IanCurtis.org - Ian Curtis and Joy Division Fans Club

TITLE. LYRICS

Studio version

Love will tear us apart

When routine bites hard
And ambitions are low
And resentment rides high
But emotions won't grow
And we're changing our ways
Taking different roads
Then love will tear us apart again

Why is the bedroom so cold?
You've turned away on your side
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect run so dry
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives
But love will tear us apart again

You cry out in your sleep
All my failings exposed
There's a taste in my mouth
As desperation takes hold
Just that something so good
Just can't function no more
When love will tear us apart again

	ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
	This song is the most well-known and from far the most covered Joy Division song
	Heineken used this song in one of their TV ad in Ireland

	STUDIO RECORDINGS. NOTES	Peel Session recording \| Live recordings
	Date: Tuesday 8 January 1980 Studio: Pennine Sound Studios – Oldham (UK) Duration: 3.14 Availability on record: Atmosphere (FAC 213) \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (12") \| Permanent
	Date: March 1980 Studio: Strawberry Studios – Stockport (UK Duration: 3.22 Availability on record: Heart And Soul \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (12") \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (1995) \| Substance Note: this song was not entirely finished during this session, but was reworked and mixed between 18 and 30 March 1980 at the Britannia Row Studios, while the band was recording Closer. This song is played slower than the 8 January 1980 version recorded at the Pennine Sound Studios

MEMORIES

The powers that be were still unaware that they had been part of Ian's own plan. While some people worried about the myth Tony Wilson was trying to create, no one realized that Ian had been busy myth-making himself. Ian crooned his way through Love will tear us apart after Tony Wilson gave him Frank Sinatra's Forty Great Songs to listen to. When the band were unable to decide which vocal should be used they released both – one on each side of the seven-inch single. Understandably, the lyrics were interpreted by the press as being about a love affair gone wrong, but as the last to know that our love affair had 'gone wrong, I had taken Ian's infidelity as being part of his illness
(Source: Deborah Curtis – Touching from a distance)

	STUDIO RECORDINGS. NOTES	Peel Session recording \| Live recordings
	Date: Tuesday 8 January 1980 Studio: Pennine Sound Studios – Oldham (UK) Duration: 3.14 Availability on record: Atmosphere (FAC 213) \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (12") \| Permanent
	Date: March 1980 Studio: Strawberry Studios – Stockport (UK Duration: 3.22 Availability on record: Heart And Soul \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (7") \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (12") \| Love Will Tear Us Apart (1995) \| Substance Note: this song was not entirely finished during this session, but was reworked and mixed between 18 and 30 March 1980 at the Britannia Row Studios, while the band was recording Closer. This song is played slower than the 8 January 1980 version recorded at the Pennine Sound Studios

	SONGS	home
Index \| Unseen songs \| Unfinished songs \| Covers \| Complete list of songs \| Songs by record \| Translations

	ALTERNATE LYRICS
	Peel Session version \| Concert version
	Translations: Español \| Français \| Italiano \| Português

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