Radiohead – Ceremony (Joy Division/New Order cover)

My favourite band covering my favourite song.

I love this song so much but it always makes me a little sad. The last Joy Division song, the first New Order song. It’s just a perfect song.

Oh, I’ll break them down, no mercy shown,
Heaven knows, it’s got to be this time,
Watching her, these things she said,
The times she cried,
Too frail to wake this time.

Or so I thought until I heard this version. I’m not saying that Radiohead’s cover of “Ceremony” is any better than the original(s) but its perfect in a different way. Johnny’s guitar is on fire. Thom does a better version of Ian Curtis than Bernard did, not that Bernard was trying to be Ian.

In this New Order version from 1981 they look terrified. Watch Stephen Morris drum. Incredible. It would have been one of their first shows as New Order.

And then there is the Joy Division original. Near as I can tell they only played this once or twice before Ian died. I hate thinking about that.