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TITLE. LYRICS

Concert version

No love lost

So long sitting here
Didn't hear the warning
Waiting for the tape to run
We've been moving round in different situations
Knowing that the time would come
Just to see you torn apart
Witness to your empty heart
I need it

Through the wire screen, the eyes of those standing outside looked in at her as into the cage of some rare creature in a zoo. In the hand of one of the assistants she saw the same instrument which they had that morning inserted deep into her body. She shuddered instinctively. No life at all in the house of dolls
No love lost

You've been seeing things
In darkness, not in learning
Hoping that the truth will pass
No life underground, wasting never changing
Wishing that this day won't last
To never see you show your age
To watch until the beauty fades
I need it

ALTERNATE LYRICS

Earlier studio version | Later studio version

DETAILS

Line-up: Ian Curtis | Peter Hook | Stephen Morris | Bernard Sumner

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The second verse is a spoken extract (slightly modified) taken from the book House of dolls (written by Ka-tzetnik 135633), which is also the book where the name Joy Division was taken from
Original text can be found at page 168, chapter 12, of the original edition: "Through the wire screen, the eyes of those standing outside looked in at her as into the cage of some rare creature in a zoo. She was lying naked, her parted knees still strapped to the iron rods at both sides of the table. In the hand of one of the assistants she saw the same instrument which they had that morning inserted deep into her vagina. Her body shuddered instinctively"

LIVE RECORDINGS. NOTES

Earlier studio recording | Later studio recording

Date: Wednesday 14 March 1979
Venue: Bowdon Vale Youth Club – Altrincham (UK)
Duration: 3.22
Availability on record: –

Date: Wednesday 11 July 1979
Venue: Roots Club – Leeds (UK)
Duration: 3.16
Availability on record: –

MEMORIES

Musicians' Union Collective meetings were usually held on Monday nights at the Band on the Wall. These performances were not so much gigs as rehearsals, accompanied by the jeering snipes of The Fall. Chaos usually reigned. One night we went out to buy chips and the bouncer would not allow us back in. On another occasion the rest of the band forgot to tell Ian that they were going on stage. He was in mid-pee when the sound of his intro (luckily No love lost – a long one) filtered through the toilet walls
(Source: Deborah Curtis – Touching from a distance)