In 2012, in celebration of the NME’s 60th anniversary, a list of the 100 Greatest Songs of NME’s Lifetime was compiled and Love Will Tear Us Apart topped the list. When interviewed for New Order Story, Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys said it was his favourite pop song of all time. The song is also listed as being one of the 5 best indie songs of all time in the All Time Indie Top 50. In May 2007, NME placed it at number 19 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, one place ahead of another Joy Division song, Transmission. In 2011, the song registered at number 181. In 2004, the song was listed by Rolling Stone magazine at number 179 in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The sheer intensity of the song meant it was no surprise when Love Will Tear Us Apart was named NME Single of the Year in 1980 and was even listed as the best single of all time by the NME in 2002. Just that something so good, just can’t function no more You cry out in your sleep, all my failings exposedĪnd there’s a taste in my mouth as desperation takes hold Yet there’s still this appeal that we’ve kept through our lives Is my timing that flawed? Our respect runs so dry In retrospect the lyrics are, in fact, an epitaph to both his marriage and life he was about to leave: “When routine bites hard and ambitions are lowĪnd resentment rides high, but emotions won’t growĪnd we’re changing our ways, taking different roadsĭebbie wouldn’t have needed a divorce solicitor to interpret: “Why is the bedroom so cold? You’ve turned away on your side While Debbie remained at home with their child, Ian had an affair with a Belgian journalist and music promoter, Annik Honoré, which weighed heavily on him. The band broke up after Curtis’s death and reformed as New Order.Ĭlearly not from the Salford School of Optimism the lyrics of Love Will Tear Us Apart reflect the problems in Curtis’s marriage, as well as his general frame of mind in the time leading up to his suicide.Ĭurtis was unfaithful to his wife while touring with Joy Division. It also debuted at number one in New Zealand in June 1981.īut Joy Division’s days were numbered. The song was released in April 1980 and, after Curtis’ suicide that May, became the band’s first chart hit, reaching number 13 in the UK. Deborah had the phrase Love Will Tear Us Apart inscribed on Ian Curtis’ memorial stone (even after the first one was stolen). Love Will Tear Us Apart was written in August and September of 1979 and was first aired when Joy Division supported The Buzzcocks on their September and October tour, and it is one of the few songs on which Ian Curtis played guitar (albeit somewhat minimally – his fellow band members taught him how to strum a D major chord for the occasion).ĭeliberately countering the positivity of the Sedaka song, its lyrics reflect the problems in Ian Curtis’ marriage to Deborah Curtis, as well as his general frame of mind (he suffered increasingly from epilepsy and depression) in the time leading up to his suicide. He was 23.Īlmost 40 years after his death the pictures of Curtis – gaunt and haunted, clutching a microphone as though it was a lifebelt from a sinking ship is still one of rock music’s most tragically iconic images. In June 1980 British post punk band Joy Division set off for the number 13 spot with that song’s angst riddled antithesis, Love Will Tear Us Apart – just a month after its lyricist and doomed frontman Ian Curtis had committed suicide. In 1975 American duo Captain and Tennille reached number 32 in the UK charts with the Neil Sedaka composition Love Will Keep Us Together – a purer slice of cheesy pop you’d be hard pressed to hear.
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