I was shopping in a small store the other day. How small was it? It was so small it was just me, the sales person, and the most amazing voice belting it out over the store’s speakers. Since neither of us recognized the singer, I pressed the Shazam app on my cell phone and found out the song was “Human” and the artist was Rag’n’Bone Man. My favorite mystery: an interesting name, a deep rich voice, and a killer song.
Back at home I found out “Human” was this English singer’s first hit from back in 2016. You may know the song if you watch the Amazon Prime series Oasis or from other sources like the video game Mass Effect: Andromeda, the 2017 film Thank You for Your Service, or the television series Inhumans and Into the Badlands.
So why did Rory Graham decide to call himself Rag’n’Bone Man. Apparently, there was an old TV series in London featuring two rag and bone men or totters. (In the US, we might describe them as folks down on their luck just scraping by.) The characters in Steptoe and Son were comedic and made an impression on Rory Graham at an early age.
With over 600 million views, here’s the link to “Human.” The tempo change at the 1:04 minute mark is worth waiting for. Enjoy, and if you don’t see the link below, copy and paste this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wKzyIN1yk
