“Blue Monday”
New Order is an English New Wave band from Salford, England. In 1980 the former members of Joy Division founded New Order after the passing of Joy Division’s singer Ian Curtis.
Written and produced by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner in 1982. The song was released on March 7th 1983.
This song instantly draws you with a synthetic drum beat and in despite not having any lyrics until nearly two minutes into the song it’s almost hypnotic. Something about it really compels me to break out my best dance moves.
Syncopation
Usually in music you’d want everything to to line up and be the same right? “Blue Monday” features some syncopated drum lines that I feel really give the song a little extra “oomph” I truly believe this song wouldn’t stand out as much if everything lined up perfectly.
Texture
The song starts off fairly simply with a kick drum beat and is pretty quickly joined by a synthesizer melody and then a very western style guitar riff, and finally brings in a haunting sample from Kraftwerk‘s “Uranium” all of these elements seamlessly work together draw you into the song.
Song structure
“Blue Monday” doesn’t followed your normal song structure which would normally be a verse-chorus structure. Instead it has a two minute long introduction with the first and second verses coming one right after another and then there is a short breakdown that leads into the final verse and the extended outro. This unusual structure makes the song stand out in my mind because upon first listen you can’t really predict where the long is going like you would with music that follows a more traditional structure.
Harmonies
The Harmonies in this song are done by either a vocoder or a voice synthesizer and they give the song a very other worldly vibe that I enjoy.
Tone
The song features vocals from lead singer Bernard Sumner all spoken in a very deadpan way which makes them stand out compared to the other very energetic elements of this song.
What others have to say
“Not only did it bring about the EDM revolution but also guided future artists through the newly paved path. For example, Flower Up’s ‘Weekender’ couldn’t have existed without this New Order track. Moreover, it brought rock enthusiasts to the previously deserted dance floor which was an achievement in itself.”
“Blankness is ‘Blue Monday”s overwhelming quality, from Sumner’s pale, robotic vocal to Peter Hook’s desolate bass melody, and it’s the merest flick of the pencil to draw a line from this to forbidding early techno”
– Matthew Horton
Sources:
Dasgupta, Pubali. “How New Order’s ‘blue Monday’ Changed the Musical Landscape.” Far Out Magazine, 6 Mar. 2021, faroutmagazine.co.uk/new-order-blue-monday-revolutionised-music/?amp.
Horton, Matthew. “How New Order’s ‘blue Monday’ Changed Music Forever.” NME, 30 July 2018, http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/how-blue-monday-changed-music-forever-771764#.
Partridge, Kenneth. “Unraveling the Many Mysteries of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday.’” Mental Floss, Mental Floss, 7 Nov. 2022, http://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/new-order-blue-monday-mysterious-origins#.
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