams, Mark Ronson, and Julian Casablancas. Fu is signed to Par ...

Nicholaus Goossen Nicholaus Edward Goossen (born August 18, 1978) is a director, and a photographer. Life and career Goossen's first feature film was '' Grandma's Boy'' for Happy Madison Productions and 20th Century Fox. He collaborated with Adam Sandler (executiv ...

, and Wissa. The story of the video was conceived by Casablancas, Fu, and bassist Jake Bercovici and explores several storylines of human sorrow and anguish, portrayed by each member of the band juxtaposed against footage of the band playing as the apocalypse occurs on Earth. The video was inspired by the story of "the band that played on" on the Titanic as the ship sank. The end credits feature the demo of Human Sadness that Casablancas composed for the 2012 short film "The Unseen Beauty", a profile on Casablancas' step-father and artistic mentor Sam Adoquei. The music video took over a year to complete.

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 debut singles Songs written by Julian Casablancas The Voidz songs Music videos directed by Warren Fu