I hope you’re free from pain, now and forever
Dear Ian,
We never met and probably never would’ve. Nevertheless you made a huge impact on me and my life. Your words and music showed me I wasn’t alone in the world, that someone else had been where I was and seen what I’d seen but put it into words better than I ever could or would. By the time I found your music you were long gone and the rest of the guys soldiered on somehow.
There’s so much speculation about your death, whether you meant to kill your self or not. Though the pain is writ clear in your eyes and your face, I’m not 100% sure you really wanted to die. I think you were a scared young man with a lot on your shoulders and nowhere near enough resources to get the help you needed. It was a means to an end (an unfortunate pun) but was it the end you sought out?
I often think; what if you’d survived? What would you have made of New York, or the States? What would your music sound like after Closer? Would it be the same or different than New Order? Or, what would your relationship with your daughter and wife become?
After a suicide, there’s a wave of devastation left behind. Was the pain you felt alleviated by your final act? Was it worth it? Personally, I don’t think so. I think you were destined for more and something happened in those final moments that you couldn’t stop. I think a lot about the music you might have made had you lived beyond this day in 1980.
What I do know is the work you left behind inspired millions—which is more than pretty much any human could claim.
I hope you’re free from pain, now and forever.
British lead vocalist of rock group Joy Division (formerly known as Warsaw). Born July 15, 1956, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England; died May 18, 1980 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England (aged 23) by suicide. ~Discogs
Photo: An original passport picture of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis is thought to have been the last picture taken before his death. The striking picture, which was taken just days before his untimely death in 1980 and signed by the iconic musician, has now been sold for thousands of pounds at auction. ~Manchester Evening News
