Empire State Human

"Empire State Human" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. The song was written by Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. It was produced by Colin Thurston, and recorded at Monumental Studios in Sheffield.^[2] It was used in the 2012 video game Lollipop Chainsaw in a minigame for the retro stage, and also featured on the game's original soundtrack.

The song was the third single to be released by the original line-up of the Human League, and the first and only single from the band's 1979 debut album Reproduction. Upon its first release in October 1979, the single failed to chart. However, it was re-released in June 1980 and fared slightly better, reaching number 62. For the re-release, Virgin Records included a free copy of the single "Only After Dark" with the first 15,000 copies as a sweetener.

Lyrically, "Empire State Human" is a song about becoming powerful using the analogy of size, with Oakey declaring that he wants to be "tall" a total of 60 times in 3 minutes. Uncut magazine drew a comparison with Oakey's own personal ambition:

“

"I wanna be tall, tall, tall, as big as a wall, wall, wall". Oakey's Nietzschian pop fantasy reflected his own burgeoning full-on pop ambitions...^[3]

”

The B-side, "Introducing", is an instrumental. Oakey sang on the original recording but the vocals were not used on the released version. ^[2]

The open shirted man on the cover artwork is in fact Ian Craig Marsh's father.^[2]

References

↑
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Turner, Sean: Blind Youth, the complete works of the original Human League 1977-1980
↑ Stubbs, David: Uncut Magazine 2001

External links

v t e The Human League

Philip Oakey Joanne Catherall Susan Ann Sulley Ian Craig Marsh Martyn Ware Philip Adrian Wright Ian Burden Jo Callis Jim Russell

Albums	Reproduction Travelogue Dare Love and Dancing Hysteria Crash Romantic? Octopus Secrets Credo

Compilation albums	Greatest Hits Soundtrack to a Generation The Very Best of the Human League (Ark 21) The Golden Hour of the Future The Very Best of the Human League Live at the Dome Original Remixes & Rarities

EPs	The Dignity of Labour Holiday '80 Fascination! Dance Like a Star

Singles	"Being Boiled" "I Don't Depend on You" "Empire State Human" "Only After Dark" "Boys and Girls" "The Sound of the Crowd" "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" "Open Your Heart" "Don't You Want Me" "Mirror Man" "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" "The Lebanon" "Life on Your Own" "Louise" "Human" "I Need Your Loving" "Love Is All That Matters" "Heart Like a Wheel" "Soundtrack to a Generation" "Tell Me When" "One Man in My Heart" "Filling Up with Heaven" "Stay with Me Tonight" "All I Ever Wanted" "Love Me Madly?" "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" "Night People" "Never Let Me Go" "Egomaniac" "Sky"

Video and DVDs	Video Single (1983) The Human League Greatest Hits (VHS) The Very Best of the Human League (DVD) The Human League Live at the Dome (DVD)

Related articles	Discography Heaven 17 Crazy Daisy Nightclub British Electric Foundation Martin Rushent Jam and Lewis Giorgio Moroder Michiel Van Bokhorst Fast Records Synthpop Sheffield Reproductions Together in Electric Dreams (album)

Other projects	YMO Versus The Human League

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.