"Humans Being" was released as a radio-only single in the United States on April 23, 1996, peaking atop the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for two weeks later that year.

In January 1996, as the band rested following the end of The Balance "Ambulance" Tour in November 1995, manager Ray Danniels suggested to Eddie Van Halen and his brother Alex to write songs for the movie, Twister.

[3] When a second track ended up being required, attempts to bring Sammy back and rework "Between Us Two" were unsuccessful, so Alex and Eddie instead recorded an instrumental titled "Respect the Wind".

[2] The process of recording for the movie ended up being the final straw to Sammy's first tenure with Van Halen, as his and Eddie's continued disagreements reached the breaking point.

Billboard praised the "tasty riffs and vocal acrobatics" of the song,[6] but AllMusic described it as "one of Van Halen's worst tracks", panning its inclusion on Best of Volume I.