To clarify a little, the song is an apparent homage to Naked Lunch (no "The") by William S. Burroughs. The book is partially set in The Interzone, an imaginary location which was Burroughs' own way of expressing themes that are also very prevalent in Joy Division's music: claustrophobia, paranoia, fear of authoritarian control, rebellion against societal norms of being, and the sense of everyday life as a sort of exotic living nightmare.
The original working title of Naked Lunch was Interzone, and there is also a published book called The Interzone, which is a collection of letters and short stories, but it does include a portion of the original working manuscript for Naked Lunch.
Anyway, read Naked Lunch and you'll find more than a few parallels between Burroughs' worldview and the one expressed in Joy Division's songs. It's no surprise that Ian Curtis was a fan of his writing.
For the trivia-minded, Joy Division even played a gig alongside Burroughs (and Cabaret Voltaire) on October 16th, 1979, at which Ian met Burroughs in person.
To clarify a little, the song is an apparent homage to Naked Lunch (no "The") by William S. Burroughs. The book is partially set in The Interzone, an imaginary location which was Burroughs' own way of expressing themes that are also very prevalent in Joy Division's music: claustrophobia, paranoia, fear of authoritarian control, rebellion against societal norms of being, and the sense of everyday life as a sort of exotic living nightmare.
The original working title of Naked Lunch was Interzone, and there is also a published book called The Interzone, which is a collection of letters and short stories, but it does include a portion of the original working manuscript for Naked Lunch.
Anyway, read Naked Lunch and you'll find more than a few parallels between Burroughs' worldview and the one expressed in Joy Division's songs. It's no surprise that Ian Curtis was a fan of his writing.
For the trivia-minded, Joy Division even played a gig alongside Burroughs (and Cabaret Voltaire) on October 16th, 1979, at which Ian met Burroughs in person.