The title of this track comes from J.G. Ballard’s disturbing, surrealistic short story collection The Atrocity Exhibition, which sees a name-changing protagonist creating bizarre fantasies about celebrities, such as Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe, in his head, often to the point where the line bet...
[Verse 1]
Asylums with doors open wide
Where people had paid to see inside
For entertainment they watch his body twist
Behind his eyes he says, "I still exist"
[Chorus]
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
[Verse 2]
In arenas he kills for a prize
Wins a minute to add to his life
But the sickness is drowned by cries for more
Pray to God, make it quick, watch him fall
[Chorus]
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, this is the way
This is the way, this is the way
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
[Verse 3]
You'll see the horrors of a faraway place
Meet the architects of law face to face
See mass murder on a scale you've never seen
And all the ones who try hard to succeed
[Chorus]
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
This is the way, step inside
[Verse 4]
And I picked on the whims of a thousand or more
Still pursuing the path that's been buried for years
All the dead wood from jungles and cities on fire
Can't replace or relate, can't release or repair
Take my hand and I'll show you what was and will be
Atrocity Exhibition was written by Ian Curtis & Bernard Sumner & Peter Hook & Stephen Morris.
Atrocity Exhibition was produced by Martin Hannett.
Joy Division released Atrocity Exhibition on Fri Jul 18 1980.
Yes, here it is:
Drummer Stephen Morris spoke to GQ about the song’s recognisable drum pattern in 2020:
I just did this hypnotic tom riff. I was probably trying to do “A Saucerful Of Secrets” or something by Captain Beefheart. I remember making them put in synths through fuzzboxes and making a horrible ambient rack...