Sound CheckJoy Division tops NME’s list of “The 100 greatest tracks of its lifetime”
To celebrate NME's 60-year anniversary, the music magazine has published a list of 100 tunes that they think, "Are the most essential songs of the last six decades."
Although no Canadian tracks cracked the top 20, appearing on the list are bands like The Beach Boys with their songs "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations," The Beatles with "A Day In The Life" and The Rolling Stones' 1968 hit, "Sympathy For The Devil."
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Topping the list is English rock band Joy Division's 1980 single, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," and surviving members Bernard Sumner (guitar and keyboard,) Peter Hook (bass) and Stephen Morris (drums,) have all spoken with NME about their memories of the epic track.
"I just thought 'Yeah, this is a good song', someone might like it. It was a great period for the band, but Ian's personal life — that was all going badly," Morris said in reflection of Joy Division's lead singer Ian Curtis committing suicide a month after the track's release.
He also said, "In retrospect, when you listen to it in light of what happened, it seems bloody obvious. I honestly didn't realize that he was writing about himself. I just said 'These are great lyrics, Ian.' That makes it a bit difficult to listen to now.'"
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"We thought his headspace was OK. But Ian had two faces — the public face for the band and the private troubles he had at home and the way they came out through his lyrics," Sumner added about the band's fallen frontman. "We didn't really listen to the lyrics. Joy Division was four people on pedestals, and we didn't communicate with each other about what the songs are about."
Hook revealed how listening to the track today still affects him, telling NME, "It still sends a shiver down my spine. Especially because I know the people involved. It masquerades as this cute little pop song, which is one of its delightful ironies. I would've hated it to be about me."
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" went to number 13 on the British singles chart and has been covered by a multitude of artists like Thom Yorke, Fall Out Boy, U2, The Cure, Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and many more.
To view NME's top 20, head here.
