There was a time I call before
When all I knew was what I saw
The keeper of a major key
I lived in a town called Liberty

I worked hard
To give you all the things that you need
And almost anything that you see
I spent a lifetime working on you
And you won't even talk to me

Can't you see
Why don't you look at me
It's not your right to be
So much my enemy

I knew that I could never give
You knew that you could not forgive
No price or pride would fall before
A ten foot wall without a door

But you know
I watch every step that you make
To find some other fool you can take
And I don't know why I even try
Because it all comes down to this

Can't you see
Why don't you look at me
It's not your right to be
So much my enemy

Can't you see
Why don't you look at me
It's not your right to be
So much my enemy

I worked hard
To give you all the things that you need
And almost anything that you see
I spent a lifetime working on you
And you won't even talk to me


Lyrics submitted by numb

Love Less Lyrics as written by Gillian Lesley Gilbert Peter Hook

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Love Less song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    fairly obvious....

    its about caring for someone and doing everything for them in order to help them, but the other person does not feel the same way and wont give you the time of day despite your efforts.

    one of my many favorite New Order songs...

    crippledmcgimpon May 20, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Love Less has this wonderful plangent quality perfectly complementing Sumner's mystified voice/lyrics. His eyes are downcast, a man confounded by the distant cold behavior of someone he thought he knew. The first lines reflect his earlier naivete "There was a time I call before/When all I knew was what I saw" . This is a revelation so obvious in hindsight that he calls the time he was unaware "before" assuming an 'after'. "The keeper of a major key/I lived is a town called Liberty". He lived in a time of freedom, in a utopia called "Liberty" i.e. his surface perception. A major key is the key to the city. Ignorance is bliss here and he's equating a sense of freedom with his illusioned state.

    The singer has worked really hard (musical emphasis on hard) to give his partner "anything that you see". He's exalted this person, yet they "won't even talk to" him now. "Can't you see/Why don't you look at me/ It's not your right to be/ so much my enemy" are lines conveying his desire to shake this person and ask them where their basic morality/decency is.

    "I knew that I could never give/ You knew that you could not forgive/ No price or pride would fall before/ A ten foot wall without a door" --> These lines are one that I'm having a bit of trouble with. But from what I can make out there is a bitter stalemate between the two. (Divorce battle?) The first two lines convey a trench warfare position. And the last two phrases convey how entrenched it is ("no price or pride"). A door-less ten-foot wall, an impossible physical barrier used to convey the complete emotional turning away of the two.

    Now hip to this person's ways he, "watches every move step that you make" ("every step" is calculating), "to find some other fool you can take" implying that yes he was a fool who's now more the wiser.

    The title is broken Love Less as opposed to Loveless. (Reverse it and it's Less Love) This song sounds more pointed and more directed at someone. Lyrically it's a little below par for NO. It's greatness comes from the plangent quality of the music and especially in the long drawn out lines like "Caaan't you see/ Why don't yoouuuu look at me/" That's where just reading the lyrics will leave you without the grasp of the music and shows why pop music can hold more artistic potential than poetry. This forlorn pop song conveys someone reaching out trying to make sense of life's vexing ways. A moral stance from a moral person who believes in basic decency, basic morality, basic respect, trying to understand how someone could blithely disregard these seemingly common sense values. All halfway moral people got to deal with that.

    Lavventuraon April 18, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I thought its was about how kids don't respect old people even though they made everyhting the kids use now.

    Gimodonon June 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    pretty straight forward. It's about a selfish bitch. Bernie writes a lot of songs on this subject. Love it!!!

    mikevee33on August 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I'm with crippledmcgimp and hypemike, it's quite obvious (for once!)

    Both this one and "All the way" are two little jewels buried in Technique. I really love them.

    Gatchanon September 28, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The singer comes off to me a bit of a creepy stalker. I'd like to know what the person he is talking to has to say.

    chesthingon June 08, 2017   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    I honestly always thought the song was about Berlin/divided Germany.

    sev1002388on August 09, 2017   Link

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