Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were both working as computer programmers in 1977, and combined a love of pop music (such as glam rock and Tamla Motown) with avant garde electronic music. They acquired a Roland System 100 synthesizer and began to create music in their own rehearsal facility. Initially they formed a group called The Dead Daughters, which then became The Future with Adi Newton on vocals. Newton was soon dismissed and left to form the outfit Clock DVA. Ware and Marsh searched for a vocalist, but their first choice, Glenn Gregory (who would be the lead singer of their later band, Heaven 17), was unavailable. Ware instead decided to invite Philip Oakey, an old school friend, and a hospital porter at the time to join the band, "apparently by leaving a note stuck to his door". Oakey accepted the invitation, despite never having been in a band before. Shortly after, they decided to call themselves The Human League. A collection of demos from this period was released on CD in 2002, titled The Golden Hour of The Future, compiled by Richard X.
The original lineup of The Human League debuted in 1978 with the single "Being Boiled", a dark synth track that would later become extremely influential on later industrial musicians (namely Trent Reznor of the Nine Inch Nails). This single and it's follow-up "Empire State Human" were modest sucesses, however the group's albums - 1979's "Reproduction" and 1980's "Travelogue" - did not sell. This caused a rift in the band, and in 1980, Ian Marsh and Martyn Ware left the group.
Following the split of the original line-up, Phillip Adrian Wright (their live slide projectionist) fully joined the group and Oakey & himself released another flop single, "Boys and Girls". In order to fulfil their European tour commitments, they recruited bass player Ian Burden, and fronted the band with two singers, Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, schoolgirls whom they had met in a Sheffield nightclub, and managed to complete the tour.
In 1981, Virgin Records paired them with former Stranglers producer Martin Rushent, and the first result was the single "The Sound of the Crowd", which saw them at last achieve success in the singles chart. Guitarist Jo Callis (formerly of The Rezillos) was now recruited to the band, and with Rushent at the helm, The Human League recorded their most successful album to date, "Dare!". It achieved huge success, fuelled by its further hit singles, "Open Your Heart", "Love Action" and most famously "Don't You Want Me", which reached number one in the UK charts during the Christmas of 1981 and was one of the biggest selling singles of that year, and it also charted at number one in the US during the summer of 1982. These three releases were accompanied by striking promo videos ("Love Action" based on the movie The Graduate). During their Dare! phase, the Human League were often associated with the New Romantic movement.
The band also had a number of other hits but their success faded towards the mid-1980s. Arguably, one problem was the length of time the band took to make a record. Dare! was followed by the six-song EP Fascination! (featuring hit singles "Mirror Man" and "Fascination") as a stopgap, and it took three years to release a full-length follow-up album, "Hysteria".
In 1985, outside of the Human League, Oakey scored a huge hit single in collaboration with one of his idols, synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder, with the single "Together in Electric Dreams", taken from the film soundtrack to Electric Dreams. The pair proceeded to record an entire album for Virgin, Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, but this met with rather less success.
In 1986, the group found themselves in creative stagnation, struggling to record material to follow up on their previous success. Key songwriter Jo Callis departed, replaced by drummer Jim Russell, and Virgin paired the League up with cutting-edge American R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The result was the "Crash" album. The album featured much material written by Jam and Lewis' team, and showcased their distinctive DX7-led sound, making it quite a departure from previous Human League material. It did provide an American number one single, "Human", but other singles made smaller chart impact.
The following tour saw keyboardist Neil Sutton join the line-up and also keyboardist/guitarist Russell Dennett. Since 1990, their resident engineer on and off stage has been David Beevers. Following Dennett's departure in 1996, Nic Burke has been his replacement for live work since 2001.
The Human League released a new album, Credo in March 2011.
Being Boiled
The Human League Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Saying stop your sericulture
Little people like your offspring
Boiled alive for some Gods stocking
Buddha's watching, Buddha's waiting
Just because the kid's an orphan
Is no excuse for thoughtless slaying
Just because you call her mother
Doesn't mean that she's your better
Once more with the voice of Buddha
He'll say carry on your slaughter
Who cares for the little children
You may slice with no conviction
Blind revenge on a blameless victim
The Human League's "Being Boiled" primarily deals with the theme of social injustices and cruelty towards the helpless, particularly women and children. The opening lines of the song, "Listen to the voice of Buddha, saying stop your sericulture," may be interpreted as a call for stopping the practice of breeding silkworms for commercial purposes. The next few lines, "little people like your offspring, boiled alive for some God's stocking," are a reference to the gruesome practice of boiling silkworms alive to extract silk, drawing an analogy with the brutal treatment of vulnerable human beings by powerful entities or gods.
The following lines, "Just because the kid's an orphan, is no excuse for thoughtless slaying, children don't forget this torture, just because you call her mother doesn't mean that she's your better," highlight the inhumanity of killing innocent children, even if they are orphans, and question the idea that mothers are always virtuous and just, which is often used to justify their actions.
The song's final lines, "Once more with the voice of Buddha, he'll say carry on your slaughter, who cares for the little children, you may slice with no conviction, blind revenge on a blameless victim," are suggestive of the perpetual cycle of violence, whereby the perpetrators of injustice are often unremorseful and perpetuate the violence further, without any thought or consideration for the victims.
Overall, "Being Boiled" is a powerful, thought-provoking song that uses vivid imagery to highlight the absurdity of social injustices and the cyclical nature of violence.
Line by Line Meaning
Listen to the voice of Buddha
Pay attention to the teachings of Buddha
Saying stop your sericulture
Buddha is advocating against killing silkworms for silk production
Little people like your offspring
Insects such as silkworms are small and vulnerable, just like your children
Boiled alive for some Gods stocking
Silkworms are killed in boiling water to make silk products for human consumption
Buddha's watching, Buddha's waiting
Buddha is all-seeing and patiently waiting for humans to learn from his teachings
Just because the kid's an orphan
Being an orphan doesn't justify killing or harming someone
Is no excuse for thoughtless slaying
Killing without reason or thought goes against Buddhist beliefs
Children don't forget this torture
Killing and torture leave a lasting impact on those who witness it, especially children
Just because you call her mother
Having a mother figure doesn't justify harming or killing others
Doesn't mean that she's your better
No one person is better or superior to others based on their relationship with someone else
Once more with the voice of Buddha
Again, listen to the teachings of Buddha
He'll say carry on your slaughter
As a test, Buddha may tell someone to carry on with his or her actions, even if they are violent or harmful
Who cares for the little children
The singer is questioning the lack of empathy for the innocent victims of violence
You may slice with no conviction
Committing violence or murder without any remorse is wrong and goes against Buddhist beliefs
Blind revenge on a blameless victim
Seeking revenge on an innocent person is unjust and will only cause more suffering
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IAN CRAIG MARSH, MARTYN WARE, PHILIP OAKEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind