CLOSER

I was listening to this earlier in the week and it's still haunting me.

Got me thinking...

Is it Closer as in nearer or is it Closer as in ending?

CLOSE to the EDGE DOWN BY THE RIVER

Dont step out when your close to the edge ,i'm tring not to lose my head......

Actually, that's a very good question. Never really thought of that before...

Closer to?

Tony Wilson said last year it was supposed to be pronounced like "The Closer" as in the close of Joy Division's output, but I think he was being facetious.

I started a poll about this some time back. Can't remember what the result was, but some soul can dig it out if arsed.

Closer to the closing

"Closer - to what?"

Actually, it still works either way. Ambiguity eh?

Clever, wasn't it? Wonder who came up with the title? Then again, they always did have this glorious ambiguity about things, something they carried on until the demise of Factory, you could say.

I always thought of it as being "nearer" at the time, and still to this day pronounce it as though that were the meaning, but part of me still wonders whether it might be the alternative. Then again, I don't for one second think that Ian was planning that far ahead, not even as far ahead as May 16th or maybe even the opening of the bottle of scotch.

i've always pronounced it like Klose. Miroslav Klose.

I always thught that the 3 L.Ps were meant to read like some kind of sentence.Unknown Pleasures Closer Still.

but still was about the bootlegs per the run off on the vinyl not still as in not moving. i'd always got closer as as closer to what? perfection, death etc

I usually said 'Closer' as that also.

in the states we have what are called Closers in baseball... they are the pitchers who come in for the last inning to close out the game, if you are in the lead at that point, to not give up any more runs.

i always like not knowing just what their ambiguities may mean, and often figure they don't either.

david ball wrote: but still was about the bootlegs per the run off on the vinyl not still as in not moving. i'd always got closer as as closer to what? perfection, death etc

"Still" is something that bootleggers (illegal whisky producers) use to distil the whisky. That's where Wilson got the name from, it was Factory's own bootleg, complete with incorrect track titles, half-missing songs and random anomalies. I think you had to be a fan in 1980/81 and be one of those anticipating the likes of Le Terme and Gruftegesaegene to appreciate this.

"Movement" is merely the anthithesis of "Still".

well i hope its closer as in closer together cos i had that inscribed in me wedding ring .then again closer works as thats yer fun days closed.

day cloud.

The End. CloZer. Thats how I read it anyway. I suppose it depends on how you first heard someone else say it though, what did Peel call it? Got half a mind that he raised this very same question!

I'm sure Peel called it closer as in nearer.That's what I've always called it too.

johnny james wrote: "Closer - to what?" Actually, it still works either way. Ambiguity eh?

Similar, From Safety to where.. Think of it as Closer- Nearer to. Really valued the Liner note. Old Blue on par w/ the This is why Events unnerve me. Stand- outs. Re: Closer.. Don't know how it was possible, if you were in your 20s and older, to stomache the album through 1980- 81 as even now it sets us back. Lines can't replace or relate. Can't release or repair. A Legacy so far.. '79. all Three of the main albums work nicely as Wedding band inscribes. UP. Closer- Nearer always new. and Still. Aces

I've gone nearly 30 years without ever thinking of it as CloZer, thanks for complicating my life with something new to ponder guys.

Peel used Closer (as in nearer) as far as I remember.

nearer to ...something. But nearer to what ? This title was a kind of an enigma . But the cemetery picture , taken in Gênes (Italia), chosen by the band as a cover for this album, made me think about "death" more than anything else. So Closer was a sad title . Means to an end Here are theYMwere in the same mood ... Closer to an end ? Closer to someone ou something ? Big enigma , really. JD ' mystery.

JEAN NOEL BOUET wrote: nearer to ...something. But nearer to what ? This title was a kind of an enigma . But the cemetery picture , taken in Gênes (Italia), chosen by the band as a cover for this album, made me think about "death" more than anything else. So Closer was a sad title . Means to an end Here are theYMwere in the same mood ... Closer to an end ? Closer to someone ou something ? Big enigma , really. JD ' mystery.

As soon as you looked at the cover of Closer,you just new it was going to be the saddest album you ever heard.

I was thinking that it could mean "the end." However, the ambiguous title gives the album a poetic edge. I love it.