Misc. Monday Song (12.05.05)

Artist: New Order
Song: Ceremony (4:23)
Album: Substance

Download here.

Briefly: Manchester post-punk legends Joy Division lost their lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis when he killed himself in 1980. You probably know them for "Love Will Tear Us Apart". The surviving members of the band became New Order, whose "Blue Monday" remains one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Why?: Joy Division and New Order are probably my most listened to bands of 2005. I was familiar with most of their surface work before, but had never gone too deep until earlier this year when I bought Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. "Ceremony" is one of the last songs the band was working on before Curtis' death. A live version with his vocals appears on the odds'n'ends compilation Still, but New Order completed it and released it shortly thereafter as their first single. It serves as the best bridge between the sound of the two bands, with Bernard Sumner's vocals still trying to sound like Curtis. This trend continued on the band's debut album, Movement. It wasn't until their second album, Power, Corruption & Lies, that they found their own sound. Interestingly, the last few Joy Division songs seemed to indicate the band was heading in a more upbeat direction, "Ceremony" being the best example.

Further listening:
Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division ("Disorder")
Power, Corruption & Lies by New Order ("Age of Consent")

Lyrics:
this is why events unnerve me
they find it all a different story
notice whom for wheels are turning
turn again and turn towards this time
all she asks is the strength to hold me
then again the same old story
world will travel oh so quickly
travel first and lean towards this time

oh, i'll break them down, no mercy shown
heaven knows it's got to be this time
watching her, these things she said
the times she cried, too frail to wake this time

oh i'll break them down, no mercy shown
heaven knows it's got to be this time
avenues all lined with trees
picture me and then you start watching
watching forever, forever
watching love grow, forever