Let's Dance To Joy Division

Album: A Guide To Love Loss And Desperation (2007)
Charted: 15
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Band members Dan Haggis and Tord Overland-Knudsen told blogcritics.org: "That song is like people dancing and having fun to songs they really find quite depressing. It's about people dancing to "Love Will Tear Us Apart," been havin' a hard week, then letting loose. The ridiculousness of life gets you down, but it's kind of like the music can get you out of it."
  • The Wombats are Matthew Murphy (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Dan Haggis (drums) and Tord Overland-Knudsen (bass) who met at Sir Paul McCartney's Liverpool Performing Arts Academy.
  • Dan Haggis explained to The Sun October 26, 2007 how the band came up with their name: "Me and Murph used to have a few fictional characters we'd write about. There was Fred The Ferret, Jeremiah The Brave Tortoise, Guinevere The Magical Otter and Wombo The Wombat. The Wombats went on a poster for our first gig."
  • Matthew Murphy told Filter Magazine Spring 2008 about this track: "People misinterpret that song and think we're taking the piss out of Joy Division. But we love them and [Joy Division / New Order bassist] Peter Hook is actually a big fan of the song. I wrote it after I was in a bar with my current girlfriend. We were pissed and we kissed while dancing to 'Love Will Tear Us Apart.' It was one of those great moments in life when you can't believe something so good is happening to you."
  • In February 2008 this won the NME Award for Best Dancefloor Filler.

Comments: 8

  • Darren from Ludlow, UkI remember first time I saw the Wombats was back when Liverpool was the capital of Culture (was it 2008 or something??). Amazing group and just love the song about dancing to joy division. Also I was brought up just down the road from Liverpool in Warrington and just love hearing the local accent (Liverpool is the home of proper music and is such an amazing city - The Beatles, The Farm, Cast, The Wombats, The KLF, Dead or Alive... so much talent in Liverpool) . Really like bands who sing with the scouse accent like The Wombats, Cast and of course The Beatles.
  • Elena from Paradise City, --Only discovered The Wombats a little while ago but, like Paul, each song I've heard I've liked. Love this song and I love how you can hear Matthew's accent through the lyrics ^^,

    But no matter how great they are, they won't be the next Beatles, not quite yet anyway :P
    I wish they had all 3 albums out everywhere, not just in Japan. =[
  • Paul from The Gong, AustraliaTo me, this song has always seemed very darkly ironic. The music is very upbeat, very pop, very much a dance track, but the lyrics go against that. Dancing to Joy Division and celebrating the irony? It sounds to me like the protagonist of the song is in a real funk, a very depressing state of mind, and his reaction is get really drunk and act really excited. "Everything is going wrong, but we're so happy."
    And to add to the irony, no one I know has even bothered to really listen to the lyrics. They think it's just a fun dance track, when I see it as the story of a guy who's only dancing because he's really bummed out. To add to this, the song seems to get more and more manic as it goes on. Compare the music behind the last chorus to the first. It's the guy who gets louder and crazier the more someone asks him if he's feeling okay.

    Does that make sense?

    I don't think the Wombats are the next Beatles, but every one of their songs struck a chord with me and I'm eagerly awaiting their next project.
  • Beth from Manhatten, NyOk these guys are good but theyre not that good. Joy Division is a great song, its really upbeat, great lyrics, the whole nine yards, but come on. How can you possible compare them to the greatest pop/rock legend of all time? When they start putting out songs that can measure up to strawberry fields, across the universe, let it be, lucy in the sky, and etcetera than we'll talk...
  • Kate from Wollongong, AustraliaThey are not. Sure, they're good, but the next beatles?
  • Virginia from Charlottesville, Vai love this song. the whole thing about irony, and being happy despite it fits in with my current social situation... our friend group got tore apart by drama, yet I am still in the middle and happy because i get each of my individual friends to myself. it's sad, but I get by.
  • Hannah from Birmingham, Englandlove this song so much. have known bout them for ages now and this is defo one of their best songs.
  • F Unit from Dapto, Australiathe wombats?


    what a legendary name.


    these guys are the next beatles!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Steely Dan

Steely DanFact or Fiction

Did they really trade their guitarist to The Doobie Brothers? Are they named after something naughty? And what's up with the band name?

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.