"Let's Dance to Joy Division" is a song by British rock band

the Wombats The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards). ...

, released as the second single from their debut album ''

A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation ''The Wombats Proudly Present A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation'', usually shortened to ''A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation'', is the debut major studio album by English Rock music, rock band the Wombats. It was released by 14th Floor Recor ...

''. The song was made available to download on 8 October 2007, with a physical release one week later. It is based on a drunken night out experienced by lead singer

Matthew Murphy Matthew Edward Murphy (born 23 July 1984) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of The Wombats, which he co-founded in 2003. He began a solo career under the name ...

at Le Bateau, a nightclub in the band's home city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, during which he and his then-girlfriend danced on a table to "

Love Will Tear Us Apart "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by English rock music, rock band Joy Division, released on 27 June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis' marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was r ...

" by

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

. The lyrics examine the irony of dancing happily to a famously sad song. It is considered to be one of the band's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

s. There is a

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

on the 7" vinyl version of the single which features bassist Tord Knudsen singing the ''

Postman Pat ''Postman Pat'' is a British stop motion animated television series, animated children's television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a Mail carrier, postman who works for the Royal ...

'' theme song in his native Norwegian. "Let's Dance to Joy Division" features on the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

show ''

Scallywagga ''Scallywagga'' is a British comedy sketch show, written by Stuart Kenworthy, who has worked on ''Green Wing'' and ''Smack the Pony''. The executive producer of series one was Kenton Allen, and the producer was Jon Montague. The pilot episode ai ...

'' as the theme song, and is featured in an episode of the BBC Three show ''

Uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...

''. The song also includes backing singers from Llangattock School, a local primary school located close to the famous Rockfield Recording Studios, Monmouth.

Formats and track listings

Track listings of major single releases of "Let's Dance to Joy Division". UK CD single
(Released 15 October 2007) # "Let's Dance to Joy Division" # "Let's Dance to Joy Division (KGB Remix)" UK 7" single (numbered yellow vinyl)
(Released 15 October 2007) # "Let's Dance to Joy Division" # "Derail and Crash" # "Postman Pat in Norwegian" (hidden track) UK 7" single (numbered clear vinyl)
(Released 15 October 2007) # "Let's Dance to Joy Division" # "Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials (Live from Fuji Rocks)" # "School Uniforms (Live from Fuji Rocks)"

Chart performance

On 14 October 2007, the single entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 35 on downloads alone. A week later, after a physical release, it peaked at #15, before falling gradually down the chart in the following weeks. The song also came in at No. 12 in the

Triple J Hottest 100 The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll presented by the publicly-funded Australian youth radio station Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Music of Australia, Australian and alternative music of th ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. It reached No. 19 on the

Dutch Singles Chart The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, w ...

. It reached No. 76 on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. It was the Free Single of the Week on iTunes Store on 2 June 2008. It was featured in Matchstick Productions' Claim, as the music featured for Swedish freeskier Jacob Wester.

Awards

On 28 February 2008, "Let's Dance to Joy Division" won an

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

Award for Best Dancefloor Filler.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Let's Dance To Joy Division 2007 singles The Wombats songs 14th Floor Records singles 2007 songs Songs written by Matthew Murphy Songs written by Tord Øverland Knudsen Songs written by Dan Haggis