Just to recap, this is going to be a part of an occasional series of posts I'm going to make on this blog. This'll be where I compare an early set of lyrics to a later set of lyrics for one Joy Division song. Sometimes I may compare multiple sets of lyrics of just one song to each other. When you couple in a lot of the live variations to certain songs, you can get all sorts of results.
Today's choice is a lesser known/celebrated song in the JD catalog: Candidate.
This song is one of my friend's personal favorite JD songs. Cheers, Darkman! :)
Despite two studio recordings, "Candidate" was rarely played live. At least, all recordings of gigs we have point to that conclusion. As such, I have decoded EVERY known version and am posting them here. If I'm missing any version, please let me know.
Every version seemed to differ significantly in some way or another, either with length, guitar riffs, or vocals. The earliest known version, the studio version found on Unknown Pleasures, is both the longest running version (about 3 minutes) and the most lyrically complete (with three verses and a closing chorus). After that, all versions seemed to be shorted significantly (to about 2 minutes, two verses, and no chorus).
It's curious as to why they did this. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other JD song where Ian established a full set of lyrics for it early on, then started just completely amputating them.
First known version, first studio version:
‘Unknown Pleasures’ Album Version (April 1979)
Forced by the pressure,
the territories marked
No longer the pleasure;
I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory; no
longer the power
It’s creeping up slowly,
that last fatal hour
Oh, I don’t know what
made me, what gave me the right
To mess with your values,
and change wrong to right
Please keep your distance,
the trail leads to here
There’s blood on your
fingers, brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing;
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you, you
treat me like this
It’s just second nature;
it’s what we’ve been shown
We’re living by your
rules; that’s all that we know
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
Oh, I tried to get to you
Second version, second studio version:
Piccadilly Radio
Session (June 4, 1979)
Forced by the pressure,
the territories marked
No longer the pleasure, I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory,
relinquish the power
It’s creeping up slowly,
that last fatal hour
Please keep your distance,
the trail leads to here
There’s blood on your
fingers, brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing;
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you, you
treat me like this
Third version, first live version. This is the strangest and most unique version of all. It is only about 1:30 minutes long and only has one verse (which, btw, has a break between each of the four lines):
Roots Club, Leeds (July
11, 1979)
Forced by the pressure, the territories marked
No longer the pleasure, I've since lost the
heart
Corrupted from memory, relinquish the power
It’s creeping up slowly, that last fatal hour
Fourth version. This is the most familiar live version, because it was included on both the Heart and Soul boxset and the 2007 2CD remaster of Unknown Pleasures. I assume this is the version that the Control movie's live version was based on, given the similar composition:
The Factory/Russell
Club, Manchester (July 13, 1979)
Forced by the pressure,
the territories marked
No longer the pleasure, I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memories,
no longer the power
It’s creeping up slow,
that last fatal hour
Please keep your distance,
the trail leads to here
Blood on your fingers,
brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing;
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you, you
treat me like this
Fifth version (Ian screws up the last lines of the first verse; I can't make out the final line too well). The taper of this gig was apparently asked to leave the venue. He managed to record just four songs. "Candidate" was the last one he recorded:
Nashville Ballrooms,
London (August 13, 1979)
Forced by the pressure,
the territories marked
No longer the pleasure,
I’ve since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory, I
worked hard for this
No one could tell me, the
blood on...
Please keep your distance,
the trail leads to here
There's blood on your
fingers, brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing;
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you, you
treat me like this
Sixth and final version:
Civic Hall, Guildford
(November 1, 1979) [Last Known Performance]
Forced by the pressure,
the territories marked
No longer the pleasure,
I’ve since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory, no
longer the power
It’s creeping up slowly,
that last final hour
Please keep your distance,
the trail leads to here
Blood on your fingers,
brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing;
I worked hard for this
I
tried to get to you, you treat me like this
And that's all, folks. Again, please let me know if I missed any version. Thanks for reading. Next one will probably be either "I Remember Nothing" or "Exercise One". :)
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