Love Vigilantes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Love Vigilantes" | |
|---|---|
| Song by New Order | |
| from the album Low-Life | |
| Released | 13 May 1985 |
| Recorded | 1984 |
| Studio | Jam and Britannia Row, London |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:16 |
| Label | Factory |
| Songwriters | |
| Producer | New Order |
"Love Vigilantes" is a song by English rock band New Order. It first appeared as the opening track of their third studio album, Low-Life (1985). The song is a departure from New Order's usual style in many ways. Described by AllMusic as "at its core a campfire singalong", "Love Vigilantes" is decidedly pop and shows inspiration from American country and folk music.[3] In a 2014 list compiled by The Guardian, "Love Vigilantes" was ranked ninth in a list of the ten best New Order songs.[4]
According to Bernard Sumner, "Love Vigilantes" is one of the few songs for which he started out wanting to tell a story, as opposed to his usual method, where he would first listen to a newly composed piece before writing lyrics to match the mood of the music.[5] Having "decided to write a redneck song", Sumner's lyrics tell a rather "tongue-in-cheek" tale of a soldier returning home from Vietnam, only to find that his wife had received a telegram informing her that he had died.[5] Sumner further relates that the ending is open to interpretation; either the soldier had actually died and returns as a ghost, or the telegram was sent mistakenly and he is quite alive. Either way, he finds her lying on the floor, having committed suicide with the telegram in her hand, an ending Sumner describes as "a very country tragedy".[5]
The subject matter of "Love Vigilantes" has been compared to that of the 1969 reggae hit "Vietnam" by Jimmy Cliff.[6] New Order would later cover the song in 2003 for War Child's Hope compilation album.[7]
