Hum - Comin' Home (Official Music Video)

I’ll stake my claim and shout it loud: Hum’s Bryan St. Pere wielded sticks like a sorcerer, conjuring rhythms no mortal drummer could match. His kit was a throne, and he ruled the beat with a swagger that’d make lesser percussionists fumble their mallets in shame.

With a thunderous riff and a melody that sneaks into your soul like a spy on a mission, “Comin’ Home” by Hum is a standout track from their 1998 album *Downward Is Heavenward*. This Champaign, Illinois, rock quartet—Matt Talbott (vocals/guitar), Tim Lash (guitar), Jeff Dimpsey (bass), and Bryan St. Pere (drums)—crafted a song that blends alternative rock with post-hardcore heft, clocking in at a radio-friendly 2:45. Released as the lead single, it climbed to #37 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in February 1998, a testament to its infectious energy, though some fans argue it’s not the album’s finest hour, overshadowed by deeper cuts.

The song’s lyrics, cryptic yet vivid, paint a sci-fi-tinged love story—or so it seems. Talbott once spun a wild tale at a concert, claiming it’s about a female spy traveling to another planet to extract bug juice, injecting it to gain Satanic superpowers, with no drug or sexual undertones. Fans aren’t sure if he was serious or just riffing, but the story’s absurdity adds to the song’s mystique. Another interpretation floats around: two lovers so consumed by each other they’re oblivious to a failing mission, peeling “locust skins from the locust tree” as a metaphor for shedding reality. The quirky time signatures and Bryan’s standout drumming, with fills that make amateur percussionists weep, give the track a chaotic charm. One fan on Reddit swore they could loop the first 20 seconds for eight hours straight, mesmerized.

The music video, directed by Phil Harder (chosen for his stylish work on Failure’s “Stuck on You”), is a visual fever dream. Shot in 1996, it features the band in black, *Dune*-inspired stillsuits, rocking out against a swirling, colorful projection screen. A female scientist in a furry sci-fi parka collects insects in a sped-up, National Geographic-style tundra, communicating via a futuristic device. During the bridge, Talbott appears in a cockpit, sporting a vintage pilot’s cap and goggles, looking like he’s navigating a cosmic storm. The video’s concept, a collaboration between Talbott and Harder, divided fans—some loved its bold weirdness, others found it campy, with one Reddit user joking about the band’s “Devo suits” and the scientist’s “cool goggles.” Behind-the-scenes images shared in 2025 by a Reddit user revealed the shoot’s chaotic creativity, though mixed reactions persist.

Anecdotally, the song’s selection as a single reportedly hinged on its short length, a pragmatic choice that irked purists who felt *Downward Is Heavenward* deserved better representation. Pre-album live performances hinted at a longer, unfinished version, with Talbott teasing new material at a summer fest gig, leaving fans speculating about a missing section. The video’s spy narrative ties loosely to Talbott’s bizarre explanation, with visuals of the scientist handling insect fluids, fueling fan theories about its meaning. One Reddit user misheard the lyric “I’ll take you anywhere you know” as “I’ll take you anywhere but down,” a mistake so common Talbott himself advised fans to stick with their personal interpretations.

In the end, “Comin’ Home” is Hum at their most accessible yet enigmatic, a sonic jolt wrapped in a sci-fi enigma, with a video that’s as divisive as a politician’s tweet. It’s a snapshot of a band unafraid to lean into the absurd, leaving listeners and viewers to decode the madness—or just bang their heads and enjoy the ride.

Lyrics

we're two points collapsing
supercharged from the storm
sun drench in our faces, too deformed
bliss with intent to see us
peeling locust skins from the locust tree
hang on to these places she says to me
clearly in this afternoon
clearly we will have to turn and come home soon
she fell into me a point collapsing
with her loving face in the snow
the mission could be corrupted
and we wouldn't know {and we wouldn't know}
my baby reads for the sound
I've got my feet against the ground
my baby reaches for the sound
I'll take you anywhere you want
loving us more as you see us
peeling locust skins from the locust trees
hang on to their faces she screams to me
clearly in this afternoon
clearly we will have to turn and come home soon