Song · New Order
“1963” by New Order
From the album Brotherhood (1986)
“1963” by New Order appears on 14 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1987 and 1996. It was first released in 1986 on the album Brotherhood. Its best result is #15 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #33 alternative song of 1987, #1,534 alternative song of all time and #249 of the '80s.
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"1963" is New Order's sleight of hand: a bright, bouncing synth-pop tune with something much darker hiding underneath. It first slipped out in 1987 on the flip side of "True Faith", and turned up on the Substance compilation that same year, a B-side too good to stay buried.
In the book New Order Music 1981–89, lyricist Bernard Sumner jokingly spins the words into a skewed conspiracy yarn about the Kennedy assassination, while producer Stephen Hague put it more bluntly: a dance-floor song about domestic violence. That tension is the thrill, with the band's cool, gliding alternative dance sound playing cheerful host to a bleak story. It finally got a single release of its own in January 1995, in an Arthur Baker radio mix.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 15 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1987 | 91 |
| 1987 | 29 | WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY | WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 | 99 |
| 1987 | 43 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1987 | 50 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 186 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) | 501 |
| 1988 | 108 | WLIR / WDRE | WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988) | 200 |
| 1990 | 117 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) | 299 |
| 1991 | 110 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) | 302 |
| 1991 | 248 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1992 | 217 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) | 299 |
| 1994 | 88 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) | 497 |
| 1994 | 32 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) | 500 |
| 1995 | 263 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) | 500 |
| 1995 | 222 | Live 105 | Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995) | 300 |
| 1996 | 393 | Q101 | Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) | 500 |
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