It was the first surreal death in my life when I discovered you had died. If it was you who had died, that is. But I cannot imagine anyone else having a name cut so close to yours, with a birthdate much the same.
After your Troubles, I wonder that it might not have been staged, this dying season. I can see that it might have been spoken into being, so that you might finally be free — though I let go any jesses I might have held scores of years ago, so someone or something else kept you from flight. It was hardly me who held the tether anymore. Perhaps it was your own hands that gave to bind?
You were too young… but you were apparently speaking. And I am in no position to interrupt.
All the stars fall for your passing, leaving we the living both haunted and unforgiven.
Follow your freedom road. May its medicine heal. May you find some rest.
14 responses to “Elegia”
This is a beautiful elegy.
Thank you Bob. I’m not 100% certain it is a eulogy and I’m unlikely ever to know with any certainty. After this long, it might as well be… So I’ll just go along with my intuition on this one. As Vonnegut said, “So it goes.”
I had the feeling it wasn’t meant to be specific to someone. Almost like a parting of an old self and moving on.
In both respects, probably: someone specific and my old self moving on. 😉
“It’s complicated.” 😂
Haha. Got it!!
I like the song for Halloween and as a tribute to Ian Curtis, a fascinating character for any creative type because of the way his brain synthed so completely with his art. Painful, yes. Spellbinding. Yes. We can all see ourselves in that.
“Low-life” was New Order’s peak for me. “Elegia” has always been a song that stuck out for me from that period of time.
Ian was a special case when it comes to lyrical arts. I admire him quite a bit. I also recognize that he had his problematic personality traits as well, something that people tend to overlook. But I think he perceived the world in a way that most people cannot or refuse to perceive it.
I think all the best songs are on Low Life, although I was introduced to them through Substance. Ian’s death (and music) cast a long creative shadow on New Order (and a lot of other bands, of course) For newer stuff I like Regret and Krafty, their homage to Kraftwork (more for the lyrics than anything “They’ve got violence, wars, and killing too/All shrunk down in a two foot tube/But out there, the world is a beautiful place/Full of mountains, lakes, and the human race . . .”
I largely fell away from their music around Substance (Joy Division/New Order compilation). I was that put off by my brief interactions with Bernard that I stopped listening to their newer material after about 1987. He was one of the few musicians I’ve met that I regret wasting my time on. He is an ass and he has done nothing since to convince me that my assessment about him is wrong.
Sometimes it’s better if you don’t meet your idols.
Indeed
Superb piece, Michael.
This is a fine song, and, for me, Low-Life was their best album. I liked Movement, but I feel that a lot of that album still carried the weight of Curtis. Not a bad thing.
Thank you Chris.
I agree about Movement and Curtis. His ghost still lingered over the horizon. Low-life was when they finally started to approach themselves as something different as a sound.