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Human Nature (Madonna song)
Encyclopedia
"Human Nature" is the fourth and final single by American
singer-songwriter Madonna
from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories
, released on June 6, 1995 by Maverick Records
.
, Sex
. The song's lyrics contain sarcastic
backing vocals with Madonna asking rhetorical questions based on her real-life actions, such as "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex. I must have been crazy," as well as the line "What was I thinking?" This is backed up by the repeated phrase "Express yourself, don't repress yourself," along with Madonna's affirmation of having no regrets over showing off her "fantasies" and exclaiming that she is not "the one with the problem" and her detractors should "deal with it", because it is "human nature".
Madonna's record label wanted to release a more radio-friendly pop track for the fourth single off the album, "Don't Stop", but Madonna wanted to release "Human Nature" instead and ended up getting her wish. The song itself is a powerful R&B
anthem over a heavily hip-hop flavored beat. The song also samples "What You Need" as performed by hip-hop
group Main Source
.
While "Human Nature" became Madonna's second consecutive single not to enter the top 40 in the U.S. (peaking at number forty-six), it still was a smash on the dance and club charts.
It also entered the top ten on several charts around the world including the UK, Italy, and Japan. In the UK the single entered the chart and peaked at #8. The UK single cover was a shot of Madonna from the video, clad in PVC and leather and sitting on a chair. The cover shot for the U.S. version is from a photo shoot by Bettina Rheims for the December 1994 issue of Details magazine.
Madonna has performed "Human Nature" twice on tour, first by slow-riding a mechanical bull on her 2001 Drowned World Tour
adding some vocoder
voice effects, and in her Sticky & Sweet Tour
in 2008 with an electric guitar, also adding vocoder voice effects on the background harmonies, with a video backdrop of Britney Spears
trapped in an elevator. It also adds the line "It's Britney, bitch"
at the end of the song. Spears made a guest appearance co-performing the song with Madonna on November 6, 2008 during her concert date in Los Angeles.
The video, directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino
(who had previously directed Madonna's videos for "Open Your Heart
" and "Justify My Love
") features Madonna, her dancers (including the first collaboration with Jamie King
, that later would become the choreographer and director for her Drowned World
, Re-invention, Confessions
and Sticky & Sweet
concert tours), and her chihuahua, Chiquita, in black leather outfits. Madonna's look and outfit for this video is "latex and leather" to symbolize the "constrictions of our society." Her hair, which appears brown in the video was actually blonde at the time. She had leather strips painstakingly braided into her hair to blend with her dark roots. The frizzy afro she sports halfway through the video was actually a hairpiece. The costume was sent to be displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
shortly after the video was filmed.
It was shot over two days, May 6 and 7, 1995 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California
. The video was heavily inspired by comic artist, Eric Stanton
. This was stated by Madonna in a behind the scenes interview during the filming of the video in which she said, "Mondino found this book by this illustrator named Stanton who did kinda S&M drawings and stuff, but we didn't want to go with the straight S&M; we wanted to have it be more about making fun of it".
1 Released as "La Isla Bonita
"/"Human Nature"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
from her sixth studio album Bedtime Stories
Bedtime Stories (Madonna album)
Bedtime Stories is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on October 25, 1994 by Maverick Records. Madonna collaborated with Dallas Austin, Babyface, Dave "Jam" Hall and Nellee Hooper, deciding to move into a more R&B direction...
, released on June 6, 1995 by Maverick Records
Maverick Records
Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
.
Song information
"Human Nature" was written in response to the public backlash involving Madonna's previous album, Erotica, and her coffee table bookCoffee table book
A coffee table book is a hardcover book that is intended to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for...
, Sex
Sex (book)
Sex is a coffee table book written by Madonna with photographs by Steven Meisel Studio and film frames taken from film shot by Fabien Baron. The book was edited by Glenn O'Brien. Sex was released on October 21, 1992 by Warner Books...
