“She's Lost Control” by Joy Division

"She's Lost Control" sits on Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division's 1979 debut, and Martin Hannett's production turns it into a cold, clattering machine: Stephen Morris's drums snap like breaking glass, Peter Hook's bass prowls up front, Bernard Sumner's guitar flickers at the edges, and Ian Curtis intones over the top with frightening calm. The band had been playing it live since June 1978, and Curtis drew the words from a young woman in the grip of a violent epileptic seizure.

A second, longer and more electronic take, with an extra verse, was cut at Strawberry Studios in Stockport in March 1980, among the band's last studio work before Curtis took his own life that May. It came out on a 12-inch that year, as the A-side in America and the flip of "Atmosphere" in Britain.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.