I’ve never bought a Joy Division album. Maybe I will one day. But they did give us one of my favourite songs: Love Will Tear Us Apart. In 2002, NME named it the greatest single of all time, so who am I to argue?
I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about the song that hooks me in. It’s just beautiful melancholy, if there is such a thing. I almost don’t want to listen to anything else they’ve done because nothing is going to compare with that song.
It would be like seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in fresco by Michaelangelo and saying, “Not bad. What other chapels and churches have you worked on and have you got a stiff neck?”
‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ also happens to be a track that kicked in during episode 3 of Mix Tape, which is a limited series I’ve been watching recently on iplayer. Three episodes down, one to go.
Hey, there you, with the sad face. Come up to my place and live it up
Here’s what Mix Tape is all about:
“Years on from their teen romance in 80s Sheffield, music brings them back together – was this the love they were meant to have? Romance and heartbreak with a banging soundtrack.”
It’s a familiar trope. In some ways, you know what’s coming, but when you wrap it up in an 80’s/leaning into 90’s soundtrack (hello The Cure) and you base it around a mix tape or two, what’s not to love?
I remember years ago I used to make people mix tapes, except mine were always random because I had no rules. I’d just bang on whatever songs I liked on the tape and hand them what I’d recorded, with no thought to any continuity. It makes me laugh when I think about that now as I can just imagine the bewildered look on their faces as the cassette played. Nothing was off limits with my tapes – I’d throw a dance track in front of a reggae number and then add a bit of rap if the wind was blowing in the right direction.
Side Note: Testing audio on this blog below, don’t mind me:
Dean’s Random Mix Tapes – You’ve Never Been Here Before
The older and wiser version of me realises that setting the stage and having a theme is probably better than letting my jumping hormones dictate what the next track will randomly be.
Now we no longer really use tapes much or write letters, all that has gone out of the window hasn’t it. People in the future probably won’t stumble across a well worn mix tape someone did for them once, or read a letter written by a human in their ACTUAL handwriting.
Kind of sad that is really, if you ask me.
I know we can’t strap a quill to the ankle of a carrier pigeon, but let’s hypothetically say that we actually did. How nice would it be to see a pigeon arrive with a letter you actually wanted to read inside an envelope sealed by wax (red wax if you please).
Is that better than 100 WhatsApp messages you’ll never remember? You tell me.
You’d get to know a reliable pigeon as well, so that has to be taken into consideration.
Yes, I know you can say things like, “I’ve made you a cup of tea” and “the burger you put under the grill is burning and I’ve just called the fire brigade” but my point remains 😉
In recent years, vinyl records have made a comeback and I think tapes may come back too, even if they are a bit unwieldy. If that happens, be sure to make someone important to you a mix tape and write the songs with an actual pen on the cover. They’ll never forget it.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the next one.
I’m playing this out with “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division. What else could it be?