THE GREATEST ROCK ‘N’ ROLL SONG EVER RECORDED.

“Digital” succeeds as an anthem, a rail, a banger, 

 a prophecy, a cri de coeur, and much more.         

Behold “Digital,” a 1978 masterpiece by UK “post-punk” band Joy Division. A song that immediately leaps out of the speakers, “Digital” recommends itself for daily listens (and re-listens.) It flourishes, most obviously, owing to the many levels at which it operates, or rather, the multiplicity of ways that listeners can engage with its transformative hypotheses. “Digital” strikes a “sweet spot” where the necessity of momentum intersects with modulations in contour and the weights of outrage. No other rock ‘n’ roll song accomplishes this so effectively. 

You start with a “yen” or a “yearning,” then you press “play.” Then “Digital” transports you to an “inner place” that only you can describe. Maybe the “inner place” differs from day to day, but “Digital” carries you there anyhow. And you want the song to take you there again (and again.) And it complies, like a musical drug. “Digital” never slows down. You can get up, on your feet, and dance, if you want. You can stand in the shadows, if you prefer, and “head bang.” Or, you can sit back, allow for a bit of vulnerability, and simply let the song hurt you. These are maybe the three greatest outcomes, but hardly the only ones.

Let’s dwell on “simply let the song hurt you” 

The guitar rides a series of arctangent waves, effecting a sort of inverse counter-pulse. It also chips away like a spike at a fierce iciness or the idea of a stony forbearance. As a final act, the guitar, by then untethered and “soloing,” washes over the late-day designs that we clutch, an irresistible force over-tiding our bittersweet ambition. Yet throughout the song, the hypnotic cycle of the “juicy” bass and crisp drumbeats catches you, steadies you, centers you. For the lyrics.

Which initially speak of something “closing in” and the fear of [calling] upon someone. The “digital” part of “Digital” may refer to the “day in / day out” dichotomy-monotony or string of “0 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1” code agitating against the synaptic reveries of despair. Something is still “closing in” as “patterns seem to form,” an assertion which mirrors the pulsating music and vice versa. The “digital” commentary of “Digital” continues in the form of the singer [feeling] “it” — the something closing in — as both “cold and warm” or “0 / 1” all over again. Around him, the “shadows start to fall.”

“Digital” strikes a “sweet spot” where the necessity of momentum 
intersects with modulations in contour and the weights of outrage.

When, finally, we understand that the singer, Ian Curtis — by giving the world a chance and “[standing] by the door alone” — fears for the “you” character. The “you” could be “you” the listener, “you” the object of the singer’s affection, or “you” the singer himself. Either way, Curtis finally unveils the peril, how he recognizes the teetering nature of encroaching loss, as the “you” in the song “[fades] away.” He rails against this likelihood, by forbidding it — “don’t ever fade away / I need you here today” — but the song concludes on the inestimable and unavoidable property of erasure: “fade away / fade away / fade away / fade away.”

And the music, either confirming or contradicting its own lyrics, does not fade. It clamps shut. If we assign a value of “0” for loss and “1” for survival, “Digital” lives in the space between the two values, but travels, maddeningly, toward the unknown. In a way, “Digital” aggressively rails against or upends the ultimate unfairness of life, the “0” that looms for us all. The singer expresses no greater outrage than when he confronts the dimming lights of a body slipping away.

The singer, the band

Ian Curtis took his own life in 1980, just before the band would have embarked on its first U.S. tour. According to numerous sources, “Digital” was the last song ever performed by Joy Division, during a concert at Birmingham University. Perhaps we can speculate on a relationship between the lyrics of “Digital” and the tragic outcome to Curtis’s life, perhaps not. The three surviving band members — Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner — formed the group New Order, which achieved popular success in the 1980s.

To the point of Curtis’s death, the band had only been performing for three or four years. A U.S. tour could have confirmed the group as international stars. Yet, even with limited output — two studio albums, a small handful of “live albums,” and some ensuing compilations — the band has influenced numerous groups from the 1980s onward. By “numerous,” we mean “quite a big bunch.” It’s hard to prove such statements but it’s also hard to imagine post-1980 rock ‘n’ roll, including some of the most beloved bands “ever,” without the obvious influence of Joy Division.

Ian Curtis expresses no greater outrage than when he

confronts the dimming lights of a body slipping away.

Before we close

We turn to our panel of experts — The Machine, Sausages, and Fluffy — who advise us here at Blood And Gutstein from time to time on all matters cultural. These three estimable forces review “Digital” as follows:
     The Machine: “‘Digital’ strikes me as a work of utter genius in the rock and roll idiom, doing everything original and wasting not a single gesture. The restraint and compactness only make the variations more compelling; the tone of the instrumentation is completely unique (no one has ever sounded like Joy Division) and the lyrics give the song sheer f***ing terror.”
     Sausages: “The villainy you teach me I will execute.” (see: Shakes., Merch. of Venice, A3:S1.)
     Fluffy: “You know our love (of this song) will not fade away!”

Indeed. “Digital” succeeds as an anthem, a rail, a banger, a prophecy, a cri de coeur, and much more. We leave it to you, Dear Reader, to continue the journey from here. Lyrics and discography can be found below. Of course, Joy Division produced a host of other great songs — including “Disorder,” “She’s Lost Control,” “Atmosphere,” “Transmission,” and “Leaders of Men” — that compete with “Digital.” Go forward in Joy Division and you will not be disappointed. (Huzzah!)

Joy Division / “Digital” / Lyrics and discography

Feel it closing in
Feel it closing in
The fear of whom I call
Every time I call
I feel it closing in
I feel it closing in
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out

[instrumental break] 

I feel it closing in
As patterns seem to form
I feel it cold and warm
The shadows start to fall
I feel it closing in
I feel it closing in
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out
Day in, day out 

[instrumental break]

I’d have the world around
To see just whatever happens
Stood by the door alone
And then it’s fade away
I see you fade away
Don’t ever fade away
I need you here today
Don’t ever fade away
Don’t ever fade away
Don’t ever fade away
Don’t ever fade away
Fade away, fade away
Fade away
Fade away, fade away
Fade away, fade away

Discography
Joy Division. “Digital” b/w “Glass” A Factory Sample, A-side. Factory FAC-2A. Manchester, England (1978). Personnel: Ian Curtis (vocals), Peter Hook (bass), Stephen Morris (drums), and Bernard Sumner (guitar). Compositional credit: Joy Division.