Joy Division

Wilderness
1980, written by Ian Curtis

I travelled far and wide through many different times,
What did you see there?
I saw the saints with their toys,
What did you see there?
I saw all knowledge destroyed.
I travelled far and wide through many different times.



Joy Division was founded in 1977 in Manchester. Their bandname is a reference to the concentrationcamp brothels, where women were forced to work as described in Ka-Tzetnik 135633's 1955 book "house of dolls". The band was accused of neo nazi sympathies, because of references to nazi themes in their music (the song Warshaw refers to Rudolf Hess), something they have often denied. The music is detached, the lyrics dark and Ian Curtis' voice haunted.



In 1980 Ian Curtis committed suicide, the night before the band was leaving for a US tour. He was only 23, but had been plagued by depression, suffered greatly from epileptic seizures and his marriage was supposedly on the rocks. The other band members continued their cooperation and formed New Order, which became a very successful band in the 80s.