Lyrics to
Empire State Human

This version of Empire State Human was released by The Human League in 1979.

Our About The Human League page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Empire State Human from 1979 as well as all of the other lyrics from The Human League that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to The Human League or about the 1970s in general.

Since I was very young I realized
I never wanted to be human size
So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams
They just remind me of how small I am
Because of this longing in my heart
I’m going to start the growing art
I’m going to grow now and never stop
Think like a mountain, grow to the top

Tall, tall, tall
I want to be tall, tall, tall
As big as a wall, wall, wall
As big as a wall, wall, wall
And if I’m not tall, tall, tall
Then I will grow, grow, grow
Because I’m not tall
Tall, tall, tall, tall
Tall, tall, tall
Tall, tall, tall
I want to be tall, tall, tall
As big as a wall, wall, wall
As big as a wall, wall, wall
And if I’m not tall, tall, tall
Then I will grow, grow, grow
Because I’m not tall
Tall, tall, tall, tall
Tall, tall, tall

With concentration
My size increased
And now I’m fourteen stories high
(At least)
Empire State human
Just a bored kid
I’ll go to Egypt to be
The pyramids

Tall, tall, tall
(Brick by brick)
I want to be tall, tall, tall
(Stone by stone)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(Growing ’til he’s)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(Fully grown)
And if I’m not tall, tall, tall
(Brick by brick)
Then I will grow, grow, grow
(Stone by stone)
Because I’m not tall
(Growing ’til he’s)
Tall, tall, tall, tall
(Fully grown)
Tall, tall, tall
Tall, tall, tall
(Fetch more water)
I want to be tall, tall, tall
(Fetch more sand)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(Biggest person)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(In the land)
And if I’m not tall, tall, tall
(Fetch more water)
Then I will grow, grow, grow
(Fetch more sand)
Because I’m not tall
(Biggest person)
Tall, tall, tall, tall
(In the land)
Tall, tall, tall

(Brick by brick
Stone by stone
Growing ’til he’s
Fully grown
Brick by brick
Stone by stone
Growing ’til he’s
Fully grown)

Tall, tall, tall
(Fetch more water)
I want to be tall, tall, tall
(Fetch more sand)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(Biggest person)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(In the land)
And if I’m not tall, tall, tall
(Fetch more water)
Then I will grow, grow, grow
(Fetch more sand)
Because I’m not tall
(Biggest person)
Tall, tall, tall, tall
(In the land)
Tall, tall, tall
Tall, tall, tall
(Brick by brick)
I want to be tall, tall, tall
(Stone by stone)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(Growing ’til he’s)
As big as a wall, wall, wall
(Fully grown)
And if I’m not tall, tall, tall
(Brick by brick)
Then I will grow, grow, grow
(Stone by stone)
Because I’m not tall
(Growing ’til he’s)
Tall, tall, tall, tall
(Fully grown)
Tall, tall, tall

(Fetch more water
Fetch more sand
Biggest person
In the land
Fetch more water
Fetch more sand
Biggest person
In the land).

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Want more lyrics and songs by The Human League?

The Human League has released many songs over the years besides Empire State Human. The Human League released songs from 1979 to 2001 spanning across albums like Reproduction, Travelogue, Dare, Fascination!, Hysteria, Crash, Romantic?, Octopus, and Secrets. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Human League.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Empire State Human by The Human League

The lyrics to Empire State Human are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that The Human League used when the song was created in 1979. The lyrics to Empire State Human have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only The Human League and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Empire State Human by The Human League. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Empire State Human" means the words set to the music of Empire State Human, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Human League. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Empire State Human and the lyrics to Empire State Human are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Human League who came here looking just for the lyrics to Empire State Human, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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