{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}} {{Use British English|date=January 2014}} {{Infobox song | name = Empire State Human | cover = Empirestatehuman.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = The Human League | album = Reproduction | B-side = "Introducing" "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" (Dutch Release) | released = 12 October 1979<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Human-League-Empire-State-Human/release/439290 |title=The Human League - Empire State Human (Vinyl) |website=Discogs.com |access-date=2016-10-15}}</ref> <br>June 1980 <small>(re-release)</small> | recorded = Monumental Studios, Sheffield | studio = | venue = | genre = * Art pop<ref name="Number Ones 2022">{{cite book|last= Breihan|first= Tom|chapter= The Human League - "Don't You Want Me|date= November 15, 2022|title= The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music|publisher=Hachette Book Group|location= New York|page= 132}}</ref> * electro-punk<ref name="Wide 2020">{{cite book|title= A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave|first=Steve|last=Wide|date= September 22, 2020|chapter= Honourable Mentions: The Human League|page= 71|publisher=Smith Street Books|isbn=978-1-925811-76-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEcMzAEACAAJ}}</ref> * electronic rock<ref name="Evans 2024">{{cite book|title= Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983|first=Richard|last=Evans|date= August 6, 2024|chapter= 1979.3|page= 153|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-1-915841-45-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EID8zgEACAAJ}}</ref> * glam rock<ref name="Evans 2024"/> | length = 4:36 | label = Virgin | writer = Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh | producer = The Human League, Colin Thurston | prev_title = I Don't Depend on You | prev_year = The Men, 1979 | next_title = Only After Dark | next_year = 1980 | misc = {{Audio sample | type = single | file = Empire State Human.ogg }} }} '''"Empire State Human"''' is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. The song was written by Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. It was co-produced by The Human League and Colin Thurston, and recorded at Monumental Studios in Sheffield.<ref name="BY">{{cite web|url=http://www.blindyouth.co.uk/ |title=THE HUMAN LEAGUE Blind Youth - the complete guide to The Human League 1977-1980 |website=Blindyouth.co.uk |date=2013-04-09 |access-date=2016-10-15}}</ref>
The song was the third single to be released by the original line-up of the Human League, and the 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 in the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 262}}</ref> 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" 60 times in 3 minutes. Uncut magazine drew a comparison with Oakey's own personal ambition:
{{Cquote|"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...<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/empire_state_human_review.htm |title=Made In Sheffield |website=The-black-hit-of-space.dk |access-date=2016-10-15}}</ref>}}
The B-side, "Introducing", is an instrumental produced by The Human League. Oakey sang on the original recording but the vocals were not used on the released version.<ref name="BY"/>
The open shirted man on the cover artwork is band member Ian Craig Marsh's father.<ref name="BY"/>
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.
In 2022 the song was used as the intro music on the "Surrender" book tour by U2 front man Bono. It was used again for the show's Broadway run in 2023.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{cite web|url=http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/empire_state_human.htm |title=The Human League |website=The-black-hit-of-space.dk |access-date=2016-10-15}}
{{Human League}}
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Category:The Human League songs Category:1979 singles Category:1979 songs Category:Song recordings produced by Colin Thurston Category:Songs written by Martyn Ware Category:Songs written by Philip Oakey Category:Songs written by Ian Craig Marsh Category:Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy Category:Virgin Records singles