The people has decided on the greatest songs / singles of all time
According to rateyourmusic.com, the greatest single ever released is Joy Division’s Love will tear us apart (1980), rated 4.50 out of 5 by 100 voters. That means it’s rated higher than any single by any artist usually favoured by serious music afficionados like the Beatles, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. Personally, I don’t think it has the world’s strongest melodies or hooks, or the most interesting riff, or the most innovative arrangement. So perhaps it’s the lyrics?
When the routine bites hard
And ambitions are low
And the resentment rides high
But emotions wont grow
And were changing our ways,
Taking different roads
Then love, love will tear us apart again
Why is the bedroom so cold
Turned away on your side?
Is my timing that flawed,
Our respect run so dry?
Yet theres still this appeal
That weve kept through our lives
Love, love will tear us apart again
Do you cry out in your sleep
All my failings expose?
Get a taste in my mouth
As desperation takes hold
Is it something so good
Just cant function no more?
When love, love will tear us apart again
A sign of the enduring cult popularity of this song, it reentered the UK charts in 1983, 3 years after its original release, reaching no. 19. Then 12 years later, it again reached no.19 as a remix version.
But who were Joy Division? They were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Manchester. 4 years later it was dissolved after the suicide of its lead singer, Ian Curtis. The remaining members reformed as New Order.
With their dark, cavernous sound and their use of synthesizers and electronics, Joy Division is considered the pioneering band of the post-punk movement of the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Though they found only modest success during their career, and released only two studio albums, Joy Division have since been acclaimed as one of the most inventive, evocative and influential groups of their era; Thom Jurek writes “They left just a small bit of music and an echo that still rings”.
Even in the UK, the single only managed to reach number 13 in the UK top 40 chart. It’s Joy Division’s highest charting single. They only ever had one other single in the top 40, Atmosphere which reached no.34 in 1988, well after they broke up.
The second and third greatest single of all time goes to the Beatles, with Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever (1967) and Hey Jude/Revolution (1968). Interestingly, Penny Lane is one of the few Beatles singles which did not reach no.1 in the UK during their heydays. Hey Jude of course reached no.1.
Penny Lane was rated 4.71/5 by 125 voters. That means it actually got a higher rating than Joy Division’s single! But I won’t delve into rateyourmusic.com’s rating algorithm here. Hey Jude got 4.53/5 out of 105 voters.
Tags: music, singles, joy division, beatles, love will tear us apart, penny lane, hey jude, strawberry fields forever, revolution, UK Top 40, charts, pop singles
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