"Empire State Human" is a song by the British Synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 group The Human League

The Human League

The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...

. The song was written by Philip Oakey

Philip Oakey

Philip Oakey is an English composer, singer, songwriter and producer.He is best known as the lead singer, frontman and co-founder of the famous English synthpop band The Human League. He has also had an extensive solo music career and collaborated with numerous other artists and producers...

, Martyn Ware

Martyn Ware

Martyn "Teddy Bear" Ware is a British musician and music producer. He is the chairman of a local football team: PPA. As a founder member of both The Human League and Heaven 17, he was partly responsible for hit records such as "Being Boiled" and "Temptation"...

 and Ian Craig Marsh

Ian Craig Marsh

Ian Craig Marsh is a former English musician. He was a founding member of the electronic band The Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form B.E.F...

. It was produced by Colin Thurston

Colin Thurston

Colin Thurston was a British recording engineer and producer.Born in Singapore, Thurston played in bands in London before he "bluffed his way" into audio engineering...

, and recorded at Monumental Studios in Sheffield.

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

Reproduction (album)

Reproduction is the debut album released by British synthpop band The Human League. The album was released in October 1979 through Virgin Records Ltd....

. Upon its first release in September 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

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

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

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

External links

• http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/empire_state_human.htm
• http://www.blindyouth.co.uk/