Joy Division – “Day of the Lords”

What does one say exactly? Well, do you know? Listen up, baby tears; Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” is one of the most powerful jams in the history of dry land. Anyone who happens to disagree is quite clearly jealous. “Day of the Lords” is the second song that greets the listener on Joy Division’s icy melancholic debut “Unknown Pleasures.” The song gradually builds in intensity at various points until it reaches the chorus portion mantra with Ian Curtis bellowing “Where Will It End? Where Will It End?” Being world weary in ones early twenties is quite commonplace, but Curtis literally sounds as if the species is going to be wiped out within a few days time.

Listen to the razor sharp guitar and that violent death march of a drum beat, and most ominous of all may very well be the throbbing and relentless bass line. All sounds like a tin can in a blender, but yet, everything is very much musical and eerily catchy. Unlike more recent dorks of the mope mindset in terms of Rock, Ian Curtis actually makes the proceedings quite palatable from a musical perspective and no doubt rather potent as well. Lyrically, we almost have one of those dark and dreary Jim Morrison rambles, as portions of “Day of the Lords” sort of reminds me of The Doors highly dramatic tendencies on “The End.”

Here is a lyrical sample for you to decipher with the aid of your noodle:

This is the room, the start of it all,
No portrait so fine, only sheets on the wall,
Ive seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain,
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained.

Where will it end? where will it end?
Where will it end? where will it end?

Not bad, eh? I must admit that from a lyrical perspective I am also thinking of “Not to Touch the Earth” by The Doors as well. But hey, that’s just me. In terms of live performance, this song was given an added level of intensity and there is little to compare it to in this realm, simply pure Joy Division doing what they did best: which was rocking out. Certainly, some of my many readers may be surprised that I did not decide upon “Transmission” or “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” but that’s just how I roll, and I hope that you will understand. Who knows how corny and New Wave Joy Division would have gone, but at the very least, we are left with a worthwhile musical legacy where personal demons for Ian Curtis gave us plenty to shake our bums to.

Now then, “Day of the Lords,” and it’s live, buster!