The Lebanon (song)

Single infobox |
Name = The Lebanon


Artist = The Human League
from Album = Hysteria
Released = 1984
Format = 7" single, 12" single
Recorded = 1984
Genre = Synthpop,
Rock
Length = 4.09
Label = Virgin
Writer = Philip Oakey
Jo Callis
Producer = Chris Thomas
Hugh Padgham
Last single = "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" (1983)
This single = The Lebanon (1984)
Next single = Life On Your Own (1984)"The Lebanon" is a song by the British Synthpop group The Human League. Written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and keyboard player Jo Callis, it was recorded at Air studios between 1983-1984. Originally an album track on "Hysteria", it was released as a single in the UK and the U.S. and was the first single to be released from that album.

Background

The song was conceived, written and recorded at a time when the band was under considerable pressure to provide Virgin Records with a follow up album to equal the enormous international success of "Dare". The band had taken up residence in the £1000 a day Air Studios; they were there a full year and were agonizing (and arguing) over every note of every track. [ Human League Biography - www.League-online.com/Bio]

"The Lebanon" was a radical departure from what was accepted as the soft synthpop sound of the Human League and could almost be described as rock. The track opens with a heavy bass guitar riff by Ian Burden before launching into some high tempo keyboards. The use of guitars by the band was not lost on music critics, who brought up the "no guitars rule" that the band originally had in 1981.

The lyrics were an attempt to make a political statement on the Lebanese civil war which had been exacerbated by Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon of 1982. The song tells the story of a man who joins a militia to help his community and ends up fighting in the civil war.

It was suggested that The Human League were too 'lightweight' to make heavy political comment and "should stick to pop and love songs". Criticized at the time for being banal and "out of their depth", later in 2007 the lines "Before he leaves the camp he stops, He scans the world outside, And where there used to be some shops, Is where the snipers sometimes hide" would be described as the ninth-worst lyrics ever in an anti-award called 'Taxing Lyrical' [No 1 Magazine 1984] [NME 04 May 2007 [http://www.nme.com/news/razorlight/28162] ]

Oakey takes the criticism in very good humour and is actually proud of the worst lyrics award. Human League singer Susan Ann Sulley justifies the song, saying that it was because they "wanted to speak up for the little people, It's what we do, we speak up for the little people". She goes on to say that the band just wanted to say something about the situation in Lebanon at the time and was not trying to be political for the sake of it. [ Susan Ann Gayle Interview 2005 Virgin Records (Best Of DVD)] The band even managed to offend the subjects of the song, as they used the title "The Lebanon" which is considered by the Lebanese to be the Israeli term for the country not the correct "Lebanon".

"The Lebanon" was released as a UK single in April 1984. It failed to make the impact expected by the band and Virgin Records in the charts after the number two success of "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", only reaching number 11 in the UK Singles chart. Because it is a very 'concert friendly' track it has been played by the band live frequently ever since its release and is nearly always on their set list to this day.

Promotional video

The music video for the song was filmed in the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, UK in April 1984. The video at first sight appears to be filmed at a Human League concert with the band playing live on stage. The concert was in fact fake, and was filmed in takes as the band mimed to playback. The audience were invited extras and bit part dancers were placed in the front of the stage. This is very noticeable when the camera pans onto the audience where certain extras desperately try to play up for their 'shot at fame'. [ Human League Biography - www.League-online.com/Bio ]

Even though it was a "faux" concert, the band's appearance on stage is notable for its layout and behaviour. The three vocalists are in a straight line at the front of the stage, a very energetic, hyperactive Susan Sulley on the left, a serious Philip Oakey in the centre and a cool, laid back, sashaying Joanne Catherall on the right, with the musicians to the rear. This arrangement and personality traits can still be seen today when the band plays live.

References