If you were listening to rock radio in 1996, you couldn't escape the chugging, almost industrial-sounding riff of "Humans Being." It was everywhere. It sounded like the future. It sounded like a band finally leaning into their darkest instincts. But behind the scenes? Honestly, it was a total disaster. Van Halen Human Being isn't just a track on the Twister soundtrack; it is the sonic documentation of a legendary group literally tearing itself apart at the seams.
You’ve probably heard the rumors. The tension between Sammy Hagar and the Van Halen brothers—Eddie and Alex—had been simmering for years, but this one song became the boiling point. It’s a weirdly prophetic piece of music. It marked the end of the "Van Hagar" era and the beginning of a messy, public divorce that fans are still debating decades later.
Why "Humans Being" Sounded So Different
Van Halen was usually about the party. "Jump." "Panama." "Finish What Ya Started." These were songs about cars, girls, and having a good time. But "Humans Being" was dark. Gritty. It had this mechanical, oppressive weight to it.
Eddie Van Halen was going through a lot in '96. He was sober, he was dealing with hip pain, and he was tired of the "pop" direction the band had drifted toward. He wanted something heavier. Something that reflected the chaos of the movie it was written for—a film about giant, destructive tornadoes.
When you listen to the opening, it doesn't sound like a standard Van Halen jam. It’s got a mid-90s edge. It feels like the band was looking at the burgeoning alternative metal scene and saying, "Yeah, we can do that too." But Sammy wasn't on board. Not at first.
The Fight Over the Lyrics
This is where things get messy. Really messy.
Sammy Hagar has always been a "vibes" guy. He likes lyrics about love and the human spirit. Eddie, on the other hand, wanted something darker to match the music. According to Hagar's autobiography, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, the recording sessions at 5150 Studios were miserable.
Eddie wanted specific lyrical changes. Sammy resisted.
There’s a famous story about Sammy flying back and forth to Hawaii just to get away from the tension. He wrote a set of lyrics that were actually quite introspective, focusing on the frailty of humanity. But Eddie and producer Bruce Fairbairn weren't satisfied.
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"I'm telling you, it's about the movie, Sam. It needs to be about the movie," was the sentiment coming from the control room.
Actually, the song ended up being a hybrid. It kept some of Sammy's philosophical leanings but adopted a harsher tone. Lines like "Shine on, shine on / 'Til we all together" felt like a desperate plea for unity in a room where nobody could stand to look at each other.
A Technical Masterpiece in the Midst of Chaos
Despite the drama, the track is a monster. Eddie's guitar work here is some of his most sophisticated from the late 90s. He uses a lot of texture. He’s not just shredding; he’s building a wall of sound.
Alex Van Halen's drumming is equally aggressive. It has a swing that most industrial rock lacks. That’s the secret sauce of Van Halen Human Being. It’s a heavy, modern rock song that still has the "brown sound" soul deep in its DNA.
Michael Anthony, the unsung hero of the band, provides those rock-solid bass lines and the soaring background vocals that defined the era. Even when they hated each other, they sounded like a cohesive unit on tape. It's a testament to their professionalism—or maybe just their shared muscle memory.
The Twister Soundtrack and the End of an Era
Warner Bros. was banking big on Twister. They needed a hit single. They got it, but at what cost?
The song reached Number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It stayed there for two weeks. It proved that Van Halen was still relevant in the age of grunge and post-grunge. But by the time the music video was being shot, the writing was on the wall.
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If you watch the music video for "Humans Being," you’ll notice something. The band members are rarely in the same frame. It’s all clever editing and solo shots. The body language—when they are together—is cold. Sammy looks checked out. Eddie looks intense, focused solely on his fretboard.
Shortly after the song's release, the "official" split happened.
- Sammy was out.
- David Lee Roth was briefly (and confusingly) back in for two songs on a Greatest Hits album.
- Then came the Gary Cherone era.
It was a whirlwind. Pun intended.
The Gear Behind the Sound
For the gearheads wondering how Eddie got that specific "Human Being" tone: he was leaning heavily into his Peavey 5150 amps and his signature Ernie Ball Music Man guitars (though he was transitioning to the Wolfgang line around this time).
The distortion is thick but clear. It’s a very "wet" sound, likely enhanced by Bruce Fairbairn’s production style, which emphasized a huge, cinematic scope. Fairbairn was the guy behind Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation and Pump, so he knew how to make a rock band sound massive.
What We Get Wrong About the Song
People often think this was just a "contractual obligation" song. That’s not true. Eddie was genuinely excited about the musical direction. He thought this was the new blueprint for Van Halen. He wanted to move away from the synth-heavy ballads of the early 90s and get back to being a "power" band.
The tragedy is that this version of the band never got to make a full album in this style. Imagine a whole record that sounded like "Humans Being." It would have been a landmark in 90s hard rock. Instead, we got Van Halen III, an album that remains... polarizing, to say the least.
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The Legacy of the Track
Today, fans view the song with a mix of nostalgia and "what if."
It’s a staple of rock radio for a reason. It captures a moment in time when a legacy act refused to become a legacy act. They wanted to compete with the young guns. They wanted to be loud.
When the band reunited with Sammy for the 2004 tour, they played "Humans Being." It was one of the highlights of the set. It proved the song had staying power beyond the movie tie-in. It was a real Van Halen song, born of fire and friction.
How to Listen to Van Halen Like a Pro
If you want to really appreciate what's happening in this track, don't just stream it on crappy laptop speakers. This is a song built for depth.
- Find a high-quality master. The version on The Best of Volume 1 is the standard, but if you can find the original Twister soundtrack on vinyl or a high-bitrate FLAC file, do it.
- Focus on the layers. Listen to the way Eddie layers the rhythm guitars during the chorus. It’s not just one track; it’s a thick weave of different tones.
- Check out the live versions. Find bootlegs from the 2004 tour. Hearing Sammy belt those lyrics live, years after the initial fight, gives the words a whole new meaning. It sounds less like a movie song and more like a survivor's anthem.
- Compare it to "Respect the Wind." That’s the instrumental track Eddie and Alex did for the same soundtrack. It’s beautiful and haunting. It shows the softer side of the same creative energy that birthed the chaos of "Humans Being."
The story of the song is a reminder that great art often comes from a place of total discomfort. If everyone had been happy and getting along, "Humans Being" probably would have been another upbeat pop-rocker. Instead, we got a dark, complicated masterpiece that perfectly captured the end of one of rock's most successful partnerships.
Moving Forward with the Van Halen Catalog
To truly understand the evolution that led to this point, your next step is to listen to the Balance album (1995) immediately followed by "Humans Being." You can hear the bridge being built—and then burned. Notice the shift in production. Notice how the "happy" Van Halen energy starts to evaporate, replaced by something much more visceral and, frankly, much more interesting. Don't stop at the hits; dig into the mid-90s era where the band was fighting for its identity. That is where the real "human" element of Van Halen lives.