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Joy Division
Joy Division


Background information
Origin Salford, Greater Manchester, England
Genre(s) Post-punk
Years active 1976—1980
Associated acts New Order
Former members
Bernard Sumner
Peter Hook
Stephen Morris
Ian Curtis



Music World  →  Lyrics  →  J  →  Joy Division  →  Albums  →  An Ideal for Living

Joy Division Album


An Ideal for Living (1978)
1978
1.
2.
3.
4.
Failures (Of the Modern Man)
. . .



3, 5, 0, 1, 2, 5, Go!

I was there in the back stage,
When first light came around.
I grew up like a changeling,
To win the first time around.
I can see all the weakness.
I can pick all the faults.
Well I concede all the faith tests,
Just to stick in your throats.

31G, 31G, 31G

I hung around in your soundtrack,
To mirror all that you've done,
To find the right side of reason,
To kill the three lies for one,
I can see all the cold facts.
I can see through your eyes.
All this talk made no contact.
No matter how hard we tried.

31G, 31G, 31G

I can still hear the footsteps.
I can see only walls.
I slid into your man-traps,
With no hearing at all.
I just see contradiction,
Had to give up the fight,
Just to live in the past tense,
To make believe you were right.

31G, 31G, 31G

3, 5, 0, 1, 2, 5


. . .



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

Two-way mirror in the hall,
They like to watch everything you do,
Transmitters hidden in the walls,
So they know everything you say is true,
Turn it on,
Don't turn it on,
Turn it on.


. . .



Born from some mother's womb,
Just like any other room.
Made a promise for a new life.
Made a victim out of your life.

When your time's on the door,
And it drips to the floor,
And you feel you can touch,
All the noise is too much,
And the seeds that are sown,
Are no longer your own.

Just a minor operation,
To force a final ultimatum.
Thousand words are spoken loud,
Reach the dumb to fool the crowd.

When you walk down the street,
And the sound's not so sweet,
And you wish you could hide,
Maybe go for a ride,
To some peep show arcade,
Where the future's not made.

A nightmare situation,
Infiltrate imagination,
Smacks of past Holy wars,
By the wall with broken laws.

The leaders of men,
Born out of your frustration.
The leaders of men,
Just a strange infatuation.
The leaders of men,
Made a promise for a new life.
No saviour for our sakes,
To twist the internees of hate,
Self induced manipulation,
To crush all thoughts of mass salvation.


. . .



Don't speak of safe Messiahs,
A failure of the Modern Man,
To the centre of all life's desires,
As a whole not an also ran.
Love in a hollow field,
Break the image of your father's son,
Drawn to an inner feel,
He was thought of as the only one,
He was thought of as the only one.

He no longer denies,
All the failures of the Modern Man,
No, no, no, he can't pick sides,
Sees the failures of the Modern Man.
Wise words and sympathy,
Tell the story of our history.
New strength gives a real touch,
Sense and reason make it all too much.
With a strange fatality,
Broke the spirits of a lesser man,
Some other race can see,
In his way he was the only one,
In his way he was the only one.

He no longer denies,
All the failures of the Modern Man,
No, no, no, he can't pick sides,
Sees the failures of the Modern Man.
Now that it's right to decide,
In his time he was a total man,
Taken from Caesar's side,
Kept in silence just to prove who's wrong.
He no longer denies,
All the failures of the Modern Man,
No, no, no, he can't pick sides,
Sees the failures of the Modern Man.
All the failures of the Modern Man.


. . .


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