This is the room, the start of it all
No portrait so fine, only sheets on the wall
I've seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained

Where will it end? Where will it end?
Where will it end? Where will it end?

These are your friends from childhood, through youth
Who goaded you on, demanded more proof
Withdrawal pain is hard, it can do you right in
So distorted and thin, distorted and thin

Where will it end? Where will it end?
Where will it end? Where will it end?

This is the car at the edge of the road
There's nothing disturbed, all the windows are closed
I guess you were right when we talked in the heat
There's no room for the weak, no room for the weak

Where will it end? Where will it end?
Where will it end? Where will it end?

This is the room, the start of it all
Through childhood, through youth, I remember it all
Oh, I've seen the nights filled with bloodsport and pain
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained

Where will it end? Where will it end?
Where will it end? Where will it end?


Lyrics submitted by typo

Day of the Lords [2019 Digital Master] Lyrics as written by Ian Kevin Curtis Bernard Sumner

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Day of the Lords song meanings
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25 Comments

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  • +6
    General Comment

    Yes they got a similar touch in the vocals.

    This song is for me about someone who have been distorted through childhood and have given up hope for mankind, even in a wider perspective, as an adult.

    JASGripenon May 19, 2005   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I guess I should comment on this song because of my username.

    If you think about it, "the bodies obtained" could refer to birth as well as death.

    thebodiesobtainedon February 29, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    i always detected a reference to the horrors of WWII

    sabertoothedblisson August 18, 2005   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    Wow, in all my years of listening to this song I never saw World War II in this, in others but not this one.

    I personally think this is totally about being born and the agony of growing up and living. The first stanza I can only believe to be the description of a delivery room in a hospital:

    "This is the room, the start of it all No portraits so fine, only sheets on the wall I've seen the nights full of bloodsport and pain And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained"

    Like I've said, I just can't see how that can be interpreted any other way. A delivery room is the start of it all, there are sheets for privacy, it's somewhat bloody and the body is indeed obtained at birth.

    brokenmach1neon April 11, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I took it as not only an indictement of World War 2 but all wars, all the pain and horror that we humans like to inflict on each other. The references to childhood I think are about kids growing up and realising that the world isn't all sunshine and roses and how impossible it is to cope with that without joining in to the problem.

    Katy45on May 23, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I always took it to be about war atrocities; however, I can also see that it could be about childhood suffering. It might be interpreted as a "Lord of the Flies" allegory.

    herrfruitbaton October 19, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think this song is about the general agony of life, how it never stops being a fight, and how the weak are defeated by the mercilessness of the world.

    The references to birth, youth, are about being brought into a painful existence, and how the innocence of youth was taken by a cruel world and friends who wouldn't accept the person as he was. The bodies obtained and nights with bloodsport and pain seem to be general images of a mechanical (death in a factory sense, bodies being gathered) and savage world.

    The car at the edge of the road - a suicide scene. The car is undisturbed, no one has tried to break in, it's an unremarkable sight. There's no room for the weak - this person didn't have the strength to survive.

    Overall an extremely bleak song.. but awesome. Obviously open to interpretation... that's just mine.

    zepkid5678on February 03, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I definitely get the feeling the lyrics are about how his childhood was an unpleasant one due to the other children making fun of him or goading him into doing the wrong things.

    timothyrealon June 19, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I always thought this was a self-relfection from Ian Curtis. He was clearly distrubed about his epilepsy. I always assumed other kids made fun of him. "These are your friends from childhood, through youth, Who goaded you on, demanded more proof".

    Day of the Lords is a reference to the "normal" kids who damage all those that appear/act different. "And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained."

    TdyYrLoveon October 09, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Does anybody else notice that "Where will it end?" kind of sounds like "Where have they been?" from the song "Decades"?

    restin256on December 29, 2004   Link

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