The song was inspired by David Attenborough documentaries and by the relation between humans and animals. Björk explained to "Rolling Stone", talking about the inspiration for the song: "'Human Behaviour' is an animal's point of view on humans. And the animals are definitely supposed to win in the end." On a recent question and answer session with fans on "The Guardian" website, Björk revealed more information about the writing of the song: "I wrote it I was referring to my childhood and probably talking about how I felt more comfortable on my own walking outside singing and stuff than hanging out with humans..."