The Inspiration Behind These Famous Songs Show That A Great Idea Can Come From Anywhere

Love Will Tear Us Apart

Martin O’Neill / Contributor

The song “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by the band Joy Division was written by singer Ian Curtis, talking about the strained relationship with his wife Deborah Curtis. Ian had started an affair with a Belgian journalist named Annik Honore, and even sent her love letters as he recuperated from a suicide attempt.

Deborah filed for divorce as Ian’s health declined. Curtis wrote a love letter to Deborah and then committed suicide by hanging. The title of the song was inscribed on his tombstone. Bandmate Stephen Morris later said in an interview with The Guardian, “This sounds awful, but it was only after Ian died that we sat down and listened to the lyrics. You’d find yourself thinking, ‘Oh my God, I missed this one’. Because [we would] look at Ian’s lyrics and think how clever he was putting himself in the position of someone else. I never believed he was writing about himself. Looking back, how could I have been so bleeding stupid? Of course he was writing about himself! But I didn’t go in and grab him and ask, ‘What’s up?’ I have to live with that.”