IT'S FRIDAY AND I use 12 minutes to recap the week. This past week, I believe I got along better with humans so I'm looping Björk as a testimony to my achievement.
If you ever get close to a human
And human behavior
Be ready, be ready to get confused
There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic
To human behavior
But yet so, yet so irresistible
And there's no map
They're terribly moody
And human behavior
Then all of a sudden turn happy
But, oh, to get involved in the exchange
Of human emotions
Is ever so, ever so satisfying
Oh oh, and there's no map
Human behavior, human
Human, human behavior, human
Human, human behavior, human
Human behavior, human
And there's no map
And the compass
Wouldn't help at all
I teach very creative media and animation students on the campus of LIT-Clonmel and think "Human Behaviour" by Icelandic recording artist Björk deserves to be part of their media analysis. The song comes from Björk's album Debut (1993), one of the first CDs I purchased upon my arrival in Ireland 21 years ago. The song was released in June 1993 and got some airplay on Irish mainstream radio.
"Human Behaviour" reflects upon human nature and emotion from a non-human animal's point of view. I appreciated how the song and music video reflected British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough because when I first heard "Human Behavior" I was also first exposed to BBC television on a regular basis.
Over the years, critics have praised "Human Behaviour" and like many of them, I think it is a highlight of the album. I heard it played in Dublin's Ri Ra, proving its status as an underground smash. In fact, it peaked at number two on the dance charts and reached number 36 in the UK Singles Chart.
I plan to ask students to dissect the music video with particular emphasis on how director Michel Gondry portrays the relation between humans and animals, from the animal point of view.
+++ Bernie Goldbach teaches creative media for business at the Limerick Institute of Technology.
Bjork.com -- O Zone Interview". Retrieved 26 December 2011.
Bjork -- "Human Behavior" on YouTube.