"She's Lost Control" | ||||
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Song by Joy Division from the album Unknown Pleasures | ||||
Released | 15 June 1979 | |||
Recorded | 1–17 April 1979 at Strawberry Studios, | |||
Genre | Post-punk | |||
Length | 3:57 | |||
Label | Factory Records | |||
Writer(s) |
Bernard Sumner Peter Hook Stephen Morris Ian Curtis |
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Producer(s) | Martin Hannett, Joy Division | |||
Unknown Pleasures track listing | ||||
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"She's Lost Control" | ||||
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Single by Joy Division | ||||
A-side | "Atmosphere" | |||
Released | August 1980 (US) September 1980 (UK) |
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Format | 7", 12", CDS | |||
Genre | Post-punk | |||
Length | 4:56 | |||
Label | Factory Records | |||
Writer(s) | Joy Division | |||
Producer(s) | Martin Hannett | |||
Joy Division singles and EPs chronology | ||||
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"She's Lost Control" is a song by British post-punk band Joy Division. It was first introduced in a concert in June 1978. Two separate recordings have been released: the version appearing on the band's 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures, and a more electronic version first released in 1980 on a 12" single, coupled with "Atmosphere". This version has an additional verse, not present in the earlier one, and was recorded in March 1980 at Strawberry Studios, Stockport, making it one of the last Joy Division studio recordings. There are also a number of live versions appearing on the bonus discs of the re-issues of the band's albums.
The song centres on Peter Hook's bassline played high up on the neck, and a mechanistic drum beat played by Stephen Morris. Each drum was recorded completely separately, as producer Martin Hannett obsessively pursued clean drum sounds with no "bleed through" (when one drum's sound is added to the signal of another drum unintentionally) on songs he considered potential singles. Lead singer Ian Curtis's lyrics concern a girl having an epileptic seizure (i.e. "losing control"); a condition which Curtis himself later suffered from. Many indie bands have covered it, as well as Siobhan Fahey and Grace Jones. The song is about a girl who Ian Curtis met when she came to claim benefits at the Labour Exchange where he worked. One day she didn't come to the centre. Ian later learned that she died from a epileptic seizure.
Live, the song would be played at a faster pace, and much more aggressively, Curtis often shouting the lyrics before the bridge sections. The syndrum used would often be more abrasive and louder in the mix than it was in the studio recordings. On later live recordings, Curtis would play a keyboard line during the coda, one of only a few songs on which he would play an instrument.