ZEMBU is a female musician and producer with Japanese-Jewish-American roots. Born and raised in Seattle, now based in Colorado, where she made her debut in the music world this January with “Lavender Taste,” a song about the subtleties of falling in love with her partner, Becca. Human is a song about the day she found out her mom died by suicide. Poetically honest, ZEMBU will take you on an indie-pop like journey to a relatable place.

“Human is about the day I found out my mom died by suicide when I was 15 years old. I remember writing this song on my bed with tears pouring out of me—the kind of unconstrained tears that come after finally being able to feel again.” ZEMBU says. “Creating this song allowed me to drop back into that day—what I saw, what I smelled, what I felt. It has been such a healing process for me.”

“This song also goes far beyond my mom; it celebrates our humanness. How real and okay it is to feel the ups and downs of this life. That’s the beautiful part of being human.”

ZEMBU. Photos provided by Sophie Pellegrini.

ZEMBU hopes Human can help reduce stigma around suicide and support healing. “Through my mom and my own struggles with mental health, I’ve found it is necessary to talk about suicide to end the shaming that often surrounds mental health issues. The power of recognizing we’re not alone goes so far.” ZEMBU says.

Filming the video was healing for ZEMBU. The elements were her inspiration. “Water. The ebb and flow of it, the waves, the current, the calm. The year before my mom died, we were living in West Seattle right next to Lincoln Park. Lincoln park lines a small part of the Puget Sound with views of the San Juan Islands and Ferries passing by” ZEMBU says. “During a particularly hard time in our lives, she and I would connect by walking there. We’d let the sun breathe through us and listen to the waves wash onshore. Water reminds me of this time of life and her. That’s what led us to Big Sur, California, to shoot the music video. I knew water and the dramatic scenery would be necessary to capture the significance of this time. The close-up angles, the simple subtleties of my body, and nature all have the intention of capturing our humanness and the nature of who we are, as we are.”

Song Lyrics

Verse 1:
Is a message with no receiver, a message at all?
I was rewriting this story when you took the fall
Unfamiliar colors, beggin them to be the same
I was so ready to the take the blame

Chorus:
A knowing on the ride home,
A knowing without being told,
A knowing to be washed away,
A knowing from your mother’s soul I am human after all
I am human after all
I am human after all
I am human after all

Verse 2:
A door opens in slow motion,
Faces tell before words can be spoken
Room sinks in while battling this notion,
Time halts and I swear it’s my fault and how do you tell her
She won’t say goodnight no more
Simplicity comes in a haunting form
How did this, how did this ever become the norm?

Bridge:
What if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if
The note was never wrote
What if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if
This is no way to live

Chorus:
A knowing on the ride home,
A knowing without being told,
A knowing to be washed away,
A knowing from your mother’s soul

I am human after all
I am human after all
We are human after all
We are human after all