Pioneers of dance music in the 1980s and one of the first bands to effectively and popularly synthesize keyboard- and guitar-based music, New Order's members hailed from Salford and Macclesfield, England out of the ashes of Joy Division, are noted as being one of the first bands to bridge the gap between Post-Punk and Dancefloor. They were Factory Records' highest selling artist. They also funded Factory's famous Manchester club, The Haçienda. The band partnered with Quincy Jones's American label Qwest, recorded with legendary hip-hop producer Arthur Baker (on 1983's single "Confusion" and 1984's "Thieves Like Us"), and they embraced Ibizan club culture on the album, Technique.
The band was formed in 1980 by the three surviving members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris of Joy Division after the lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide. Morris' girlfriend (and later wife) Gillian Gilbert joined in October 1980 on keyboards and occasional guitar shortly after contributing guitar to the second release of New Order's first single "Ceremony". Their early music followed in the same vein as Joy Division, most notably on debut album Movement. This is mostly seen now as a 'transitional' album where the new 4-piece band was trying to find a new identity.
They continued to develop their music and their identity with tracks such as "Procession" and "Temptation" until 1983 when, under the influence of early electro funk and Italo-Disco tracks (most notably Klein & MBO's Dirty Talk), they released "Blue Monday", arguably their most famous song and the biggest-selling 12" single of all time. This came in such a detailed Peter Saville-designed sleeve (replicating a floppy disc) that it is claimed by some that the band's record company, Factory, lost money on every copy sold.
The release of "Blue Monday" coincided with the album Power, Corruption & Lies which further developed their dance/rock crossover. Other albums followed in 1985 (Low-Life), 1986 (Brotherhood) and 1989 (Technique, influenced heavily by Ibiza's acid house scene). In 1990 the band scored their sole number 1 hit with a song written by Keith Allen and performed with the England football team, "World in Motion", the official England World Cup song. One more album, Republic followed in May 1993, which was released by London Records after the collapse of Factory in November 1992.
The band effectively split in 1993 to pursue solo projects, but returned with a triumphant gig at the Reading Festival in 1998. After the recording of 2001's Get Ready album Gillian Gilbert left the band amicably for family reasons - her and Stephen's daughter Grace had been diagnosed with Transverse myelitis and she came to the decision that it would be easier for the band to replace her than her husband. They have since gone on to produce one more album with the help of Phil Cunningham of Marion when they released their last album, Waiting For The Sirens' Call.
Hook left acrimoniously in 2007 and according to him, the band has effectively broken up. However, Sumner, Cunningham and Morris repeatedly denied that the band was over, and that if Hook no longer wanted to be in the band, that was his choice. Hook has since threatened to take legal action if they attempt to continue as New Order. In 2009, Sumner, Morris and Cunningham announced that they did not plan on continuing on as New Order without Hook. However, in September 2011 it was announced that they will reform as New Order for two concerts in October (Brussels and Paris), without Hook but with Gillian Gilbert. Hook's replacement is Tom Chapman, who is also in Bad Lieutenant with Sumner, Morris and Cunningham. The charity gigs in Brussels and Paris were very successful and New Order decided to go on tour in 2012. They played various concerts all over the world and also some big festivals in the summer.
Discography (studio albums):
Movement (1981)
Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)
Low-Life (1985)
Brotherhood (1986)
Technique (1989)
Republic (1993)
Get Ready (2001)
Waiting for the Sirens' Call (2005)
Lost Sirens (2013)
Music Complete (2015)
Collaborations and other projects:
Shortly after the split, Sumner and Cunningham formed Bad Lieutenant. The band's debut album Never Cry Another Tear, released in 2009, features Morris on drums on several tracks, although he is not an official member of the band and has committed to continue musical projects with Gillian Gilbert. The band's various solo projects understandably seemed to contain elements of the New Order 'sound', and gave some clues as to each member's contribution to the band.
Bernard Sumner worked with Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) and Neil Tennant (of The Pet Shop Boys) in the 'supergroup', Electronic. Peter Hook formed the bands Revenge and, later, Monaco. These projects gained some commercial success. Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert recorded two albums of songs as The Other Two, and also did scoring work for film and television.
