IanCurtis.org - Ian Curtis and Joy Division Fans Club

TITLE. LYRICS

Concert version

Asylums with doors open wide
Where people could pay to see inside
For entertainment they watch his body twist
Behind his eyes he says I still exist
This is the way, step inside

In arenas he kills for a prize
Wins a minute to add to his life
But the sickness is drowned by cries for more
Pray to God, make it quick, watch him fall
This is the way, step inside

You'll see the horrors of a faraway place
Meet the architects of law face to face
See mass murder on a scale you've never seen
And all the ones who try hard to succeed
This is the way, step inside

This is the way, step inside
If you wanna see some more, step inside. Go in all the way

	ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
	Title for this song is the same as one book by James Graham Ballard, one of Ian Curtis' favourite writers When asked whether this novel influenced his lyrics, Ian Curtis replied: "Actually no, I'd written the lyrics way before I read Atrocity Exhibition and I was looking for a title because sometimes I just can't think up a good title. Anyway I just saw this title at the beginning of one of his books and I thought that it just fitted with the ideas of the lyrics. Sometime after I wrote the lyrics and the song had been established in our set, I read the book and it is by pure coincidence that some of the ideas in the book are similar to some of the ideas in the lyrics"
	Also called Welcome to the atrocity exhibition on bootlegs

	LIVE RECORDINGS. NOTES	Studio recordings
	Date: Wednesday 11 July 1979 Venue: Roots Club – Leeds (UK) Duration: 6.08 Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 13 July 1979 Venue: Russel Club – Manchester (UK) Duration: 5.40 Availability on record: Heart And Soul
	Date: Friday 27 July 1979 Venue: Imperial Hotel – Blackpool (UK) Duration: 6.24 Availability on record: –
	Date: Thursday 2 August 1979 Venue: Prince of Wales Conference Centre – London (Tottenham) (UK) Duration: 6.48 Availability on record: –
	Date: Saturday 11 August 1979 (evening) Venue: Eric's – Liverpool (UK) Duration: 5.55 Availability on record: –
	Date: Saturday 8 September 1979 Venue: Queens Hall (Futurama) – Leeds (UK) Duration: 6.09 Availability on record: –
	Date: Saturday 22 September 1979 Venue: Nashville Rooms – London (Earls Court) (UK) Duration: 6.22 Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 28 September 1979 Venue: Russel Club – Manchester (UK) Duration: unknown Availability on record: – Note: no bass played on this track, as Peter Hook was already in the backstage
	Date: Thursday 4 October 1979 Venue: City Hall – Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) Duration: 6.02 Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 26 October 1979 Venue: Electric Ballroom – London (Camden) (UK) Duration: 6.43 Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 2 November 1979 Venue: Winter Gardens – Bournemouth (UK) Duration: 7.01 Availability on record: –
	Date: Saturday 10 November 1979 Venue: Rainbow Theatre – London (Finsbury Park) (UK) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –
	Date: Tuesday 18 December 1979 Venue: Bains-Douches – Paris (France) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 11 January 1980 Venue: Paradiso – Amsterdam (Netherlands) Duration: 6.43 Availability on record: Fractured Box \| Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 \| Refractured Box One
	Date: Tuesday 15 January 1980 Venue: Basement – Cologne (Germany) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –
	Date: Thursday 17 January 1980 Venue: Plan K – Brussels (Belgium) Duration: 6.20 Availability on record: –
	Date: Wednesday 20 February 1980 Venue: Town Hall – High Wycombe (UK) Duration: 5.38 Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 29 February 1980 Venue: Lyceum Ballroom – London (Strand) (UK) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –
	Date: Thursday 3 April 1980 Venue: Moonlight Club – London (West Hampstead) (UK) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 4 April 1980 Venue: Rainbow Theatre – London (Finsbury Park) (UK) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –
	Date: Friday 11 April 1980 Venue: Russel Club – Manchester (UK) Duration: unknown Availability on record: –

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	DETAILS
	Line-up: Ian Curtis \| Peter Hook \| Stephen Morris \| Bernard Sumner Peter Hook played the guitar, and Bernard Sumner the bass on this song

	ALTERNATE LYRICS
	Studio version