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.
Life Kills
The Human League Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As the breath rasps in and out, of your burning throat
You can't control your lungs because you're so tired
You're half awake with one arm in your coat
Well thank God that there is someone there to drive you
You know you couldn't make it on your own
He helps you through the door
You sit down on the floor
Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills
Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills
For a while it seems exhaustion has subsided
The day is over and the moon is high
But your period of work is predecided
Funny how the hours of freedom seem to fly
Well thank God that there is someone there to drive you
You know you couldn't make it on your own
He helps you in the door
You sit down as before
Another shift to pay another loan
Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills
Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills
Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills
Your life is like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
No one's awake to tell you
Life kills
The Human League's song "Life Kills" talks about the exhausting and mundane routine that people go through in their lives. The song describes a person who is so tired that they feel like they might be dying, but they have someone to drive them home. The person is too tired to even control their own lungs and falls asleep as soon as they sit down on the floor. The chorus of the song emphasizes how life can be like a schedule or a rat race, as people run to meet their bills, and there's no one there to tell them that life, in fact, kills.
The lyrics vividly describe the experience of being so exhausted that even the simplest tasks like breathing become a struggle. The song paints a picture of being stuck in a cycle of work to pay off debts and feeling like there's no escape. The lyrics show how people rely on others to help them through the day, and they're too tired to do anything else on their own. Even after the workday is over, the freedom seems to fly by too quickly, and the cycle starts again.
In conclusion, "Life Kills" is an insightful portrayal of how people become trapped in the cycle of work and debt. It highlights the importance of having a support system to get through tough times and how life can feel like a burden when one is constantly running to meet the bills.
Line by Line Meaning
When you fall into your seat
As you collapse onto your seat, you feel like you're slowly dying
You know you feel you might be dying
You're exhausted to the point where you feel like you're dying
As the breath rasps in and out
You struggle to breathe as your breaths become ragged and shallow
Of your burning throat
Your throat is sore and feels like it's on fire
You can't control your lungs because you're so tired
You feel like you have no control over your breathing because of your extreme tiredness
You're half awake with one arm in your coat
You're so exhausted that you can't even fully awaken and are left with one arm still in your coat
Well thank god that there is someone there to drive you
You're grateful that there's someone to drive you because you don't have the strength to do it yourself
You know you couldn't make it on your own
You're aware that you're too tired and worn out to make it on your own
He helps you through the door
The person helping you gets you to the door
You sit down on the floor
You're so tired that you sit down on the floor
And you're asleep before you are alone
You're so exhausted that you fall asleep immediately and don't even feel alone
Your life is like a schedule
Your life is structured and planned out like a schedule
You run to meet the bills
You're constantly working to pay off your bills
No one's awake to tell you
No one's around to tell you that your life is wearing you down
Life kills
The constant grind of your life is slowly killing you
For a while it seems exhaustion has subsided
At first, it seems like you've recovered from your exhaustion
The day is over and the moon is high
The day is done and the moon is up in the sky
But your period of work is predecided
Your work schedule is predetermined and unchanging
Funny how the hours of freedom seem to fly
Even though you have some free time, it goes by quickly
Another shift to pay another loan
You have to work another shift to pay off another loan
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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