Temptation

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The sleeve.

Temptation is the fourth and one of the most vital and famous songs by New Order.

Overview

Temptation was released on May 10th 1982, by Fectory Records under Fac 63. The compliation is about "long lost love" according to Bernard Sumner. The 7" is more "commercial"  while the 12" is more dramatic and funky. The genre is alternative dance.

A version of the 12", often called "Temptation '87" was made for Substance. It has the rhythms of the origional 7" and the length of the 12". Temptation '87 is the most famous version, featuring in Substance, as well as three times on the soundtrack on the movie Trainspotting. Another version made in 1998 appeared on the Retro boxset. It is like Temptation '87, except it is shortened down to 4 minutes. 

It has also been played live more than any other New Order song, and covered up to nine total cover versions. In addition, a remix by CJ Bolland made it to the 1995 compliation The Rest of New Order. Also, The Secret Machines made a remix as B-side for the 7" Version 1 and the CD Promo of the 2005 single Waiting For The Sirens Call.

Hurt, a post-punk, has always been it's B-side. Both 12" Temptation and Hurt appear on the EP 1981-1982. In addition, the 7" and 12" versions of Temptation and 12" Hurt can now be found in the 2008 Collectors Edition: Bonus Disc of Movement.

Some muffled voices, and a scream 52 seconds into the original 12" can be heard. The scream was by Bernard Sumner who says bandmates threw a snowball down his shirt.

The sleeve does not show the name of both songs, but Fac 63 is embossed on it.

Reception

Temptation received mainly positive reviews from everyone.

The full report from Allmusic, showing mainly the change from Joy Division to New Order: Here is an early example of New Order's pop songwriting prowess. Released as a single in 1982, "Temptation" hints at what was to come on their 1983 LP Power, Corruption & Lies and subsequent albums. Rebuilt from the debris of Joy Division after the band was devastated by the suicide of leader Ian Curtis, New Order released its debut LP, Movement, in 1981, which did little for the band in terms of establishing itself as a wholly different project than its predecessor. But in 1982 they released the positively ebullient pop burst "Temptation," a song that showcased a new focus on melodicism, sonic texture, and pop sensibilities. The music of Joy Division was beautiful, but it was a stark, sullen sort of beauty. While New Order continued on an introspective track, even their saddest songs glimmered with more hope than most of Curtis' bleak and fatalistic pronouncements like "Love Will Tear Us Apart." On "Temptation," New Order sounds like Up With People comparatively. Though clearly taking steps away from their past, New Order keeps some of the elements of the former band's sound. Drummer Stephen Morris in particular plays a familiar beat, albeit one at a decidedly more jaunty tempo than on most Joy Division tracks. And the rest of the band falls in accordingly: vocalist/guitarist Bernard Sumner rains down sheets of guitar; bassist Peter Hook adds his sinuous bass, almost a reinvention of the instrument as a melodic counterpoint rather than providing the bottom register of the music; and the only member added to the remaining members of the former band, keyboardist Gillian Gilbert provides modern synthesizer textures. Morris does vary his drumming a bit in his trying to keep up with the 16th-note movement in Gilbert's Giorgio Moroder-like sequencer patterns. Thus, the drummer ends up playing something akin to rhythms found in mid- to late-'70s disco and underground New York dance music. It is a technique he would refine on the Power, Corruption & Lies album. The end product sounds like Joy Division meets Donna Summer with a bit of the tunefulness of the Cure thrown in. Sumner's lyrics match the enthusiastic tone of the music with an ultimately uplifting feeling of triumph after a romantic breakup. After the music fades in, the singer is heard phonetically singing one of the song's hooks in a falsetto. Then the verse: "A heaven I'd get with a hope/Just like the feeling inside, it's no joke/And though it hurts me to treat you this way/Betrayed my words, I'd never heard, too hard to say/Up, down, turn around/Please don't let me hit the ground/Tonight I think I'll walk alone I'll find my soul as I go home." Another of the song's major hooks comes in the way of the songs coda: "Oh, you've got green eyes/Oh, you've got blue eyes/Oh, you've got grey eyes/And I've never seen anyone quite like you before/No, I've never met anyone quite like you before," an infectious singalong chorus. This would have been a shock to the band's old fans; Joy Division was not known for singalongs.

Artists

See article 1981-1982 and look under the section "Artists". Everyone except Martin Hannett were artists to this song.

Lyrics (12" version)

A heaven, a gateway, a hope
Just like a feeling inside, it's no joke
And though it hurts me to treat you this way
Betrayed by words, I'd never heard, too hard to say

Up, down, turn around
Please don't let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I'll walk alone
I'll find my soul as I go home

Up, down, turn around
Please don't let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I'll walk alone
I'll find my soul as I go home

Each way I turn, I know I'll always try
To break this circle that's been placed around me
From time to time, I find I've lost some need
That was urgent to myself, I do believe

Up, down, turn around
Please don't let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I'll walk alone
I'll find my soul as I go home

Up, down, turn around
Please don't let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I'll walk alone
I'll find my soul as I go home

Oh, you've got green eyes
Oh, you've got blue eyes
Oh, you've got gray eyes

Oh, you've got green eyes
Oh, you've got blue eyes
Oh, you've got gray eyes

And I've never seen anyone
Quite like you before
No, I've never met anyone
Quite like you before

Bolts from above hit the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hit the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go

Bolts from above hit the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hit the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go

Oh, it's the last time, oh, it's the last time
Oh, it's the last time, oh, it's the last time
Oh, it's the last time

Oh, I've never met anyone
Quite like you before
Oh no, I've never met anyone
Quite like you before

New Order - "Temptation" Original 12"

New Order - Temptation '87

New Order - Temptation '98

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