"Procession" is the second single by the British group
New Order, released in September 1981 on 7"
vinyl record
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...
.It is a double A side with Everything's gone Green. The single's
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...
catalogue number is FAC 53. (Labelled as B Music)
Overview
Compared to the band's previous single "
Ceremony", this one shows the band in an intermediate position between post-punk Joy Division and light
electropop New Order. The lighter pop optimism, with a strong emphasis on rhythm, overcomes the song's gloomy title, "Procession". This "mixed message" may help to explain why the song remains obscure in the New Order repertoire, despite having been a single. The sound is much like ''Movements opening track, "Dreams Never End", but with an even more upbeat flavor and vocals that have nearly shed the
Ian Curtis
Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown P ...
imitation. The lyrics are abstract and difficult to discern, given the density of the mix and the strength of the other instruments. The song is notable, also, because there are brief backing vocals by band member
Gillian Gilbert
Gillian Lesley Gilbert (born 27 January 1961) is an English musician and singer, best known as the keyboardist and guitarist of the band New Order.
Early life
Gilbert's family moved from her birthplace, Manchester, to the nearby market town of ...
.
Though all of New Order's songs are credited as group compositions, it is stated in Peter Hook's memoir ''Substance: Inside New Order'' that the chief composer of "Procession" is
Stephen Morris.
The song does not appear on any of New Order's studio albums; it does, however, appear on the EP ''
1981–1982'', the CD, cassette, and
Digital Audio Tape releases of the 1987 singles compilation ''
Substance'' (where it is erroneously listed as a B-side), the 2005 compilation ''
Singles'', and the 2008 Collector's Edition of the band's debut album ''
Movement''.
Artwork
Similar to the album cover for ''Movement'', the artwork is taken from a "Dinamo Futurista" magazine cover done by Italian futurist designer
Fortunato Depero
Fortunato Depero (30 March 1892 – 29 November 1960) was an Italian Futurism (art), futurist painter, writer, sculptor, and graphic designer.
Biography
Although born in Fondo or in the neighboring village of Malosco, according to other sou ...
. Notably, the UK release's sleeve came in nine versions, all with different colours: black, blue, aqua, yellow, red, brown, orange, green and purple. The second side of the single contains a shortened version of "
Everything's Gone Green
"Everything's Gone Green" is the third single by the English rock band New Order (band), New Order, released in December 1981.
As usual per New Order and Joy Division's releases, the recording date and location of the music is not disclosed on th ...
", the full-length version of which was later released as a 12" single on its own.
Although the original UK single does not indicate which is side A or B (the runoff matrix simply lists "SOFT" and "HARD" for each side), the French edition of the single actually has "Everything's Gone Green" labeled as the A-side track, and some Spanish and Portuguese pressings have reversed labels.
Track listing
Chart positions
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Procession (Song)
New Order (band) songs
1981 singles
Songs written by Bernard Sumner
Songs written by Peter Hook
Songs written by Stephen Morris (musician)
Songs written by Gillian Gilbert
Factory Records singles
1981 songs
UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles