Sleeve
Blue Monday is the fifth single made by New Order on 7 March 1983 band is the best-selling 12" single of all time.
Song
The song starts with a semiquaver kick intro with an Oberheim DMX drum machine until Gillian Gilbert starts the main rhythm. Then some cymbals interrupt, and the main beat and rhythm starts, which is similar to Video 586. The beat and bass was inspired by "Our Love" by Donna Summer and "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)". The extended keypad was taken out of Kraftwork's "Uranium". After piano plays, Bernard Sumner delivers the lyrics in a cold voice. You can hear some dubs of his voice while he sings it. These dubs were meant to go onto the remix of the song "The Beach" but they were deleted, which means they had to dub them again. Bernard said he didn't like the original dubs anyway. The arrangement of the song was inspired by "Dirty Talk" by Klein+MBO.
The song was remixed by Quincy Jones and re-released in 1988.
Cover
The cover is of a floppy disc withSaville's code on the right.
Legacy and Reviews
The song became the best selling 12" single of all time, selling 1.16 million copies in the UK alone, topping charts and being played in clubs. However, New Order did not benefit from it because the original sleeve was die-cut with a silver sleeve. Factory Records lost money with each copy they sold. New Order did not care at first, because no-one expected it to be a hit. Also, the Hacienda recieved a lot of money through the single due to an investment.
New Order has played it in so many encores that they now hate the song.
Allmusic gave this review of Blue Monday along with 4.5 stars: New Order turned entirely toward a dance approach on the 12-inch single "Blue Monday," resulting in their biggest single hit ever, Top Ten in the U.K., and high in the U.S. dance charts. The single's B-side, "The Beach," is an instrumental version of "Blue Monday." (Originally released on Factory Records in March 1983, "Blue Monday" was reissued by Qwest Records in June 1985, and reissued a second time in a remixed version as "Blue Monday 1988" in April 1988.)
B-sides
The original 1983 release had "The Beach" as it's B-side, a remix of New Order. A 1985 re-release had "Theives Like Us" as the B-side. "Beach Buggy" was the 1988 remix release. The '95 Blue Monday was accopanied with many mixes, especially the "Hardfloor Mix", but also the "Manuela Mix" which appeared on the Retro boxset. For more information, see "Track Listing" below.
Covers
Cover by Orgy
Orgy made and relased a four-minute, industrial rock version of Blue Monday with five other remixes of the Orgy version in 1998. For more info, see Blue Monday (Orgy).
Cover by Flunk
Flunk slowed down the main beat, and sung the lyrics, becoming popular and a worldwide hit. For more info, see Blue Monday (Flunk).
Hacienda Remix
Rephlex Records released an old acid remix of Blue Monday played at the Hacienda on 1988 by 808 State. For more info, see Blue Monday (808 State).
Lyrics
How does it feel to treat me like you do? When you've 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 I still 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 harbor 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
New Order - Blue Monday
New Order- Blue Monday 1988
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