Blue Monday

Song Meaning of Blue Monday by New Order

Using a variety of then-next-gen technology, New Order singer Bernard Sumner created this instant club classic — and also the bestselling 12-inch single of all time.

“Blue Monday” is inspired from the disco song by Donna Summer “Our Love.” “When we started the sequencer, it fired up slightly out of time, which, although unintentional, sounded really nice and funky,” Sumner wrote.

The track was written and produced by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.

New Order was formed in 1980 by the former members of Joy Division, which split after the death of their singer, Ian Curtis. and began to explore new musical technology such as synthesisers.

New Order wrote "Blue Monday" in their rehearsal room in Cheetham Hill, Manchester.

New Order bought an early sampler, the Emulator 1, and sampled choir sounds from Kraftwerk's "Uranium".

Sumner and the drummer, Stephen Morris, learnt how to use the sampler by spending hours recording their flatulence.

Their engineer Martin introduced them to the DMX drum machine, which had outputs that could be sent to the other instruments. The sequence was programmed using binary code.

Gilbert wrote the sequence out by hand on a long roll of paper, and accidentally added an extra rest, throwing the sequence slightly out of time; the band liked the effect and kept it in the song.

New Order also reused some elements from their 1982 composition "Video 5 8 6".

The original single made the top 10 in many countries. It reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart.

Blue Monday lyrics by New Order

How does it feel

To treat me like you do?

When you've laid your hands upon me

And told me who you are?

I thought I was mistaken

I thought I heard your words

Tell me how do I feel?

Tell me now, how do I feel?

Those who came before me

Lived through their vocations

From the past until completion

They'll turn away no more

And still, I find it so hard

To say what I need to say

But, I'm quite sure that you'll tell me

Just how I should feel today

I see a ship in the harbour

I can and shall obey

But, if it wasn't for your misfortune

I'd be a heavenly person today

And I thought I was mistaken

And I thought I heard you speak

Tell me, how do I feel?

Tell me now, how should I feel?

Now I stand here waiting

I thought I told you to leave me

While I walked down to the beach

Tell me how does it feel

When your heart grows cold?

(Grows cold, grows cold, grows cold, grows cold)