| Joy Division – Decades Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is not about war at all, though I can see why the interpretation of that might be taken from it. Since Closer tells the story of Ian's own death, this is the long term aftermath, and fittingly the last song on the album. It's basically looking back at his life and those around him from 10-20 years in the future after he hanged himself. "Here are the young men, the weight on their shoulders, Here are the young men, well where have they been? We knocked on the doors of Hell's darker chamber, Pushed to the limit, we dragged ourselves in, Watched from the wings as the scenes were replaying, We saw ourselves now as we never had seen. Portrayal of the trauma and degeneration, The sorrows we suffered and never were free." The young men with the weight on their shoulders is Joy Division's members. They were really at the forefront of post-punk and on their way up when he topped himself. Where have they been? What have they done? Well... They (or Ian at least), knocked on the doors of hell's darker chamber and then dragged himself in. (suicide). Portrayal of the trauma and degeneration is the effect the whole thing had on Ian. It was really fucking him up towards the end. His epilepsy was getting worse from the late-night gigs, and he was growing tired of the fans who were just coming to watch him have seizures. He felt like he was on display as some kind of circus freak (see the first song: Atrocity Exhibition). The sorrows we suffered (the breakage the band-life had on him) was never free, because of how hard he worked to get there. He's essentially saying he worked for three years as hard as he could, just to end up like "this". The chorus of "Where have they been?" is about Peter, Bernard and Stephen. What have they done since Ian killed himself? Where have they been as a band? He'll never know, because he's dead, which is why he's asking us. "Weary inside, now our heart's lost forever, Can't replace the fear, or the thrill of the chase, Each ritual showed up the door for our wanderings, Open then shut, then slammed in our face." He's grown tired of the thrill that being famous has brought him. He's weary and his heart has been degraded from the lifestyle. And no matter how hard he tries, the thrill of trying to become successful like in the beginning can never be replaced. He's lived this whole thing to its full potential and now it's time to move on through death. |
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| Joy Division – The Eternal Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is about Ian Curtis's own funeral. "Procession moves on, the shouting is over, Praise to the glory of loved ones now gone. Talking aloud as they sit round their tables, Scattering flowers washed down by the rain." Clearly describing a funeral and the "after party" that people have when someone dies to celebrate their life. Makes me cry almost just listening to it. So dark and so horribly sad that he really meant it. "Stood by the gate at the foot of the garden, Watching them pass like clouds in the sky, Try to cry out in the heat of the moment, Possessed by a fury that burns from inside." I think he's standing at his own funeral as a spirit in this verse. He's standing amongst the crowd watching his burial (maybe he didn't know he would be cremated.) He tries to cry out to them, possessed by the fury of his decision, but alas he is just a disembodied soul who can never reach them again. It's terrifying. "Cry like a child, though these years make me older, With children my time is so wastefully spent, A burden to keep, though their inner communion, Accept like a curse an unlucky deal." I love this. "Cry like a child... With children my time is so wastefully spent." He's honestly saying he's wasting his own time just by living. Fuck. "Played by the gate at the foot of the garden, My view stretches out from the fence to the wall, No words could explain, no actions determine, Just watching the trees and the leaves as they fall." His view stretches out from the fence to the wall. He's dead. This is a cemetery. I need not say more. |
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| Joy Division – Heart and Soul Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Lyrically another fantastic song. Nobody comes close to how much of a genius Ian was. Analyzed verse by verse as I see this song. It's the suicide chapter of the album. The beginning of Side 2's "post-Ian world". "Instincts that can still betray us, A journey that leads to the sun, Soulless and bent on destruction, A struggle between right and wrong." Instincts that can still betray us. When people try to kill themselves (especially through hanging), they involuntarily chicken out because the body subconsciously requires oxygen. The only thing that can betray Ian's decision to die is his natural need to keep breathing -- as much as he doesn't want to. The journey leads to the sun... It's death. Simple as that. Soulless and bent on destruction, a struggle between right and wrong is him weighing the decision to go through with it. He knows he REALLY wants to die, but he still has the morals to understand that it's wrong to those around him and who care about him. "You take my place in the showdown, I'll observe witha pitiful eye, I'll humbly ask for forgiveness, A request well beyond you and I." He's speaking to someone else in his same predicament. Really anyone who wants to kill themselves too. It's quite possible he's watching this from the afterlife and he's already followed through on his suicide. "An abyss that laughs at creation, A circus complete with all fools, Foundations that lasted the ages, Then ripped apart at their roots." Quite possibly the most brilliant description of death I've ever heard/read in my life. It's so straight forward, but so poetic. The abyss being death, the circus of fools being all those who also committed suicide (ALL because nobody who kills themselves doesn't die). "Beyond all this good is the terror, The grip of a mercenary hand, When savagery turns all good reason, There's no turning back, no last stand." Savagery is the animalistic and violent decision to commit suicide, but here it has turned on all good reason to keep living. Once you commit, you can never return. There's no turning back. "Existence well what does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can. The past is now part of my future, The present is well out of hand. The present is well out of hand." Only one line that needs analysis there. "The past is now part of my future", from now on, the only thing people will ever know about Ian Curtis again is his life, which has passed. The past (his life), will continue to be his legacy. And the present is out of hand. There's nothing he can do to change it. It's SO FUCKING GENIUS. Greatest writing of any human ever. |
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| Joy Division – Colony Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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Personally, I think 'Closer' as a whole album tells a concept story of Ian Curtis's own death. With side two being the aftermath and side one being the leadup, ending at "A Means to An End", followed by "Heart and Soul" where he kills himself. Colony has a place in this story. Analysis wise, I'm pretty sure the song has nothing to do with Africa or Nazis, though Ian may have used them symbolically to make a point out his own life. Verse by verse: "A cry for help, a hint of anesthesia, The sound from broken homes, We used to always meet here. As he lays asleep, she takes him in her arms, Some things I have to do, but I don't mean you harm." This verse describes the falling apart of the relationship between Ian and Debbie, who he probably knew would leave him. Some things she had to do but doesn't mean him harm. "A worried parent's glance, a kiss, a last goodbye, Hands him the bag she packed, the tears she tries to hide, A cruel wind that blows down to our lunacy And leaves him standing cold here in this colony." She's packing her bags to leave him but doesn't really want to deep down. When she finally does, she leaves him isolated in the taxing life of Joy Division. The "colony" that is his other, second life. Peter Hook described Joy Division as being almost a second life to Ian. There was the "domestic" Ian Curtis and the "rock star" Ian Curtis. Now he is confined to nothing but this colony. "I can't see why all these confrontations, I can't see why all these dislocations, No family life, this makes me feel uneasy, Stood alone here in this colony. In this colony, in this colony, in this colony, in this colony." No family life -- it sums up what I just said about him being left alone with Joy Division. " Dear God in his wisdom took you by the hand, God in his wisdom made you understand. God in his wisdom took you by the hand, God in his wisdom made you understand." Almost as though he is blaming her and sarcastically saying "you understood why you had to leave me to this". It's a super fucking dark song. It's Ian crying out that he's been abandoned and really begins the process of him deciding to kill himself. Which is why "A Means to An End" (the divorce on the album), is followed by Side 2's "Post-Death Ian Curtis". Guy was a genius the way he ordered this album to tell a story. |
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