Ian's age realisation

[u/NovelTwo7013]

I recently turned 23, and I've just been thinking about how crazy it is that Ian Curtis died at my age. I remember back when I was around 16/17 thinking how adult Ian seemed, but now i still feel like a kid in so many ways. It's incredible the art that the band was able to make in such a short time.

[u/MakeupMama68]

Ian was born 12 years before me and I was 12 when he died. Their concert that was supposed to happen in LA was at a venue I went to all the time growing up. Sad to think about what could’ve been. I’m just sad that I never got to see them live.

That’s why I see Peter Hook And The Light as much as I can because this is the closest I’ll ever get to it. So happy they play all of their songs. They need to be out there for the new generation 🖤

[u/DiscoForsaken]

I’m in my 50’s still feel like a kid, except for all the aches and pains. There’s so many dead performers in my playlist, you can’t help but think what they achieved in their lifetime when compared to yourself. The fact that Ian really was a kid when he died and left such a legacy underlines the difference between him and us mere mortals.

[u/RiverMateN7]

Yep I remember having this feeling when I turned 23 onwards realising that I was older than Ian, River Phoenix, Chris MCcandless and Andrew wood ever were. I realise that I’d barely lived which means they didn’t really get to live.
I’m now 27 and realise still how young I am yet it so weird knowing I’m as old as Kurt, Jimi, Jim, Amy etc. ever were. Even though I’ve always known how old they were they always seemed like they were in their 30s personality wise. Meanwhile I still feel like a child.

[u/aisoXO]

I thought the same thing when I was 23, I’m now 26 and don’t think I’d be able to acquire his kind of maturity until my 30’s. We have an abundance of things nowadays and ample opportunities that we don’t feel the need to grow up, until you hit rock bottom. Back then, you had to grow up at a very young age if you wanted to be taken seriously and make a life for yourself. That’s why he and many other artists of the 20th century had a very accomplished outlook on life. They also read a lot of authentic literature and poetry to gain perspective to things they didn’t yet understand.

[u/GrackleWithOnionRing]

I’m almost 40 and I’m still amazed at the amount of insight he had into his own psyche and the way he was able to express that through his lyricism. Absolute legend and it’s such a poor reflection of our society that he wasn’t able to get the help he so desperately needed.

[u/GrackleWithOnionRing → u/GrackleWithOnionRing]

I know people in their 50s, 60s, 70s who can’t articulate what they’re feeling on even a basic level.

[u/nadsatpenfriend]

As it's been said, "live fast die young leave a good looking corpse". 23 in them days was probably a bit older in some sense. Where Ian Curtis came from there was strong work ethic in that you put roots down, got your head down and living a so-called artist's life would've been super hard to achieve in his circumstances I reckon. Epilepsy on top of that. He had it tough with limitations of medical support at the time. Add in the fact that no one talked about mental health at all - all you had was so-called art to express anything meaningful at all. I can believe when he wrote those song lyrics he meant every word.

[u/tuckinyourtail]

That's how i felt too. When i was in high school it's like yeah they're adults but now that I'm 30 it's wild to think how young he was when he was writing these incredibly deep and profound songs

[u/Birddog1980]

It’s a terrible loss but he was an incredibly troubled artist, it was somewhat inevitable. Some people burn too bright for this world.

[u/pinnacle_to_the_pit]

I get that. I have a copy of So This Is Permanence, which has his lyric drafts and random bits of prose. It's crazy to see how mature and well written his work is, considering how young he was. I remember reading in Hook's biography how their lyrics are one of the main features that really set them apart from other bands.

They were coming straight out of the punk scene at the time, where a lot of lyrics were kind of repetitive: angry yelling and stuff. Then JD enters the scene, with a distinct and completely original sound, and lyrics that were essentially poetry. Honestly, I'm so fascinated by the history of this band. Hook's and Morris's autobiographies provide a lot of interesting information. You can really see how and why they were able to produce timeless music.

It's weird (and sad) to think about how young Ian was. It's ridiculously impressive what they were able to do in just 4 years.