The song comments on the cynical attitudes punk rockers had during the late 70s. The 'Blind Youth' in particular refers to the attitudes alot of punk fans had. And so, the Human League wanted to comment about how said people should also be faithful and thankful for what they have. Phil says 'Dehumanization is such a big Word, Been around since Richard the Third' to explain that the idea of being dehumanized has been there since ages, so there's no use trying to complain about something everyone else has at one point or another. He then adds with "But if you're not a hermit, you know the city's okay" to say that it's not at all bad as many people insinuated.
So, all in all, this song dissuades the negative attitudes people had in the 70s. In interest, the original title for this song was 'Optimistic Anthem', which complements the theme well.
The song comments on the cynical attitudes punk rockers had during the late 70s. The 'Blind Youth' in particular refers to the attitudes alot of punk fans had. And so, the Human League wanted to comment about how said people should also be faithful and thankful for what they have. Phil says 'Dehumanization is such a big Word, Been around since Richard the Third' to explain that the idea of being dehumanized has been there since ages, so there's no use trying to complain about something everyone else has at one point or another. He then adds with "But if you're not a hermit, you know the city's okay" to say that it's not at all bad as many people insinuated.
So, all in all, this song dissuades the negative attitudes people had in the 70s. In interest, the original title for this song was 'Optimistic Anthem', which complements the theme well.