Ceremony

After the death of Ian Curtis it would have been understandable for the remaining members of Joy Division to give up, or try to carry on without their singer.

They locked themselves away in Manchester and set about finding a new sound, each taking turns on vocals before Bernard Sumner settled into the role. When “Ceremony”, which featured Curtis’s lyrics, was released in 1981, it bridged the gap between what Joy Division had been and what New Order would become.

It marked a new era for both the city and the band, ushering in the birth of rave, The Haçienda, and a triumphant career for a band who had once lost everything.

This song has been covered many times by many artists. In 2007, Radiohead performed and recorded a cover version during a webcast.

In 2010, a Ceremony tribute album was released, consisting of over 30 songs covered by various artists including 12 separate covers of “Ceremony.”

This was one of the final songs Joy Division composed. One version of it can be heard on the Joy Division compilation Still, and another is in the Heart and Soul box set. In both cases, the vocals are obscured. Ian Curtis never wrote down the lyrics of the song, so Bernard Sumner had to listen to live recordings of the song filtered through a graphic equalizer to try to bring up the vocals.

New Order recorded the song as their first single, backed with the song “In A Lonely Place”. They re-recorded it after Gillian Gilbert joined the band, re-releasing the song as a 12" single. The second version of the song is the one used on the New Order singles compilation Substance.