Warsaw (song)

"Warsaw" is the opening song by Joy Division on their An Ideal for Living EP.^[1] It was slated for release on the album that became Warsaw, which was originally scrapped by the band and not released until 1994.^[2] The song is available on a number of compilations, including Substance.^[3] The song appears to be a somewhat fantastical biography of Rudolf Hess, a Nazi and Hitler's Deputy Führer, who flew to Great Britain in 1941 in an attempt to negotiate a peace between Germany and the UK, supposedly because of his disillusionment with Nazi ideology. At a performance of the song "At a Later Date" at the Electric Circus in Manchester, Guitarist Bernard Sumner shouts "You all forgot Rudolph Hess" before the song begins.^[4]

It starts with the mock-countoff "3 5 0 1 2 5 Go!";^[5] "31G-350125" was Hess's prisoner of war serial number when he was captured after flying to Eaglesham, Scotland during World War II.^[6] The first verse describes Hess's involvement with Hitler in the Beer Hall Putsch and his infatuation with the Nazi Party. The second verse discusses his supposed disillusionment with it, and the last verse portrays his life in prison after being convicted at the Nuremberg Trials. The chorus is a simple repetition of "31G", the first three characters of his serial number. "31" signifies the European theatre of war and "G" German, the nationality of the prisoner.

The song is featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2.^[7]

References