Hours before 2012 ends and 2013 starts, I figured I'd make another post in my little series. Don't worry; it'll continue on into the new year. Just to recap, this is going to be a part of a 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.
As I mentioned before, for this post, I was going to do either "I Remember Nothing" or "Exercise One". I decided to do I Remember Nothing.
"I Remember Nothing" was either an opener or a closer (minus encores) to every JD gig it was performed in. It is also the closer to the first JD album Unknown Pleasures. Along with "In a Lonely Place", this was arguably one of their eeriest, loneliest, darkest songs. This is an interesting song; Ian plays guitar, while Bernard plays synth. Live versions seemed to indicate where New Order would take a lot of their early music, especially with songs like "Temptation" and their version of "In a Lonely Place".
Not too many JD versions of this song exist; like "Candidate", it seemed it wasn't a favorite of either the band or the audience. As such, I have decoded EVERY known version and am posting them here. If I'm missing any version, please let me know.
The song was already in existence and played live before Unknown Pleasures. The lyrics, again, like "Candidate", were fully developed in the album version, but then morphed and amputated slightly for all future versions, which is both a crying shame and really strange for a JD song. True, the album version had overdubs to include more vocals/lyrics and they couldn't exactly replicate that for live versions, but Peter Hook could've sang with Ian during gigs AND Ian could've sang more lyrics than he did for the live versions. Anyway, most versions last about 6 minutes, including the album version, but there are also versions that range from about 5 minutes to 8 minutes long.
First known version, first live version. Closed the concert (or would have, if not for "Sister Ray", which I don't know was an encore or not). Despite the horrendous quality of the recording, you can actually pick out a few of Ian's lyrics. But it was difficult, and I may or may not have gotten some of them wrong. If you have any corrections, please let me know. Also, the date of this version is debatable, but I listed it as its most likely date.
Band on the Wall,
Manchester (March 13, 1979) [?]
We were strangers
We were strangers for way
too long
For way too long
We were strangers
We strangers
We strangers
Strangers
Strangers
Strangers
Strangers
Strangers
Strangers
Second version, second live version. Closed the concert, with "No Love Lost" as the encore. I find it strange that this version has less lyrics than the last version. Perhaps that could be used to date the previous version more accurately, but I dunno. Probably just Ian still figuring out the song. This version lasts almost exactly 5 minutes and has the least amount of lyrics of any version:
Bowdon Vale Youth Club,
Altrincham (March 14, 1979)
We were strangers
We were strangers for way
too long
For way too long...
Strangers
Strangers
Ooh...strangers
Third version, studio version. The overdubbed vocals are the ones in parentheses. The line with asterisks was extremely hard to decipher; Ian mumbles it, but that's what it sounds like to me. Let me know if you have a different interpretation. All future versions would only include snippets of these lyrics:
'Unknown Pleasures'
Album Version (April 1979)
We were strangers
We were strangers for way
too long
For way too long
We were (violent)
strangers for way too (violent) long
*In therapy...*
Get weak all the time, may
just pass the time
Me in my own world
Yeah, you there beside
The gaps are enormous; we
stare from each side
We were strangers for way
too long
Violent, more violent, his
hand cracks the chair
Moves on reaction, then
slumps in despair
Trapped in a cage and
surrendered too soon
Me in my own world, the
one that you knew
(For way too long)
(We were strangers for way
too long)
We were strangers
We were strangers for way
too long
For way too, aw, long
Fourth version. The first time the song opened a concert. Also, interesting history with this version. The taper of the gig was Duncan Haysom. Duncan remembers: “A month or so after Ian's death, when I first met Rob Gretton at Rough Trade in London, with six of my Joy Division master tapes, it was the Futurama tape that he wanted to hear first. He put on “I Remember Nothing” and I said he should fast forward to “Wilderness” as he'd be able to assess the tape better. He just smiled and said "I can tell fine with this track". He handed me a copy of Licht Und Blindheit/Sordide Sentimental and about 6 of those Flexi freebies. Rob was a really nice bloke.”:
Futurama One Festival,
Leeds (September 8, 1979)
We
were strangers
We
were strangers for way too long
Way
too long
Way
too long...
Violent
Violent
Get
weak all the time
May
just pass the time
Me in
my own world
You
there beside
We
were strangers for way too long
We
were strangers, way too long
Fifth version. Also an opener:
Electric Ballroom,
London (October 26, 1979)
We
were strangers
We
were strangers for way too long
For
way too long
For
way too long...
Violent
Violent
Get
weak all the time
May
just pass some time
Me in
my own world
You
there beside
We
were strangers
We
were strangers for way too long
Sixth version. Closed the concert, with "Transmission" as the encore. There is video footage of this version, and it's extremely atmospheric, dark, and creepy. Ian is terrifying. This is also the longest version, lasting almost 8 minutes:
Apollo Theatre,
Manchester (October 28, 1979)
We
were strangers
We
were strangers for way too long
For
way too long
For
way too long...
Violent
Violent
Get
weak all the time
May
just pass the time
Me in
my own world
You
there beside
We
were strangers
We
were strangers
We
were strangers, strangers
Way too long, for way too
long...
Seventh and final version. Opened the concert:
Winter Gardens,
Bournemouth (November 2, 1979) [Last Known Performance]
We
were strangers
We
were strangers for way too long
For
way too long
For
way too long...
Violent
Violent
Get
weak all the time
May
just pass the time
Me in
my own world
You
there beside
Just
like strangers, way too long
And that's all I have today. Thank you all so much for reading my blog and following it. Happy New Year once again. Hope you all have a fantastic year. :)
-Wallflower
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