Lyrics to
Shadowplay

This version of Shadowplay was released by Joy Division in 1979.

Our About Joy Division page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Shadowplay from 1979 as well as all of the other lyrics from Joy Division that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Joy Division or about the 1970s in general.

To the centre of the city where all roads meet, waiting for you,
To the depths of the ocean where all hopes sank, searching for you,
I was moving through the silence without motion, waiting for you,
I a room with a window in the corner I found truth.

In the shadowplay, acting out your own death, knowing no more,
As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor,
And with cold steel, odour on their bodies made a move to connect,
But I could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left.

I did everything, everything I wanted to,
I let them use you for their own ends,
To the centre of the city in the night, waiting for you,
To the centre of the city in the night, waiting for you.

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Joy Division has released many songs over the years besides Shadowplay. Joy Division released songs from 1979 to 1988 spanning across albums like Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Still, and Substance. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Joy Division.

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About Lyrics and Shadowplay by Joy Division

The lyrics for Shadowplay are made up of the words, verses and background chorus for the popular 1979 song by Joy Division. Like a lot of songs, the lyrics to Shadowplay have both direct meanings and metaphorical context hidden within the song's words. All of the meanings are only truly known by the creators of the lyrics for Shadowplay - Joy Division and any of the writers who worked with them on the song.

If you have an interest in the structure of words and phrases, you can dissect the lyrics to Shadowplay by Joy Division in multiple ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Shadowplay" means the words set to the music of Shadowplay, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Joy Division. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Shadowplay and the lyrics to Shadowplay are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Joy Division who came here looking just for the lyrics to Shadowplay, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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