To the center of the city where all roads meet, waiting for you
To the depths of the ocean where all hopes sank, searching for you
Moving through the silence without motion, waiting for you
In a room without 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, odor on their bodies made a move to connect
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 center of the city in the night, waiting for you
To the center of the city in the night, waiting for you



Lyrics submitted by hss6749


Shadowplay (Joy Division cover) song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:Dark song like many of joy divisions songs to my understanding its a deep search within. Maybe of god, maybe of a savior maybe of faith. Something that could contemplate his solitude. To relieve this emptiness he carried inside.

    I think the first part is about the lost of fate, the second part is about finding a way out, and the last is about just that the end.
    Flag ereichelon February 26, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I know this is probably wrong but ever since I first heard this song and its lyrics I thought it was about some girl being used as a pawn while the guy (who likes her maybe?) is off doing some thing. Like maybe earlier, they were at some event or party, and she was sort of being taken off by these evil guys or something while he just sort of ignored the obvious in favor of having fun at the party. Or maybe that he was paid to let them use her as a pawn, but never expected her death. And when she does die, he feels completely awful. I feel like I explained it badly....I don't know, that's just what I'd always pictured.

    explanation makes the most sense and works nicely. I like it. Oh well. Who knows for sure? Great song.
    Flag madhappy77on February 02, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Superb cover!
    Flag happy7on January 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:ok so i have never heard the joy divison origonal song. and im getting the movie control because it has my favorite actor Joe Anderson in it who plays Peter Hook. but mainly because my friend suggesteed that i check Joy Division out. i think The Killers are great i just dont like Brandon Flowers comment about Kurt Cobain. oh well this song is very mellow but upbeat at the same time.
    Flag thespacemanliveson June 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can't stand people who are ripping on this cover! It's the best!I am only 14 years old and I would never have even heard of joy division if it weren't for the killers!
    Flag FLOWERPOWERon May 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Simply Amazing!!
    Flag FLOWERPOWERon May 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The commonest consensuses on the Joy Division board are that: a) suicidal contemplation, b) intentionally ambiguous, or c) about longing for someone.

    I like a) best but add my own interpretation: this is a song about waiting and worrying about someone who has been killed in a car wreck. The narrator returns to the "center of the city" where she was killed hoping and praying that she will return to him. The "assassins" are grouped in the four lanes of traffic, cold steel is the car, and the bodies that move to connect is the accident. The "shadowplay" is the interplay of evil forces, in this case her impending tragic fate. The crowd are the morbid onlookers, and the narrator is upset that they left while he alone stayed and wept.

    Where all roads meet is death.

    The depths of the ocean are the darkness in his heart: profound depression.

    Moving through the silence is to to be dreaming. He continues waiting in the hopes that he is dreaming.

    To the center of the city in the night, waiting for you: contemplating death (where all roads meet) in his depression (night). Waiting for you (to meet you).

    "I did everything I wanted to": I am prepared to die.

    I let them use you for their own ends: a reference to feeling guilt over her death or a reference to fate and the inevitability of death.

    Flag asortofdreamon February 17, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:okay guys its great you guys love the song but what do you think its about?

    Possibly about looking for someone you love/want to be with but doesnt feel the same?
    Flag Stubborn_Beautyon June 11, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I don't like this cover, it doesn't catch the essence of the song at all. It is NOT a joyful song.
    Flag leech3on May 16, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I love the original, but this is an awesome cover. There's no denying it.
    Flag clamanityon March 10, 2008   Link

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