Leaders of Men
Joy Division Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Born from some mother's womb
Just like any other room
Made a promise for a new life
Made a victim out of your life

When your time's on the door
And it drips to the floor
And you feel you can touch
All the noise is too much
And the seeds that are sown
Are no longer your own

Just a minor operation
To force a final ultimatum
Thousand words are spoken loud
Reach the dumb to fool the crowd

When you walk down the street
And the sound's not so sweet
And you wish you could hide
Maybe go for a ride
To some peep-show arcade
Where the future's not made

A nightmare situation
Infiltrate imagination
Smacks of past Holy wars
By the wall with broken laws

The leaders of men
Born out of your frustration
The leaders of men
Just a strange infatuation
The leaders of men
Made a promise for a new life
No savior for our sakes
To twist the internees of hate




Self-induced manipulation
To crush all thoughts of mass salvation

Overall Meaning

The song "Leaders of Men" by Joy Division is a commentary on conformity and the desire for control in society. The lyrics describe the pressures put on individuals to conform to societal norms and expectations, expressed through the metaphor of being born in a room like any other, but ultimately becoming a victim of one's own life. The line "the seeds that are sown are no longer your own" emphasizes the loss of personal agency that comes with conformity.


The song goes on to describe the overwhelming noise of society and the desire to escape from it, but finding no respite, even in places meant for distraction, like a peep-show arcade. The line "smacks of past Holy wars" references the historical repression of individual thought by religious institutions. The chorus repeats the phrase "the leaders of men," suggesting that those in power, who promise a new life, are in fact responsible for the societal pressures that crush individuality.


Overall, the song critiques the conformity and control that are part of modern society. Its use of evocative metaphors and stark imagery give it a sense of urgency and power, emphasizing the weight of the message it is conveying.


Line by Line Meaning

Born from some mother's womb
You were born like everybody else


Just like any other room
Your birth was nothing special


Made a promise for a new life
You were promised a better future


Made a victim out of your life
But now you feel that promise was a trap and you are caught in it


When your time's on the door
You know you are running out of time


And it drips to the floor
Life is slipping away from you


And you feel you can touch
You crave for something tangible


All the noise is too much
But everything around you is too chaotic


And the seeds that are sown
The future that is being built


Are no longer your own
Is not yours to control


Just a minor operation
People in power see you as expendable


To force a final ultimatum
They push you towards a final decision


Thousand words are spoken loud
They tell you what to do and say


Reach the dumb to fool the crowd
They manipulate those who are uneducated


When you walk down the street
As you go about your life, you realize


And the sound's not so sweet
That what you hear and see is not always pleasant


And you wish you could hide
You wish you could escape from it all


Maybe go for a ride
And find some momentary relief


To some peep-show arcade
But even there


Where the future's not made
There is no way to escape the future being built around you


A nightmare situation
Your reality feels like a nightmare


Infiltrate imagination
Those in charge infiltrate your thoughts and dreams


Smacks of past Holy wars
It feels like the conflicts of the past


By the wall with broken laws
The laws meant to protect you are broken


The leaders of men
Those in power, the ones who promise a better future


Born out of your frustration
Are the ones responsible for causing you to feel trapped and frustrated


Just a strange infatuation
Their desire for power seems almost illogical and obsessive


Made a promise for a new life
They made you a promise that they did not keep


No savior for our sakes
There is no one to save us from this


To twist the internees of hate
They are using our anger and hate against us


Self-induced manipulation
We are being manipulated into thinking it is our own fault


To crush all thoughts of mass salvation
So that we stop thinking about saving ourselves and instead focus on their agenda




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNARD SUMNER, IAN KEVIN CURTIS, PETER HOOK, STEPHEN PAUL DAVID MORRIS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found

Miau


on New Dawn Fades

I really like the fact that this explanation is thorough and provides some insight regarding the song's meaning, seen by the line by line meaning. It is true that the listener is open to interpretations, the way that they personally perceive the song, how it might resonate with them on an intimal level. Though, like the majority of songs, there is a "standard definition" , I would say that everyone is open to their own interpretations based on the overall perspective of the listener. Like this analysis,, I have my own respective one. This is by far one of the most "optimistic" meanings granted to the song. Personally, I always correlated the sing with a more pessimistic meaning, but like any other form of art, songs are open to interpretation and thats what makes it all special and awesome.

More Versions