Analysis of “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man
I was raised in a Catholic family, from my both Mom and Dad’s side, and I was taught the basics, how god created the world, how we came from Adam and Eve, how they were the first people to sin, how heaven is the ultimate goal of humanity. But one phrase that always go kept in my mind, and is one of the reason today am atheist, is “everything happens, because god wanted it to happen”. This made other people (including me) question God’s decision, on what happens in this world. The song Human, by Rag’n’Bone Man, is a song from mid 2016, about the singer stating that him is just “Human’, that he is imperfect like anybody else. That he shouldn’t be held accountable for the mistakes that he does, since everybody make mistakes, and over all that he shouldn’t be blamed for the things he does. That in fact, we should blame the “Lord” responsible for everything that happens in this world, that he is responsible for the people “who got the real problem, the people that are “out of luck”, for the mistakes that he or everybody mades. And Rag’n’Bone uses different techniques to put that point across, techniques like Parallel Strucute, Rhymes, Repetition and First Person Narrative.
Rag’n’Bone uses Parallel Structure to state the fact that God may not be real. This is show when in the minute 0:14 of the song, he states “Maybe I’m foolish, maybe I’m blind, thinking I can see through this and see what’s behind. Got no way to prove it, so maybe I’m blind”. This shows how he repeats the same structures of the phrase “maybe I’m…” three times to state that he may not be right about god existing since he got no way to prove it, and while believing in him he might look like a foolish to some people or even blind, since he is having “faith” (or as shown later, lack of faith) on something he can’t prove is real. This relates to the main idea of the song that is “don’t blame me since I’m just human, blame god who is responsible”, by bringing up the fact that Rag’n’Bone does believe in good, and that he understands that other people might not believe in god, that some people might call him foolish, blind or just ridicule him in general since he knows he can’t prove his believe.
Rag’n’Bone also uses a mixture of Parallel structure and Rhymes to state how god should be blamed for the problems happening in the world, and to complain how unfair the world is. This is shown in minute 1:05 “Some people got the real problems, some people out of luck, some people think I can solve them, Lord heavens above”. This shows how he clearly states that people have real/serious problems that we should be concerned about, yet people think that Rag’n’Bone is able to solve them, when in reality the only one capable to do it he believe is god. This quotes relates to the main idea that is “don’t blame me since I’m just human, blame god who is responsible” by not only stating that he believes in god and heaven, but also that he is not so happy of what “God”is doing with Humans. Since he states that a lot of people have problems and out of luck, referring to people being homeless, starving and dying, and that the people seeking for Rag’n’Bone’s help should be asking “Lord Heaven above” since they have the power to do it, unlike him which is only human.
In addition he also states that “I am no prophet or messiah, Should go looking somewhere higher”. Which indicates that people again when seeking for his help, he is not capable of helping, since he doesn’t have divine power like a prophet or messiah. That when people got problems they should go to somewhere or someone higher that him, meaning with more power, and more capable of helping. This also adds to the Idea of “don’t blame me since I’m just human, blame god who is responsible” because by someone higher doesn’t nessecerally refers to a human or mortal, but to in fact the “highest of beings”, god himself. And that when in case of help you should ask god and not him, since god is more capable of helping.
Rag’n’Bone also uses First Person Narration to present his side of the issue he is facing. For example, in minute 2:20 he states “I’m only human I make mistakes, I’m only human that’s all it takes to put the blame on me, Don’t put the blame on me”. This how he is being blamed for the mistakes he does, but he states that he should be forgiven since he is only human, and everybody makes mistakes. This relates to the main idea of “don’t blame me since I’m just human, blame god who is responsible”, by again saying that he shouldn’t be blamed for his mistakes because he is only human, that if anybody should be responsible it should be god and not him or humans in general. This idea is strengthened through the song by the use of Repetition in the line “I’m only human”, highlighting the fact that as much he might try to help, or as much he commits mistakes, at the end of the day he is only human, and god is the only one with divine power to truly help
In conclusion, the song “Human” by Rag’n’Bone is about the Narrator (Rag’n’Bone) talking about him being just a human, meaning that he is not perfect therefore shouldn’t be blamed, since like everybody he commits mistakes which should be forgiven. That he does believe in a god, which people agree or disagree with him, people might call him blind or foolish since he can’t prove the existence of his god; but that the god he believes in have responsibilities in this world, like helping the people who are in need, the people who are out of luck, the people with real and serious problems. That those negative aspects of the world, as much as he tries to help, people should ask the one responsible of those problems, because as the phrase says “everything happens for a reason”, in this case everything happens because god wanted it to happen, therefore him should be the one to blame, and not Rag’n’Bone since he is not a prophet, messiah or any other higher being, but only a “Human”.
Graham, Rory (Rag’n’Bone). Human. July 21, 2016
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