Indovina and Human Drama began their career in New Orleans in the early 80s as The Models, releasing two singles along with compilation appearances. A mid-'80s move to Los Angeles and the discovery of an already existing Australian band also named The Models set the stage for Indovina and company to begin their new incarnation.
The newly renamed Human Drama became a member of the "Scream scene" of the mid-'80s, which sprang up around the short-lived Los Angeles underground goth/metal club that brought Guns N' Roses and Jane's Addiction to the world. Human Drama contributed a song, "Wave of Darkness", to the 1987 Scream Compilation LP, which led to a major label deal with RCA.
1989 saw the release of the debut Hopes Prayers Dreams Heart Soul Mind Love Life Death EP and the full length Feel LP. Both releases featured a electric guitar-oriented approach. Indovina felt that RCA wasn't properly promoting the band, and the band and label parted ways.
Moving to the independent Triple X label, the next Human Drama release was 1992's The World Inside. Stylistically different from the first two releases, Indovina moved Human Drama into a quieter, more strings-based sound. This album is widely regarded as Indovina and Human Drama's most important work. The LP earned the band critical raves and a near fanatical following, especially in Mexico. A solo performance of various cover songs by Indovina at the album's release party predicted the next Human Drama album. Released in 1993, PinUps was an open tribute to David Bowie's album of the same name, a collection of remakes of various sources of inspiration.
A move to New York city accompanied a temporary co-release stint on the Projekt label, resulting in two additional mid-decade releases, 1994's Human Drama EP and 1995's Songs of Betrayal, which was later re-released as two separate discs with additional tracks.
The next Human Drama release would be a live album. 1997's Fourteen Thousand Three Hundred Eighty Four Days Later, featuring many of the early Feel-era songs, along with some new cover song choices.
1999 brought Solemn Sun Setting, which saw a merging of the two "different" Human Drama styles, before the following year's career overview, Best of Human Drama...In a Perfect World.
The final Human Drama album, 2002's Cause and Effect, continuing themes from Solemn Sun Setting, was an unexpected goodbye from Indovina and company, for both the band and their fans.
In 2004, Human Drama recorded their final track, the Beatles "Let It Be", which was given to fans who attended the band's farewell performance in Los Angeles. When asked why he chose "Let It Be" as their final recording Indovina answered, "I strived my entire career to write a song as good as that, but since I couldn't, I decided to record it as a salute to, what is in my opinion, the best song ever written".
Indovina has since moved on with his next project, Sound of the Blue Heart.
King Of Loneliness
Human Drama Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The hate I feel for what I have become allows me no control
Truth has all but vanished from all I say and do
If wishes did come true
I'd wish for the purity I once knew
I'm past the point of no return
I'm past the point of caring
No one ever listens
I am king of loneliness
I can't give this crown away
From never wanting anything
I got too much of nothing
As a boy I did believe if I closed my eyes I would disappear
But I would always open them for fear it would be true
Too much time spent inside and this
Childhood logic is realized
Now look I have disappeared
I closed my eyes too long
"King of Loneliness" by Human Drama is a poignant reflection on the desperate search for a sense of wholeness and purpose in life. The lyrics poetically convey how experiencing self-hatred can strip one of any sense of control and cause one to feel estranged from oneself and the world. The singer is searching for something that has been lost, the purity and innocence of youth. He laments the loss of truth in his life, as he is lost in self-hatred.
The singer is past caring about what happens to him, the point of no return. He has been screaming and no one hears him. He now exists as the "king of loneliness" as he can't give away his crown. The final lines of the song refer to his childhood belief that if he closed his eyes, he would disappear. However, he had opened them every time for fear that his belief would become true. But now, he has closed his eyes for too long, and he has disappeared.
Line by Line Meaning
I am searching for the missing piece that makes me whole
I am seeking something that will complete me and make me feel like a cohesive person
The hate I feel for what I have become allows me no control
My disdain for who I have become has taken over me, leaving me unable to control myself
Truth has all but vanished from all I say and do
My words and actions lack authenticity and honesty
If wishes did come true
I entertain the notion of making a wish, even though I know that it will not bring about any change
I'd wish for the purity I once knew
I long to return to a time when everything was pure and untainted
I'm past the point of no return
I have reached a state in my life where there is no going back
I'm past the point of caring
I no longer care about what happens to me or what I do
I have screamed as loud as I can scream
I have tried to express myself as loudly and emphatically as possible
No one ever listens
Despite my efforts, nobody seems to take notice of what I am saying
I am king of loneliness
I have become the ruler of my own isolation and loneliness
I can't give this crown away
As much as I wish to escape my loneliness, I am unable to do so
From never wanting anything
I have never desired much in life
I got too much of nothing
However, I have ended up with an abundance of emptiness and loneliness instead
As a boy I did believe if I closed my eyes I would disappear
When I was young, I believed that if I closed my eyes, I would disappear from this world
But I would always open them for fear it would be true
However, I would always open them again because I was afraid that I might actually disappear in reality
Too much time spent inside and this
I spent a lot of time indoors growing up
Childhood logic is realized
And now I realize how unrealistic and misguided my beliefs were back then
Now look I have disappeared
Ironically, I have now become invisible in a figurative sense due to my isolation
I closed my eyes too long
I waited too long to open my eyes and now it is too late to change the course of my life
Contributed by Kaitlyn A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.