Deborah Curtis, the widow to Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, has compiled a book of his original handwritten lyrics along with journalist Jon Savage. Deborah spoke to  of The Guardian regarding the new book, called “So This is Permanence: Joy Division Lyrics and Notebooks“, the title taken from the haunting  Joy Division song “24 Hours”

Handwritten Lyrics to Love Will Tear Us Apart
Handwritten Lyrics to Love Will Tear Us Apart

Deborah explains that Ian was more of a 60’s style poet more akin to Ballard, and Burroughs than his hero Bowie, and it was the writing that was more important to him than performing:

“We grew up watching pop programmes on television. That was part of the era – the rock-star aspect. At the time, poetry was considered old-fashioned. It seemed like a logical progression to put it to music. I don’t think the fame and life on the road suited him very well. I think he would have continued to write even if he didn’t want to perform. When he got to 40 or 50, he probably could have written a terrific book.”

I think we can all agree that if Ian Curtis had written a novel, it would have most likely been a masterpiece.  However, having his lyrics compiled into a book of poetry is fantastic, Deborah goes on to explain:

“Having the whole thing together as a body of work, the music and now the lyrics, is wonderful,” she says. “I wish he was here. He’d be so proud.”

Read the entire Interview at The Guardian here

*So This Is Permanence is published on Thursday by Faber.
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