Each of New Order's four original members have, at various times, acted as producers and/or guest musicians under the moniker of Be Music for a myriad of Factory labelmates and other artists, including: Section 25, A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays, Paul Haig, The Stockholm Monsters, The Stone Roses, and Stanton Miranda.
Blue Monday
New Order Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To treat me like you do?
When you've laid your hands upon me
And told me who you are?
Thought I was mistaken
I thought I heard your words
Tell me, how do I feel?
Tell me now, how do I feel?
Those who came before me
Lived through their vocations
From the past until completion
They'll turn away no more
And I still find it so hard
To say what I need to say
But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me
Just how I should feel today
I see a ship in the harbour
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
I'd be a heavenly person today
And I thought I was mistaken
And I thought I heard you speak
Tell me, how do I feel?
Tell me now, how should I feel?
Now I stand here waiting
I thought I told you to leave me
While I walked down to the beach
Tell me, how does it feel
When your heart grows cold?
New Order's Blue Monday is a song that is open to interpretation depending on the listener's perspective, but it appears to speak about a power play in a relationship. The song begins with the singer questioning the way they're being treated and asking the other person to confirm whether their actions align with their words. The next verse talks about how the singer struggles to communicate their thoughts and feelings. They're hoping the other person will acknowledge their feelings and guide them on how to feel.
In the third verse, the singer sees a ship in the harbor and says they'll obey it, possibly referring to fate or a call to action. They acknowledge that they could be a better version of themselves if not for the other person's misfortune. The last verse is more confrontational - the singer tells the other person that they thought they had asked them to leave and walks away, leaving them to deal with their own cold heart.
The song is full of emotional turmoil and conflict, which is reflected in its unique sound. The use of electronic instruments, specifically the Roland TR-808 drum machine, creates a futuristic, almost dystopian feeling that perfectly captures the mood of the song. The song was released in 1983 and became a dancefloor hit. Its popularity was due in part to its innovative sound, which made it stand out from the other music of the time.
Line by Line Meaning
How does it feel
Asking the listener how it feels to treat the singer in a negative way
To treat me like you do?
Questioning the way the singer is being treated
When you've laid your hands upon me
Referring to physical contact from the person who is mistreating the singer
And told me who you are?
Asking the person who is mistreating the artist to reveal their true identity
Thought I was mistaken
Feeling unsure about what is happening
I thought I heard your words
Believing that the person who is mistreating the singer is saying certain things
Tell me, how do I feel?
Asking the listener how the singer should feel in this situation
Tell me now, how do I feel?
Repeating the previous question for emphasis
Those who came before me
Referring to people who lived their lives before the artist
Lived through their vocations
They were identified by their work
From the past until completion
Throughout their lives
They'll turn away no more
Acknowledging the struggles of people who were mistreated because of their work
And I still find it so hard
Admitting that the singer is struggling to communicate something important
To say what I need to say
Having difficulty expressing what needs to be communicated
But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me
Expecting to be told what to say by the person who is mistreating the singer
Just how I should feel today
Expecting to be told how to feel as well
I see a ship in the harbour
Observing a ship in the distance
I can and shall obey
Willing to follow orders
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
Suggesting that the singer is only following orders because of the other person's problem
I'd be a heavenly person today
Implies that the mistreatment has caused the artist to feel less than their best self
And I thought I was mistaken
Continuing to feel unsure about the situation
And I thought I heard you speak
Believing to have heard something that the other person did not say
Tell me, how do I feel?
Repeating the previous question
Tell me now, how should I feel?
Asking the other person how the artist should feel instead of the previous request for how the artist actually feels
Now I stand here waiting
Being forced to wait for something to happen
I thought I told you to leave me
Asking the other person why they are still present when the singer asked them to leave
While I walked down to the beach
The singer is recalling a previous request to be left alone
Tell me, how does it feel
Turning the question back onto the person who is mistreating the artist
When your heart grows cold?
Asking the person who is mistreating the artist how they feel about their actions
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Gillian Lesley Gilbert, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Paul David Morris
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind