Temptation by New Order Lyrics Meaning – Navigating the Labyrinth of the Human Condition
Lyrics
Just like a feeling inside, it’s no joke
And though it hurts me to see you this way
Betrayed by words, I’d never heard, too hard to say
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home
Each way I turn, I know I’ll always try
To break this circle that’s been placed around me
From time to time, I find I’ve lost some need
That was urgent to myself, I do believe
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home
Up, down, turn around
Please don’t let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I’ll walk alone
I’ll find my soul as I go home
Oh, you’ve got green eyes
Oh, you’ve got blue eyes
Oh, you’ve got grey eyes
Oh, you’ve got green eyes
Oh, you’ve got blue eyes
You’ve got grey eyes
And I’ve never seen anyone quite like you before
No, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Bolts from above hurt the people down below
People in this world, we have no place to go
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, it’s the last time
Oh, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before
Oh no, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before
Tucked into the shimmering synths and restless beats of New Order’s ‘Temptation’ lies a mosaic of existential agony and epiphany. The track, released in 1982, is far from a superficial dance anthem; it’s an odyssey through the heart’s complex landscapes and the mind’s intricate battlefields.
The lift of the chorus, the urgency in the verses, and the candidness of the bridge converge into a discourse that’s at once universal and piercingly personal. New Order crafts a narrative that tugs at the age-old tensions between desire and destiny, between solitude and connection.
The Eternal Dance: Heaven, Despair, and the Search for Solace
New Order’s ‘Temptation’ doesn’t just grope at the fringes of theism or the cryptic; it dives headlong into the fray, teetering between the profane and the profound. The opening lines, ‘Heaven, a gateway, a hope,’ isn’t a sermon but a statement—a tactile presence within reach that the protagonist craves yet can’t entirely grasp.
It paints a poignant image of a person cornered by the contractions of their feelings. The ‘feeling inside’ is likened to a joke, a sentiment to mock one’s despair—the listener is invited to ponder the visceral dissonance between what is yearned for and what is experienced.
The Vortex of Verbiage: Betrayed by Words Never Heard
Words are the crux, the notes upon which the melody of ‘Temptation’ gyrates. The aggrieved voice sings of betrayal, not by deceit or mistruths, but by an absence—words never uttered. Here lies the cruel twist, the chasm between two souls, where silence becomes the loudest indictment of a shared disconnect.
In the choice to ‘walk alone’ and the determination to ‘find my soul as I go home,’ the lyrics insinuate the path to self-discovery and autonomy often begins in the wake of silences—spaces left by unspoken thoughts and unshared feelings.
Revolution or Revolving? The Circle Around the Soul
The narrator speaks of a ‘circle that’s been placed around me,’ a boundary or a cycle they endeavor to break. It is an evocative metaphor for the constraining forces, perhaps societal, perhaps personal, that one fights against in the pursuit of authenticity and meaning.
These lyrics convey the labyrinthine journey of self-awareness and the often solitary quest to shatter imposed confines. In the acknowledgment of a lost ‘need’ and the reclaimed urgency to satisfy the self, ‘Temptation’ becomes a manifesto of resilience and introspection.
Eyes as Portals: The Spectrum of Human Connection
The bridge of ‘Temptation’ is an arresting palette of green, blue, and grey eyes—a collage that celebrates the uniqueness of the individual. As repetitive as the lines may seem, they underscore the essence of personal connections that pierce through the mundane.
The hypnotic invocation of eye colors serves not only as a distinguishing characteristic of a particular individual, hinting at deep personal encounters, but also as a synecdoche reflecting the diverse and multifaceted nature of relationships and the humans that forge them.
No Place to Go: The Existential Echo in a World of Upheaval
The lines ‘Bolts from above hurt the people down below’ resonate with an apocalyptic ferocity. ‘Temptation’ skewers the notion of an indifferent universe where catastrophes befall indiscriminately, rendering a stark image of humans ensnared in an indifferent fate.
As the song approaches its conclusion, the repeated declaration of ‘it’s the last time’ simmers with both resignation and defiance—a farewell to past patterns or perhaps a glimpse of foredoomed finality. The unique connection earlier mentioned becomes all the more meaningful against the backdrop of a seemingly purposeless existence.
