Human Beings

This song is a look at death and mortality - we're mere human beings, thus we are destined to die. Seal came up with the idea in light of the murders of Tupac Shakur (killed in 1996 at 25) and Notorious B.I.G. (killed in 1997 at 24). He told MTV: "It's basically saying that we are not invincible. That we are human beings and that we are born into this life, we have a vocation to fill, and then we die, and that vocation is not pretending we are gangsters." He added: "It is essentially a song of love. It was also, I guess, inspired by this constant fear of death that we seem to live in."

This was the title track to Seal's third album, his first since Seal four years earlier. That album produced a #1 hit with "Kiss From A Rose," but "Human Beings" stalled at #50 in his native UK and didn't chart at all in America despite excellent reviews for the album. The next two singles didn't chart either, and with scant airplay, Seal's tour was cut short. He fared better with his next album, Seal IV, in 2003.

Trevor Horn, known for his work with The Buggles and Yes, produced Seal's first two albums and was set to work on Human Being when he had a row with Seal in 1997 and relinquished the role. Stewart Levine got the gig, but that didn't pan out and Horn ended up producing it after reconciling with Seal.