Feeling

The song "Disorder" by the post-punk band Joy Division is one of utter truth and beauty. Off of the album Unknown Pleasures, this song delivers shocks of truth through a rumbling baseline that crashes through the surface directly to your core. I adore it. The passion and genius charged throughout the song is astounding.  Now I'm here to defend it as poetry.

What is poetry? It's feeling. Poetry comes from the Greek word "Poiesis" meaning "to make", which is fitting, because poetry is creation. The creation of feeling, telling a story, drawing a metaphor. Poetry is the soul's language and it is not held to the constraints of logic or time. Poetry is art, and no dictionary can confine it. As John Cage said, "There is poetry as soon as we realize we possess nothing".

This fascinating song embodies the principles of art, beauty, truth and poetry in an inspired way that you don't hear often. You can feel it from the first deep words uttered by Ian Curtis. He brings us on his poetic journey. A short, insightful ride through his cluttered and frustrated mind.

These sensations barely interest me for another day,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away.

A couplet of a poem; A confession of truth and humanity. Words express the undertone of his meaning. Slowly, Ian reveals his thoughts and we are able to see the layers of expression that he  scribbles into the song.

 It's getting faster, moving faster now, it's getting out of hand,
On the tenth floor, down the back stairs, it's a no man's land,
Lights are flashing, cars are crashing, getting frequent now,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it out somehow.

Ian uses rhythm and rhyme to illuminate his energy. We are able to climb into his chair, and feel the rush of creativity that he so badly needs to express. He is drawing his metaphor with a confused brush and we can feel his frantic race of thoughts; Cars crashing around him, running back down the stairs.

I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling.
Feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling, feeling. 

 He once again tells us he has the spirit and Ian has come full circle with his metaphor. His feeling lost, his poem complete.