I've Been Waiting To Hear Your Voice For Too Long Now

You'd expect a song called Sunrise to be a lament for the night just gone maybe or music trying to replicate the bliss of the feeling of the sun's rays on your face first thing, possibly the walk home after a night well spent. In 1985 New Order's Sunrise was something else, possibly the angriest and most aggressive thing they recorded. It's a full band performance starting with moody keyboards and an immediately distinctive, upper register Peter Hook bassline and then Bernard's scratchy, raw guitar, an angry urgent sound, harking back to their previous band but definitely bathed in the New Order's mid- 80s light. Speed, tempo, rhythm- lots of speed and some bile too. Bernard sings at an enemy about communication failures, insults and injuries and being the subject of hatred. It's all very specific.

'Why did you never speak my name in front of my family
You gave a gift then you took it away'

'Your name might be God but you don't say that much to me'

'We might be your black sheep
But you forgot us a long time ago'

Hooky's bass rises and falls, the guitar lines go ever upwards, Gillian's synths add weight and Stephen pushes everything on to its conclusion, the pile up at the end and the crash from going too fast, Sumner's guitar finally finishing in distortion as he thrashes away at the strings.

Sunrise 

This version recorded live at The Hacienda in December 1985 shows the song's power played live and the effect it had on their fans- and the playing of the four members together, a modern rock band when they fancied it, as well as dance pioneers.