Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXXXVIII--Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart

Other than The Velvet Underground, one would be hard pressed to name a band that had such a great influence on generations of musicians with such a short-lived career and small studio output than did Joy Division (VU lasted, give or take, from 1965 to 1970--when Lou Reed left--and released four studio LPs; Joy Division lasted from 1976 to 1980 and released one EP and two studio LPs).  Though one could make a case for The Sex Pistols or Nirvana or Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin or The Doors...fuck it, you get the gist:  seminal band, short career.

Formed in 1976 in Salford, England after being inspired by a Sex Pistols concert, Joy Division (originally named Warsaw after a Bowie song, "Warszawa," later changed to Joy Division after a sex slave wing of a Nazi concentration camp in the novel House of Dolls) was quickly on the fast track to rock and roll stardom, releasing an EP within two years and garnering a reputation as a great live band.  Their first full length studio LP, Unknown Pleasures, was released to critical acclaim in 1979.  Sadly, shortly before the release of their second studio LP and the beginning of their first American tour, lead singer Ian Curtis (suffering from epilepsy--he would on occasion have seizures while they were performing live--depression, and a failing marriage) committed suicide.  The band members had a standing agreement that should any one of them leave the band, Joy Division would cease to exist, and thus the remaining band members formed New Order, which went on to have some commercial success.

Released in 1980 on their Closer album, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" would go on to become one of the all-time great singles, at one time being voted best song ever by NME and also showing up on numerous best singles ever lists (including Rolling Stone's top five hundred songs of all-time) despite its rather lackluster beginnings (it hit #13 on the British charts and never charted on The Billboard Hot 100).  Fun fact:  the song is a play on the (not so good) Captain and Tennille mega hit, "Love Will Keep Us Together" (if you've never had the pleasure...don't bother).

For me, the song has several stand out moments that make it a cut (so to speak) above the rest.  The first is its driving rhythm--the drumming is like a gunshot, rat-a-tat, or even like a hammer hitting a nail, from the beginning to the end and the bass practically carries the song with its oh so danceable melody line.  Second are Curtis' unforgettable vocals--he's been compared to the Doors' Jim Morrison (though I don't see it) but I think Curtis is a lot more deadpan than Morrison (at least on this song) and somehow it works rather well with the rather depressing sentiments of the song.   Finally, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is one of those rare songs that gets better each time you listen to it--even these many, many years later for me, there's always some nuance or vocal inflection that I never seemed to notice before that makes it even more enjoyable than the last time I heard it.  Throw in Curtis' own failing marriage and tragic ending, and you have a rock and roll classic.

Lyric sheet:  "Why is the bedroom so cold?  You've turned away on your side/Is my timing that flawed?"

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee