Procession (New Order song)

"Procession"
Single by New Order
B-side	"Everything's Gone Green"
Released	September 1981
Format	7"
Genre	Post-punk
Length	4:27
Label	Factory - FAC 53
Writer(s)	Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner[1]
Producer(s)	Martin Hannett, New Order
New Order singles chronology
"Ceremony" (1981) "Procession" (1981) "Everything's Gone Green" (1981)

"Procession" is the second single by the British group New Order, released in September 1981 on 7" vinyl record. The single's Factory Records catalogue number is FAC 53.

Overview

Compared to the band's previous single "Ceremony", this one shows the band in an intermediate position between post-punk Joy Division and light electropop New Order. The lighter pop optimism, with a strong emphasis on rhythm, overcomes the song's gloomy title, "Procession". This "mixed message" may help to explain why the song remains obscure in the New Order repertoire, despite having been a single. The sound is much like Movement's opening track, "Dreams Never End", but with an even more upbeat flavor and vocals that have nearly shed the Ian Curtis imitation. The lyrics are abstract and difficult to discern, given the density of the mix and the strength of the other instruments. The song is notable, also, because there are brief backing vocals by band member Gillian Gilbert, which serve as a bell effect.

Though all of New Order's songs are credited as group compositions, it is known that the chief composer of "Procession" is Stephen Morris.

The song does not appear on any of New Order's studio albums; it does, however, appear on the EP 1981 – Factus 8 – 1982, 1987 singles compilation Substance, the 2005 compilation Singles, and the 2008 Collector's Edition of the band's debut album Movement.

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. 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 doesn't indicate which is side A or B (the runoff matrix reads "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.^[2]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner. 

7": FAC 53 (UK)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Procession"	4:25
2.	"Everything's Gone Green"	4:11

Chart positions

Chart (1981)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[3]	38
UK Independent Singles Chart[4]	1

References

1. ASCAP entry
3. "Chart Stats: New Order". ChartStats.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
4. "Indie Hits "N"". Cherry Red Records. Retrieved 2 Oct 2008.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics