Spring Break
Column: The influence of post-mordem stars
Sarah Jean Bresnahan/Verge Editor
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: The Verge
The hairs on my scalp and arms tingled the first time I listened to Joy Division.
I remember an odd feeling of awe, mixed with melancholy, at the machine-like drumming, melodic bass lines and filling, harmonic guitar riffs.
And then I heard the voice of Ian Curtis, and I could feel my eyes start to tear up.
Curtis and Joy Division have been a major influence in my life, especially when I feel sad, overworked or frustrated.
There's something in the way the driving background music and the intense honesty of the lyrics comes together to produce what is, to me, musical therapy.
How some people feel about John Lennon, Kurt Cobaine or Jeff Buckley, is how I feel about Curtis.
All of these artists had powerful post-mortem popularity, and it is really only after their death that fans begin to understand their lives.
Curtis died the morning Joy Division was to depart England for their first U.S. tour on May 18, 1980. It was supposed to be the tour that introduced them to the rest of the world; however, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of the Macclesfield home he shared with his wife and infant daughter.
Curtis had been dealing with epilepsy, the decay of his marriage to Deborah Curtis and the beginning stages of fame as the tall, dark and mysterious lead singer of one of the most popular post-punk bands in Europe.
Curtis believed he was destined for fame when Joy Division was first conceived, but later on admitted that he hated the fame and feared that everyone else hated him for it, too.
Many of Joy Division's songs deal with depression, sadness, loneliness, frustration and death.
In an interview with Paul Lester of The Guardian in 2007, drummer Stephen Morris said the band wasn't aware of how deep Curtis' depression was until after his untimely death.
"This sounds awful, but it was only after Ian died that we sat down and listened to the lyrics," Morris said. "You'd find yourself thinking, 'Oh my God, I missed this one.' Because I'd look at Ian's lyrics and think how clever he was putting himself in the position of someone else. I never believed he was writing about himself."
Songs like "She's Lost Control," "Disorder" and "Atrocity Exhibition" were about his constant struggle with epilepsy.
Curtis would have seizures on stage, sometimes encouraged by a specific drumbeat. The show would stop and he would have to be carried off stage.
When Curtis died, the remaining members reformed into New Order, who, only in the last few years, stopped performing.
Although our generation doesn't seem to know about Joy Division, the band's legacy is left with artists we do know, such as Bloc Party, Interpol, The Cure, U2, Editors, Moby and John Frusciante from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who all claim Joy Division as a major influence.
Knowing that makes me feel a little bit more connected to the music that was created before I was born and that I love so much.
I remember an odd feeling of awe, mixed with melancholy, at the machine-like drumming, melodic bass lines and filling, harmonic guitar riffs.
And then I heard the voice of Ian Curtis, and I could feel my eyes start to tear up.
Curtis and Joy Division have been a major influence in my life, especially when I feel sad, overworked or frustrated.
There's something in the way the driving background music and the intense honesty of the lyrics comes together to produce what is, to me, musical therapy.
How some people feel about John Lennon, Kurt Cobaine or Jeff Buckley, is how I feel about Curtis.
All of these artists had powerful post-mortem popularity, and it is really only after their death that fans begin to understand their lives.
Curtis died the morning Joy Division was to depart England for their first U.S. tour on May 18, 1980. It was supposed to be the tour that introduced them to the rest of the world; however, Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of the Macclesfield home he shared with his wife and infant daughter.
Curtis had been dealing with epilepsy, the decay of his marriage to Deborah Curtis and the beginning stages of fame as the tall, dark and mysterious lead singer of one of the most popular post-punk bands in Europe.
Curtis believed he was destined for fame when Joy Division was first conceived, but later on admitted that he hated the fame and feared that everyone else hated him for it, too.
Many of Joy Division's songs deal with depression, sadness, loneliness, frustration and death.
In an interview with Paul Lester of The Guardian in 2007, drummer Stephen Morris said the band wasn't aware of how deep Curtis' depression was until after his untimely death.
"This sounds awful, but it was only after Ian died that we sat down and listened to the lyrics," Morris said. "You'd find yourself thinking, 'Oh my God, I missed this one.' Because I'd look at Ian's lyrics and think how clever he was putting himself in the position of someone else. I never believed he was writing about himself."
Songs like "She's Lost Control," "Disorder" and "Atrocity Exhibition" were about his constant struggle with epilepsy.
Curtis would have seizures on stage, sometimes encouraged by a specific drumbeat. The show would stop and he would have to be carried off stage.
When Curtis died, the remaining members reformed into New Order, who, only in the last few years, stopped performing.
Although our generation doesn't seem to know about Joy Division, the band's legacy is left with artists we do know, such as Bloc Party, Interpol, The Cure, U2, Editors, Moby and John Frusciante from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who all claim Joy Division as a major influence.
Knowing that makes me feel a little bit more connected to the music that was created before I was born and that I love so much.
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