In A Lonely Place

New Order

Caressing the marble and stone
Love that was special for one
The waste and the fever and hate
How I wish you were here with me now

The body that kills and hides
Matches an awful delight
Warm like a dog 'round your feet
How I wish you were here with me now

The hangman looks 'round as he waits
Gullet stretches tight and it breaks
Someday we will die in your dreams
How I wish we were here with you now


Lyrics submitted by numb

In a Lonely Place [Bonus Track; Version] Lyrics as written by Ian Kevin Curtis Bernard Sumner

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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In A Lonely Place song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • +1
    General CommentI got to see New Order in Philadelphia at the Paladium in ?1988. They went on late. They played 58 or 59 minutes. I remember thinking, "That was not quite even an hour!" They played strange music over the sound system before they came on.

    This song stood out as one they cared about and put their heart into. The rest of the show I got the feeling they were fulfilling a contract and that was it.
    coo2kachooon May 19, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThis spooky song was originally a Joy Division track, but is probably best known for its inclusion on the double-disc New Order 12" singles collection, Substance. I think that the song is about the ambiguity of love and hate; violence and affection both elicit such strong emotions so as to confuse the meanings of both ("awful delight").
    JasonReeheron May 30, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThis (along with Ceremony) was one of two Joy Division songs "left" to New Order, and the lyrics are Ian Curtis'--which never fail to give me a chill when I listen to them.

    The title, as I recently found out, refers to the 1950 Humphrey Bogart film noir classic, which I suspect gives more insight into the lyrics.
    FAC33on January 05, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI think maybe New Order changed the last line from "How I wish you were here with me now" to "How I wish we were here with you now" (Like they also want to be dead)....just a thought.
    thebodiesobtainedon April 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI agree with thebodiesobtained that it looks like they changed the last line to "how I wish we were here with you now", although it always struck me that they did that because that was their way of saying "We wish we were here when you wrote this to help you while you were still around".
    Cam-winon November 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Lyric CorrectionAccording to 'Touching from a Distance' the 3rd line is 'the waste in the fever I heat', the 6th line is 'and shares that awful daylight', and in the last verse it's not gullet but cord.
    The final line, as written in the book, does switch 'you' and 'we' and as I think these are taken from Ian's actual writings it probably isn't a New Order change.

    No idea what the songs about really, but it always makes think of ancient Mayan cities hidden in the jungle - 'carressing the marble and stone', 'waste in the feverish heat' (which is what it sounds like to me regardless of what the book says). I'm sure it isn't really about that though.
    drmron May 29, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThe ultimate in bleakness
    Hjsparkon June 11, 2020   Link

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