Temptation

I believe this is one of those songs which were written without the purpose to have a specific nor an evident meaning. On the contrary, I think it's intended to stimulate the inner self of the listener and produce an emotional image rather than a cognitive one. And if that's the case, it sure works! Because "Temptation" is actually a tempting song. In me, it builds a sense of sad retrospection... a sight back in my life where I find that special and unique person ("I never met anyone like you before") who helped me before in moments of need. Now that person is gone, and all I have to reach them is hoping their strenght is with me. The verse "Please don't let me hit the ground" symbolizes, for me, asking for that forgotten emotional support which could allow one to carry on with the plans in life. And that's where the song points to: to the blurry idea of disorientation in life, disorientation which you try to fight finding yourself... "Tonight I think I'll walk alone / I'll find my soul as I go home".

[Edit: "Imagen" for "image"]

I think the green/blue/gray eyes correspond to the various stages of a relationship, chronologically. When the relationship is new and fresh, we all have green eyes.

When the fighting or conflict starts, and someone is hurt, they turn blue.

Finally, the relationship burns itself out, and all that is left are the charcoal, or gray, eyes.

As far as "betrayed by words I've never heard, to hard to say": he can't say "I love you," nor does he stick around long enough to ever hear it said.

Ceremony is by far my favorite New Order song, but this is certainly a close second. When I was growing up in the 80s, these songs made the stuff played on radio seem amateur by comparison. And it was.

The Greatest New Order Song. (sure Blue monday is good, but this is still better)

What does this song mean to me? Up down turn around please dont let me hit the ground! Get so involved with your life that you forget where you really stand, So you go out and find yourself, only to realize everything you've done wrong. You feel so helpless because you can't change the past (Bolts from above hurt the people down below etc...)

I think this song is about a man who sleeps around a lot, never settling for any one woman in a relationship. Now that he's getting older, he's realizing as he looks back on his life that maybe the reason he is unhappy is BECAUSE he never settled down, never let anyone love him or let himself love anyone. I think he is realizing that he needs that love. I could be totally wrong on this, but looking at it in that context, it seems to make sense to me.

funny, i thought the song was about temptation-i.e. cheating, or what goes through a person head...the torment after he'd cheated, not wanting to do this again then the temptation comes again....

"Oh, you've got green eyes Oh, you've got blue eyes Oh, you've got grey eyes And I've never seen anyone quite like you before No, I've never met anyone quite like you before"

he meets a girl and this is right before cheating- the temptation part

"Heaven, a gateway, a hope Just like a feeling I need, it's no joke And though it hurts me to see you this way Betrayed by words, I'd never heard, too hard to say Up, down, turn around Please don't let me hit the ground Tonight I think I'll walk alone I'll find my soul as I go home Each way I turn, I know I'll always try To break this circle that's been placed around me From time to time, I find I've lost some need That was urgent to myself, I do believe"

he wants to stop it and tells himself to stop it- break the circle(cycle) to find his soul

Oh, you've got green eyes Oh, you've got blue eyes Oh, you've got grey eyes

"And I've never seen anyone quite like you before No, I've never met anyone quite like you before Bolts from above hurt the people down below People in this world, we have no place to go

Oh, it's the last time Oh, I've never met anyone quite like you before Oh no, I've never met anyone quite like you before"

the cycle continues and the temptation returns, he has thoughts of it being a bad thing but the temptation is too great

It's very interesting to read every comment. Actually I do believe it makes sense the interpretation about the drugs, however, everytime I hear it I remember when I read that Bernard Summer said it was about a long lost love. And I may be relating it automatically to my own experiences, but to me there are parts that talk about letting go someone you've been in love with. "Oh, you've got green eyes Oh, you've got blue eyes Oh, you've got grey eyes And I've never seen anyone quite like you before No, I've never met anyone quite like you before" There is a phrase that says that the eyes are the window to the soul. I think the eye-colour changing may refer to the feeling when you look somebody that you think you knew converting into someone else (by lying or cheating), also, blue and grey are colors often related to sadness. And even though this person hurt you, you still think that is special. "Heaven, a gateway, a hope Just like a feeling I need, it's no joke" Well, love, when corresponded, it's heaven. It may be a gateway to your problems. A hope of things getting better in your life when you are in a relationship. "And though it hurts me to see you this way Betrayed by words, I'd never heard, too hard to say" I think it is about break-up, but I'm not sure if it is the speaker who broke up. When you break-up with someone you've been for a long time, you are not sure if what you are hearing/saying is real, because you imagined both of you with each other forever. "Up, down, turn around Please don't let me hit the ground Tonight I think I'll walk alone I'll find my soul as I go home" You are confused and you know you are alone again. "Each way I turn, I know I'll always try To break this circle that's been placed around me From time to time, I find I've lost some need That was urgent to myself, I do believe" Aagain, since you've been in this relationship for so long, you feel like you are trapped. You are not sure if you want to be with anyone else, but then you start remembering that the last months/years wasn't as magic as you thought. You were slowly separating; you didn't feel the need to be together as you felt when you started dating the person. "Bolts from above hurt the people down below People in this world, we have no place to go Oh, it's the last time Oh, I've never met anyone quite like you before Oh no, I've never met anyone quite like you before" This is about assuming that you are alone, and everyone else is in their own way. And as you accept that was your last encounter with that unique person, you slowly wave goodbye.

This song is clearly about the experience of meeting someone new: the temptation you feel and the possibility of bliss, as well as the fear of rejection.

Heaven, a gateway, a hope Just like a feeling inside, it's no joke

Finding a new lover can be blissful.

