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.
Today's choice was one of the last Joy Division songs in their catalog and probably one of the most underrated: Komakino.
JoyDiv theorizes that the song was named after the Kanto Kino theater in Berlin, Germany. Joy Division played a gig there on January 21, 1980.
Like half of the Closer-era material, "Komakino" was conceived, composed, and released at the end of Joy Division's lifetime. One of my personal favorites, Joy Division did not have the chance to properly enjoy and play this song as much as I personally would've hoped. The song was only played at one gig, as far as we know; perhaps it was to be played only at this one gig and then never seen again, like songs like "Something Must Break" and "The Kill (Still Version)".
Joy Division sure picked one hell of a gig to debut it, though: Lyceum Ballroom, London (February 29, 1980). I'll talk more about this gig later, but for now, let me say this: it was the best, most monumental, legendary, holy-shit awesome gig Joy Division ever did, bar-fucking-none. Believe me, I'll gush about the gig later on.
Anyway, all three versions (that's right; there's only three, unless the Closer outtakes tape that Peter Hook has has more versions on it) have very similar instrumental composition, but all of them have significantly different lyrics. I'll get to that in a moment.
First known version, live debut:
Lyceum Ballroom, London (February 29, 1980) [Soundcheck]
This is the hour when the young men return
Strangers were always too good
Moment so moving goes straight to your heart
Rapidly changes to fear
Pattern is set, her reaction will start
Complete but rejected too soon
Thinking ahead in the grip of each tear
Nothing will keep me from you
Chewing a moment when all will be right
Pact just been buried for years
Thickness so great, it's so hard to reflect
Attraction that brought me to you
Through jungles of dead wood and cities on fire
Places I never have been
Each shadow that danced in the light of each day
How could I ever forget
Just walk with me
Take part to see
Just walk with me
Take part to see
Yeah, be with me
Take part to see
Yeah, walk with me
Take part to see
Yeah, walk with me
Take part to see
Just be with me
Take part for me
Second live version, gig version. This version has significantly different lyrics to the previous version. It's weird how that happened, because they are soundcheck and gig versions to the same gig, and they can't have been played more than a few hours from each other. My friend Darkman has a theory that Ian had had a few more drinks by the time they played the live set, and that's why Ian had a harder time with this version's lyrics. I can believe that, because in a lot of places, especially the first verse, it's really hard to understand what he's saying:
Lyceum Ballroom, London (February 29, 1980) [Gig]
This is the hour when the young men return
Strangers were always too good
Moment so great, it just touches your heart
Gradually changes to fear
Pattern is set, we gradually part
Go while it changes to fear
Look to the future, the grip of the year
Go while it changes my mind
Chewing a moment when all will be right
Pact just been buried for years
Pitfalls so great, it's so hard to reflect
Attraction that brought me to you
Through jungles of dead wood and cities on fire
Places I never have been
The shadow that danced in the light of the day
How could I ever forget
Walk with me
Take part to see
Walk with me
Take part to see
Yeah, walk with me
Take part to see
Yeah, walk with me
Take part to see
Yeah, walk with me
Take part to see
Yeah, walk with me
Take part, I see
Third and final version, studio version. The lyrics, again, are entirely different, and again, it's strange, because this version was recorded only about a month later. Sadly, the "Walk with me" chorus was removed, which is a shame because I really liked it, but was replaced with a new closing verse:
'Closer' Outtake (March 18-30, 1980)
This is the hour when the mysteries emerge
A strangeness so hard to reflect
A moment so moving goes straight to your heart
Vision that's never been met
The attraction is held like a weight deep inside
Something I'll never forget
The pattern is set, her reaction will start
Complete but rejected too soon
Looking ahead in the grip of each tear
Pitfalls and light as we breath
Shadow that stood by the side of the road
Always reminds me of you
How can I find the right way to control
All the conflict inside, all the problems beside
As the questions arise, and the answers don't fit
Into my way of things
Into my way of things
Still pursuing the path that’s been buried for years
All the deadwood from jungles and cities on fire
Can’t replace or relate, can’t release or repair
Take my hand and I’ll show you what was and will be"
The line is almost exactly the same. Isn't it weird that there's such a connection between the two songs? But continuing with that tradition, consider this pattern: "She's Lost Control" was rerecorded in mid-February 1980, right around this time. For that version, Ian wrote an additional closing verse. "Atrocity Exhibition" was first recorded in June 1979 and rerecorded in March 1980, with that new closing verse. "Komakino" never got an early studio recorded version, but was played live; in March 1980, it was recorded and was given a new closing verse. All of the closing verses for these three songs were FIVE lines long, and they were recorded literally within a month of one another. It's fascinating to me that Ian had established lyrics for all three songs, but come recording time in February-March 1980, he changed and/or added new five-line closing verses to the songs. I wonder if he even realized it, or if it just came naturally.
That's not all. The line "This is the hour when the young men return" seems to be reworked for the opening verse to "Decades".
"Here are the young men, the weight's on their shoulders
Here are the young men, well, where have they been?
We knocked on the doors of Hell's darker chambers
Pushed to the limit, we dragged ourselves in"
Here are the young men - this is the hour when they return - where have they been? Cool stuff...
Last thing to mention: chapter two of Deborah Curtis' book Touching From a Distance is titled "Walk with me, take hold and see". It's clearly a line from "Komakino", however there is no early draft of lyrics for the song in the book.
Whew...this was a longer post than I had anticipated. I hope you found it informative and interesting. Cheers!
-Wallflower
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