7. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuuObGsB0No The song which literally rang the death knell for the punk movement of the 70s and opened up the use of synthesisers for guitar bands, Love will tear us apart is one of the most heart-wrenching songs ever written, made even more poignant by the fact that the singer Ian Curtis committed suicide just before the release of what would prove to be Joy Divisions commercial breakthrough. Curtiss untimely death triggered a new direction for the group, who would morph into New Order and truly embrace the synthesiser sound that they started to develop, producing some of the most wonderful marriages of electronic and guitar music later in the decade with the existential Blue Monday and the euphoric True Faith. That's to only name but two, but it all started here. Love will tear us apart adapted the electronic pop riffs that Kraftwerk brought to The Model and layered it over a supremely tight rhythm section; they didnt need a drum machine because in Stephen Morris they literally had the human equivalent. If this song was released as an instrumental it would have made for a remarkable piece of melancholic dance music, but crucially, it was the soundtrack to one of the saddest stories youll ever hear about the breakdown of a relationship in which there is no turning back. It tapped into the isolation of the 70s You cry out in your sleep all my failings exposed? And there's a taste in my mouth as desperation takes hold, is it something so good just can't function no more? When love, love will tear us apart again. Such words deserved a worthy soundtrack, Joy Divisions last musical hurrah certainly didnt let the team down and here they delivered an all-time classic.
Ed Nash
Contributor
What makes music fantastic? Star quality, amazing music, breathtaking lyrics and the ability to bring something new to the table, even if that means a new take on the classics. That's what I love to listen to and write about.
As well as writing for What Culture, I occasionally write a blog http://tedney.blogspot.co.uk and sometimes use Twitter, but sparingly @TedneyNash
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