About The Song
“Atmosphere” is a song by the English post-punk band Joy Division. It was originally released in March 1980 by the Sordide Sentimental label as the “Licht und Blindheit” (German for “Light and Blindness”) package, a France-only limited edition single featuring the track “Dead Souls” as the B-side. Following Ian Curtis’s death in May, it was re-released as a 12″ single by Factory Records in August with “She’s Lost Control” as the B-side.
The single was re-released in 1988 to coincide with the release of the compilation album Substance, and a music video was produced for the song.
Joy Division had written an early version of this song called “Chance” which they recorded for a Manchester radio session in June 1979. They later recorded the final version of “Atmosphere” in October 1979 with Martin Hannett at Cargo Studio in Rochdale. The keyboard used in the chorus was a “Woolworth’s Winfield brown Bakelite plastic reed organ.”
The song was originally released on 18 March 1980 by the label Sordide Sentimental as a France-only 7″ single under the title “Licht und Blindheit” (German for “Light and Blindness”). It was limited to 1578 copies[5] and featured the track “Dead Souls” as the B-side. John Peel played “Atmosphere” for the first time on his show on 11 March 1980 and “Dead Souls” the following night.
Following the death of lead vocalist Ian Curtis in May 1980, “Atmosphere” was released as a 12″ single along with “She’s Lost Control”. “Atmosphere” was the A-side for the UK release but the B-side for the US release. “She’s Lost Control” is an alternative version of the one that appears on the band’s debut studio album Unknown Pleasures (1979). The single peaked at number 1 in New Zealand in August 1981, and it would later re-chart there in July 1984 (number 17) and when it was reissued in August 1988 (number 5). “Atmosphere” also reached the top of the UK Indie Chart in October 1980, hit the number 2 spot of that same chart in July 1988,[citation needed], and hit number 34 in the UK Singles Chart during June 1988. The single was re-released in 1988 to coincide with the release of the compilation album Substance.
Video
Lyrics
Walk in silence
Don’t walk away, in silence
See the danger
Always danger
Endless talking
Life rebuilding
Don’t walk away
Walk in silence
Don’t turn away, in silence
Your confusion
My illusion
Worn like a mask of self-hate
Confronts and then dies
Don’t walk away
People like you find it easy
Naked to see
Walking on air
Hunting by the rivers, through the streets, every corner
Abandoned too soon
Set down with due care
Don’t walk away in silence
Don’t walk away