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Failures

Joy Division

aka “Failures Of The Modern Man” aka “Failures (Live)”

1978
77
Live performances
1
Recording
58
Release appearances
0
Covered by

Credits

Written by

Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner

Lyrics

Don't speak of safe Messiahs,
A failure of the Modern Man,
To the centre of all life's desires,
As a whole not an also ran.
Love in a hollow field,
Break the image of your father's son,
…
View full lyrics 
Don't speak of safe Messiahs,
A failure of the Modern Man,
To the centre of all life's desires,
As a whole not an also ran.
Love in a hollow field,
Break the image of your father's son,
Drawn to an inner feel,
He was thought of as the only one,
He was thought of as the only one.

He no longer denies,
All the failures of the Modern Man 
No, no, no, he can't pick sides,
Sees the failures of the Modern Man.
Wise words and sympathy,
Tell the story of our history.
New strength gives a real touch,
Sense and reason make it all too much.
With a strange fatality,
Broke the spirits of a lesser man,
Some other race can see,
In his way he was the only one,
In his way he was the only one.

He no longer denies,
All the failures of the Modern Man.
No, no, no, he can't pick sides, 
Sees the failures of the Modern Man 
Now that it's right to decide,
In his time he was a total man,
Taken from Caesar's side,
Kept in silence just to prove who's wrong.
He no longer denies,
All the failures of the Modern Man.
No, no, no, he can't pick sides,
Sees the failures of the Modern Man, 
All the failures of the Modern Man.

Versions & Mixes

Recordings, remixes and alternate mixes of this composition.

  • Album Version 3:44

Release Appearances

58 known appearances

An Ideal For Living

An Ideal For Living

1978
Substance

Substance

1988
1977 - 1980

1977 - 1980

1991
Warsaw

Warsaw

1994
Heart & Soul

Heart & Soul

1997
Heart And Soul

Heart And Soul

1997
+ - Singles 1978-80

+ - Singles 1978-80

2010

Live History

77
Total performances
First known performance
2 Aug 1997
The Guvernment, Toronto
Last known performance
25 Mar 2026
SimmCity, Vienna

Recent performances

Showing 20 of 77 total

Sources

MusicBrainz work ↗ MusicBrainz recording ↗