. The song's lyrics contain sarcastic
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
backing vocals with Madonna asking rhetorical questions based on her real-life actions, such as "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex. I must have been crazy," as well as the line "What was I thinking?" This is backed up by the repeated phrase "Express yourself, don't repress yourself," along with Madonna's affirmation of having no regrets over showing off her "fantasies" and exclaiming that she is not "the one with the problem" and her detractors should "deal with it", because it is "human nature".
Madonna's record label wanted to release a more radio-friendly pop track for the fourth single off the album, "Don't Stop", but Madonna wanted to release "Human Nature" instead and ended up getting her wish. The song itself is a powerful R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
anthem over a heavily hip-hop flavored beat. The song also samples "What You Need" as performed by hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group Main Source
Main Source
Main Source was an innovative, acclaimed Toronto and New York-based hip hop group comprising Toronto natives Sir Scratch, K-Cut, and Queens native Large Professor...
.
While "Human Nature" became Madonna's second consecutive single not to enter the top 40 in the U.S. (peaking at number forty-six), it still was a smash on the dance and club charts.
It also entered the top ten on several charts around the world including the UK, Italy, and Japan. In the UK the single entered the chart and peaked at #8. The UK single cover was a shot of Madonna from the video, clad in PVC and leather and sitting on a chair. The cover shot for the U.S. version is from a photo shoot by Bettina Rheims for the December 1994 issue of Details magazine.
Madonna has performed "Human Nature" twice on tour, first by slow-riding a mechanical bull on her 2001 Drowned World Tour
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
adding some vocoder
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
voice effects, and in her Sticky & Sweet Tour
Sticky & Sweet Tour
The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...
in 2008 with an electric guitar, also adding vocoder voice effects on the background harmonies, with a video backdrop of Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
trapped in an elevator. It also adds the line "It's Britney, bitch"
Gimme More
"Gimme More" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, Blackout. It was released on September 27, 2007 by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. The song was written by Jim Beanz, Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica, Nate "Danja" Hills and Keri Hilson...
at the end of the song. Spears made a guest appearance co-performing the song with Madonna on November 6, 2008 during her concert date in Los Angeles.
Music video
Jean-Baptiste Mondino
Jean-Baptiste Mondino is a French fashion photographer and music video director. He has directed music videos for Madonna, David Bowie, Sting, Björk, Neneh Cherry and Les Rita Mitsouko...
(who had previously directed Madonna's videos for "Open Your Heart
Open Your Heart
Open Your Heart may refer to:* "Open Your Heart" * "Open Your Heart" * "Open Your Heart" * "Open Your Heart" , the Icelandic entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, by Birgitta Haukdal...
" and "Justify My Love
Justify My Love
"Justify My Love" is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 1990 greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection and was released on November 6, 1990, by Sire Records. It caused international controversy due to the accompanying music video which was sexually explicit...
") features Madonna, her dancers (including the first collaboration with Jamie King
Jamie King
Jamie King is a creative director and choreographer whose work directing concert tours for pop stars has grossed over two billion dollars...
, that later would become the choreographer and director for her Drowned World
Drowned World Tour
The Drowned World Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums Ray of Light and Music. It was also her first tour in eight years, following The Girlie Show World Tour in 1993...
, Re-invention, Confessions
Confessions Tour
Confessions Tour was the seventh concert tour by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It supported her tenth studio album, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Madonna confirmed the possibility of going out on a tour as early as November 2005. Jamie King, Madonna's longtime collaborator, was then hired on...
and Sticky & Sweet
Sticky & Sweet Tour
The Sticky & Sweet Tour was the eighth worldwide concert tour by American singer Madonna to promote her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy. It began in August 2008 and was Madonna's first tour from her new recording and business deal with Live Nation. The tour was announced in February 2008, with...
concert tours), and her chihuahua, Chiquita, in black leather outfits. Madonna's look and outfit for this video is "latex and leather" to symbolize the "constrictions of our society." Her hair, which appears brown in the video was actually blonde at the time. She had leather strips painstakingly braided into her hair to blend with her dark roots. The frizzy afro she sports halfway through the video was actually a hairpiece. The costume was sent to be displayed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
shortly after the video was filmed.
