Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" -- a lo-fi classic, staple on indie rock mixtapes, and for all intents and purposes, a reluctant pop song -- is a track that everyone from record store obsessives to casual fans will never, ever tire of. It does what a timeless song should do: perfectly captures a specific moment, while conveying a mood, message, and sonic output that stays consistently relevant and universally accessible as it ages. Now it's being covered for the soundtrack to an Eric Bana/Rachel McAdams movie (The Time Traveler's Wife) by Canadian indie rock high priests/priestesses, Broken Social Scene.

As reported and posted by Pitchfork, BSS's cover is a dark, piano-driven moody dirge-esque ballad that does the song's more mournful tones proper justice (though that synth line from the original song? Could've done without it).

Initially debuted in 1979, and first released on a 7" in April 1980, the song never made it onto a proper Joy Division album until long after lead singer Ian Curtis had killed himself, when Joy Division had morphed into New Order. As noted by Rolling Stone, who named it #179 on their top 500 songs of all time (one spot above "Hey Ya," seven behind "Dream On"):

Singer Curtis did not live to see this British band's best single become a hit. He committed suicide in May 1980, two days before a scheduled American tour. "Ian's influence seemed to be madness and insanity," said guitarist Sumner.

Who else has taken a shot at the song over the years, though?

Well, The Cure, naturally, who didn't really do anything too special with it, but turned in sufficient work nonetheless. The Arcade Fire and U2 covered it once when The Arcade Fire joined U2 on stage once in Montreal. An exciting moment, but unfortunately, it comes out sounding more like a late 90s-era U2 song than an Arcade Fire track or the Joy Division original. Or, as the Youtuber who posted the video wrote, "Arcade Fire join U2 on stage in montreal, for a Joy Division cover, Bono tries too hard." Pretty much, though Win Butler gives Ian Curtis' baritone a noble shot.

A popular cover is Honeyroot's 2005 cover of the song, which actually landed the otherwise obscure group on the UK singles chart a la *Gary Jules' cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World":

Nouvelle Vague, who have made a career out of giving 80s classics a French New Wave bossa nova twist, give their version the grace, lightness, and peacefulness no Joy Division song ever had. If only it didn't sound like every other Nouvelle Vague song they've ever recorded. Still, wonderful.

As is Swedish singer-songwriter (and supposed heir to Nick Drake's throne) Jose Gonzalez's shot at it:

And then there's what's generally understood as the worst cover of the song, ever: 80s star Paul Young, who recorded his take three years after the original was released. It's so goddamn terrible, we're not going to post it here. Check it out for yourself.

Then again, Paul Young -- dickcheese that he turned in for this assignment -- might not have the worst one, after all. There's always New Order, who gave the song they recorded in their former incarnation an awful tribute, something that resembles a hackneyed shell of what used to be (and could generally encapsulate what many a Joy Division fan and/or music critic tends to think about New Order).

Massive cover fail. Finally, to be fair to the memory of Joy Division, the original:

My Old Kentucky Blog has a comprehensive list of LWTUA covers for download that's worth checking out. Last piece of trivia: about that aforementioned Gary Jules and "Mad World" cover? It originated on the Donnie Darko soundtrack, a movie that might hold the best tribute to the song, period, in which the title character loses his virginity to -- what else? -- "Love Will Tear Us Apart."
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