And though it hurts me to see you this way Betrayed by words, I'd never heard, too hard to say

It seems you might not like me back. You haven't said so, but I'm afraid of rejection.

Up, down, turn around Please don't let me hit the ground

Please don't reject me.

Tonight I think I'll walk alone I'll find my soul as I go home

I think I'll chicken out and not approach the person I find attractive.

Each way I turn, I know I'll always try To break this circle that's been placed around me

Although I'm afraid of rejection, I'll keep trying to break through my fear.

From time to time, I find I've lost some need That was urgent to myself, I do believe

Over time, my need to approach a new person has diminished.

Oh, you've got green eyes Oh, you've got blue eyes Oh, you've got grey eyes

I've been attracted to different people.

And I've never seen anyone quite like you before No, I've never met anyone quite like you before

Each new person I'm interested in always feels unique.

Bolts from above hurt the people down below People in this world, we have no place to go

The desire to connect with a new person just happens. You can't avoid it.

Oh, it's the last time

Oh it's the last time I'll dare to approach this attractive person.

Weird... so very weird...

Firstly I didn't pick up the drug references at first but after reading some of the comments I get that perspective but I don't feel that it’s entirely about drugs or drug addictions, and it's a very ambiguous song indeed.

I was out a few nights ago and I met a girl Christina for the first time. She had added me as a friend on Facebook a while ago... she had liked my posts, and I'm a lonely, introverted guy that most people ignore so it was weird that she had just randomly added me and had liked pretty much all of my posts on Facebook when hardly any other people bothered to... she had also posted her pictures on Facebook (as she is a photographer) it was so fucking weird because I felt this weird connection with her - someone who I had never met. On the day that I knew I would meet her (we both happened to be going to the same musical gig) just sitting at work I had like these weird butterflies or spontaneous heart palpitations or something every now and again, just when the thought of meeting her popped in my head - very weird. My friend had told me that she used to date a famous musician so maybe it was that which subconsciously triggered it but I don't think it was. So the night came and I met her and we chatted and that entire connection I felt just grew more. Maybe it was all the drinking and smoking weed we did that made me feel this way but I had seriously NEVER MET ANYONE QUITE LIKE HER BEFORE. I tried to kiss her as we were isolated listening to a band, but she just let me give her a peck on the cheek and from there everything in my mind went insane... haywire, I felt so confused and awkward and uncomfortable but didn't let it show and we just carried on the night as we had before, just chatting and being friendly with one another and I stopped pursuing her in that way which might have been a mistake, I donno. The girl that I am actually in a relationship with had actually proposed to me a week before this incident. I don't know what I felt honestly.

Anyway that night after having parted ways with Christina at the musical event I went to go sleep at some random girls house who was sexing my friend in her upstairs bedroom while I sat down stairs talking to a different girl, Zelda, the entire night who had just sniffed some nasty cat (street drug methcatinone) and I'm a recovering addict so it was just awkward for me being there and I felt so mentally sick from the alcohol I had drunk and the incident with Christina earlier. Random girl Zelda played SOAD and Smashing Pumpkins (eventually both at the same time) all the bloody night and surprisingly two bands that I fucking love made me insanely depressed (I am manic depressive by nature). I didn't sleep at all as she kept me up talking about whatnot due to her being high on the drug and she felt bad about it as she had also quit ages ago and had only done it because of peer pressure by her friend upstairs. All I kept thinking about was trying to kiss Christina and the weird way I felt towards her... I have never met anyone quite like her before... such a loving person.... my feelings were... are... so mixed up.

The next day, super sleep deprived I sat at work having to deal with a million new responsibilities that I have been assigned as the company is going through serious changes, I put Temptations on repeat and listened to it a hundred times over and the lyrics made more sense than mostly any other song I have heard in my life.

I have found myself being, and even often literally, walking alone after a night of drinking and drugs many times before in my life as I have always been useless with women and still am, and this was just another of those nights. I basically lied to the girl I'm currently seeing about even going out that night to begin with. She is emotionally unstable and obsessed with me and definitely doesn't deserve an underachiever and deeply insecure person like me. But she claims to have never met anyone quite like me before either... (well not her exact words but anyway you get my meaning)

Listening to Temptation was so befitting to my situation in so, so, so many ways... it was like a revelation... and I am still absorbing the entirety of it ... I just can't stop thinking about Christina no matter how hard I try... and the circle I cannot break... the selfish desires I allow myself to partake in and lying to people... I want to change and do something that helps others (animals at first because if I can't even help myself how am I supposed to help other people?) and I hope to get on that path of no longer being purely self-serving and merely praying for other beings but physically take action in making a positive difference in their lives. That is what I somehow got out of listening to Temptation. I’ll find my soul as I go home. And most importantly, "Oh, it's the last time"... I really hope I give up drinking forever this time.

Just to add - I didn't catch what color Christina's eyes are... :|

Thanks for reading

This is my favourite song of all time ever (well the 12" version!). It always sends a shiver down my spine when the guitars kick in. As it did to Barney too apparently, because Rob Gretton threw a snowball down his back while he was recording the vocals, hence some of the 'oohs'.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptation_(New_Order_song)

Barney's said he'd taken half a tab of acid during the recording of the song and was trying to write a love song, but was out of it and the lyrics don't mean anything at all.

Where is the rest of the song? You didn't put all of it! Well what you have is almost correct.

I remember this song is the first NewOrder song my boyfriend ever sang to me so you know it has meaning. This is one of my favorite NO songs.