It was shot over two days, May 6 and 7, 1995 at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood, California
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
. The video was heavily inspired by comic artist, Eric Stanton
Eric Stanton
Eric Stanton was an American bondage and fetish illustrator, cartoonist, and comic-book artist.The majority of his work depicted female dominance scenarios.-Early life and career:...
. This was stated by Madonna in a behind the scenes interview during the filming of the video in which she said, "Mondino found this book by this illustrator named Stanton who did kinda S&M drawings and stuff, but we didn't want to go with the straight S&M; we wanted to have it be more about making fun of it".
- Director: Jean-Baptiste Mondino
- Producer: Anita Wetterstedt
- Director of Photography: Harris Savides
- Editor: Robert Duffy
- Production Company: Palomar Pictures Inc.
Track listings and formats
- UK CD single
- "Human Nature" (radio edit) – 4:09 [radio edit of the Human Club Mix]
- "Human Nature" (The Human Club Mix) – 9:05
- "Human Nature" (Chorus Door Slam with Nine Sample) – 4:48
- "Human Nature" (The Runway Club Mix) – 8:19
- "Human Nature" (I'm Not Your Bitch) – 8:11
- UK cassette single
- "Human Nature" (radio edit) – 4:09 [radio edit of the Human Club Mix]
- "Human Nature" (Chorus Door Slam with Nine Sample) – 4:48
- UK CD single
- "Human Nature" (album version) – 4:54
- "Bedtime Story" (Junior's Sound Factory Mix) – 9:15
- "Bedtime Story" (Orbital Mix) – 7:41
- UK 12" single
- "Human Nature" (Human Club Mix) – 9:05
- "Human Nature" (The Runway Club Mix) – 8:19
- "Human Nature" (Master With Nine Sample) – 4:48
- "Human Nature" (I'm Not Your Bitch mix) – 8:11
- US CD single / US cassette single / US 7" single
- "Human Nature" (radio version) – 4:30
- "Sanctuary" (album version) – 5:03
- US CD maxi single
- "Human Nature" (radio edit) [radio edit of the Human Club Mix]
- "Human Nature" (Runway Club Mix Radio Edit)
- "Human Nature" (Runway Club Mix)
- "Human Nature" (I'm Not Your Bitch Mix)
- "Human Nature" (Howie Tee Remix)
- "Human Nature" (Howie Tee Clean Remix)
- "Human Nature" (radio version)
- "Human Nature" (Bottom Heavy Dub)
- "Human Nature" (Love is the Nature Mix)
Official versions and remixes
Remixes of "Human Nature" include mixes by Howie Tee and Danny Tenaglia.- Album version – 4:53
- Radio version – 4:32
- Howie Tee Remix – 4:48
- Howie Tee Clean Remix – 4:48
- Human Club Mix – 9:06
- Human Club Mix Radio Edit – 4:09
- Runaway Club Mix – 8:19
- Runaway Club Mix Radio Edit – 3:59
- Love Is the Nature Mix – 6:41
- I'm Not Your Bitch Mix – 8:11
- Bottom Heavy Dub – 7:57
Release history
| Country | Date |
|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
June 6, 1995 |
| Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
August 20, 1995 |
Charts
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... Singles Chart |
17 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
9 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 11 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
50 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
21 |
| Italian FIMI Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... Singles Chart |
10 |
| Japanese Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Weekly Singles Chart |
511 |
| Japanese Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... International Singles Chart |
101 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... Singles Chart |
37 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
17 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
46 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 58 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales | 35 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
57 |
1 Released as "La Isla Bonita
La Isla Bonita
"La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released as the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, on February 25, 1987, by Sire Records. Originally written as a lament, the song was first offered to Michael Jackson before Madonna accepted it...
"/"Human Nature"