Procession (New Order song)

Last updated
"Procession"
Proccesion New Order.jpg
Single by New Order
B-side "Everything's Gone Green"
ReleasedSeptember 1981
Recorded10–13 March 1981
Studio
Genre Post-punk
Length4:27
Label Factory
FAC 53
Songwriter(s) Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner [1]
Producer(s) Martin Hannett
New Order singles chronology
"Ceremony"
(1981)		"Procession"
(1981)		"Everything's Gone Green"
(1981)
Music video
"Procession" on YouTube

"Procession" is the second single by the British group New Order, released in September 1981 on 7" vinyl record. It is a double A side with "Everything's Gone Green". The single's Factory Records catalogue number is FAC 53. [2] (Labelled as B Music)

Contents

Background and recording

Along with "Everything's Gone Green", "Procession" was recorded during a three day studio session with Martin Hannett in Strawberry Studios and Yellow Two Studios. [3] Bernard Sumner, at the request of Hannett, re-recorded his vocals at least forty-three times. In retrospect for his book Substance: Inside New Order, Peter Hook wrote: "Procession was a good song and Barney was doing a good vocal. The only problem in the studio that night was Martin." [4] Hannett would additionally request the backing vocals from Gillian Gilbert; Hook was against it, but was outvoted by the rest of the band. [4]

Composition

Though all of New Order's songs are credited as group compositions, Hook has stated that the lyricist of "Procession" is Stephen Morris:

"Procession" was a complete contrast to "Ceremony": Steve had written the lyrics and the vocal hook, and it sounded very poppy and immediate. It also helped us find a great use for that Yamaha amp we'd bought in America that cost us a fortune in import duty. It had a reverb spring in it, and when you shook it, it made a great noise. So we shook it like hell, recorded it and featured it in the song. [5]

Availability

The song does not appear on any of New Order's studio albums; it does, however, appear on the EP 1981–1982 , the CD, cassette, and Digital Audio Tape releases of the 1987 singles compilation Substance (where it is erroneously listed as a B-side), the 2005 compilation Singles , [6] and the 2008 Collector's Edition of the band's debut album Movement . [7]

Artwork

Similar to the album cover for Movement , the artwork is taken from a "Dinamo Futurista" magazine cover done by Italian futurist designer Fortunato Depero. Notably, the UK release's sleeve came in nine versions, all with different colours: black, blue, aqua, yellow, red, brown, orange, green and purple. [2] The second side of the single contains a shortened version of "Everything's Gone Green", the full-length version of which was later released as a 12" single on its own.

Although the original UK single does not indicate which is side A or B (the runoff matrix simply lists "SOFT" and "HARD" for each side), the French edition of the single actually has "Everything's Gone Green" labeled as the A-side track, and some Spanish and Portuguese pressings have reversed labels. [8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner.

7": FAC 53 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Procession"4:25
2."Everything's Gone Green"4:11
Total length:8:36

Chart positions

Chart (1981)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart [9] 38
UK Independent Singles Chart [10] 1

References

  1. ↑ ASCAP entry
  2. 1 2 "Factory Records: FAC 53 NEW ORDER Procession". factoryrecords.org. Retrieved 2025-05-27.
  3. ↑ Hook, Peter (January 31, 2017). Substance: Inside New Order. HarperCollins. p. 68. ISBN   9780062308016.
  4. 1 2 Hook, Peter (January 31, 2017). Substance: Inside New Order. HarperCollins. p. 48. ISBN   9780062308016.
  5. ↑ Hook, Peter (January 31, 2017). Substance: Inside New Order. HarperCollins. p. 75. ISBN   9780062308016.
  6. ↑ New Order - Singles (2016 Remaster), 2005-10-25, retrieved 2025-05-18
  7. ↑ "New Order - Movement (2CD Collector's Edition) - Amazon.com Music". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2025-05-18.
  8. ↑ "A New Order / Joy Division Web Site". New Order Online. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  9. ↑ "The Official Charts Company: New Order". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  10. ↑ "Indie Hits "N"". Cherry Red Records. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2 Oct 2008.
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