True Faith (song)

"True Faith" is a song by English rock band New Order, co-written and co-produced by the band and Stephen Hague. It was the first New Order single since their debut "Ceremony" to be issued in the UK as two separate 12-inch singles. The second 12-inch single features two remixes of "True Faith" by Shep Pettibone. Both versions of the 12-inch (and also the edited 7-inch) include the song "1963". "True Faith" is one of New Order's most popular songs.

The single peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom on its original release in 1987. In the United States, "True Faith" became New Order's first single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ultimately peaking at No. 32. A "True Faith" remix 12-inch single and CD single were released in 1994, and another "True Faith" remix 12-inch single and CD single were released in 2001. The 1994 remix charted in the UK at No. 9.

Original releases

New Order wrote and recorded "True Faith" and "1963" during a 10-day studio session with producer Stephen Hague. The two songs were written as new material for New Order's first singles compilation album, Substance 1987. After the two songs were recorded, the band's US management decided that "True Faith" was the stronger track and would be released as the new single, with "1963" as the B-side ("1963" was remixed and issued as a single in its own right in 1994).

"That wasn't really a happy period in New Order's life," recalled Peter Hook. "Let's just say it was a bit of a battle for me to get on there at all, apart from in the sense of helping write the song. Musically, we were moving more towards straight dance and I was keen on keeping the New Order I'd known and loved. I eventually managed to get my bass on the original version. But, of course, the first thing any remixers do is take off my bass and put their own on. I sometimes feel like attaching a note saying, How about keeping the bass?"<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

While never appearing on an original album, it was included on most of the band's "best of" collections (Substance 1987, The Best of New Order, Retro, International, Singles and Total). The first public performance of the song took place at the 1987 Glastonbury Festival; this version appears on the group's BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert album.

The original 7-inch version of the song did not appear on any album until 2011's Total: From Joy Division to New Order.

Composition

The song is composed in the key of D minor with an outro in G major.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As is the case for many New Order songs of this period, the words in the title do not appear anywhere in the lyrics.

The original lyrics included a verse that read "Now that we've grown up together/They're all taking drugs with me". Hague convinced Bernard Sumner to change the latter line to "They're afraid of what they see" because he was worried that otherwise it would not get played on the radio. When performing the song live, the band have usually used the original line.<ref name="Buskin">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

During a live performance in 1993 in Reading, Sumner replaced the first lines of the second verse with the lyrics "When I was a very small boy, Michael Jackson played with me. Now that we've grown up together, he's playing with my willy."<ref>Template:Cite video</ref> This was a topical reference to the allegations of sexual abuse against the singer.

Technical details

"True Faith" was recorded at Advision Studio One, with production by New Order and Stephen Hague and was engineered by David Jacob. According to Hague, the studio featured "...a first generation SSL board and big old UREI Time Align monitors. "True Faith" was created using a wide range of electronic musical equipment. According to an interview in Sound on Sound by Richard Buskin, Hague notes that New Order provided a Yamaha QX 1, an Octave Voyetra 8 polyphonic synthesizer, a Yamaha DX 5 and an Akai S900 sampler, while he provided an E-mu Emulator II and an E-mu SP12.<ref name="Buskin"/>

Critical reception

In 2013, Stereogum ranked "True Faith" number four on their list of the 10 greatest New Order songs, writing that "The drums do one thing: stomp. The synth bass rolls right along, locked in the same bouncing-ball pattern forever. There's hardly any flash on display: everything in service to everything else, all bowing to the simplicity of the song itself. Even Peter Hook, who shows up for his usual lead-bass acrobatics, is relatively restrained, in part due to the density of the mix. So it falls to the vocal to keep our attention — what we get is Bernard Sumner singing simply, plainly, effortlessly, somehow delivering some of the strongest lyrics of his career inside one of the band's very best songs".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2021, The Guardian ranked the song number one on their list of the 30 greatest New Order songs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Music video

The release of "True Faith" was accompanied by a surreal music video directed and choreographed by Philippe Decouflé, produced by Michael H. Shamberg.<ref name="Dance">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was edited by Marc Eskenazi.

The opening sequence, showing two men slapping each other, is a reference to Marina Abramović and Ulay's video performance Light/Dark, shot in 1977.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Costumed dancers then leap about, fight and slap each other in time to the music, while a person in dark green makeup emerges from an upside-down boxer's speed bag and hand signs the lyrics (in LSF). Other parts of the video were inspired by Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer's Triadisches Ballett.<ref name="Dance"/>

The video has often been voted amongst the best music videos of its year. Sky Television's channel The Amp, for instance, has it rated as the best video of 1987, Smash Hits magazine's readers rated it as the 3rd best video of 1987<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and it won the British Video of the Year in 1988.

The overall tonality, themes and various elements from the video re-occurred in Decouflé's scenography and choreography for the inauguration ceremonies of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.

The video was slightly modified for the 1994 re-release, featuring black-and-white clips of women inserted into the later parts of the video. This was also edited by Marc Eskenazi.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Sound on Sound.<ref name="Buskin"/>

New Order

• Bernard Sumner – lead and backing vocals, Yamaha QX1 sequencer, Yamaha DX5 synthesiser, guitar
• Gillian Gilbert – Octave Voyetra-8 synthesiser
• Stephen Morris – Yamaha QX1 sequencer, Akai S900 sampler, hi-hat, cymbals
• Peter Hook – bass guitar

Additional musicians

• Stephen Hague – E-mu Emulator II, E-mu SP-12 programming

Charts

Original version

Weekly charts

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Chart (1987)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	8
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	17
Italy Airplay (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	2
UK Indie (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	32
US 12-inch Singles Sales (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Template:Small	10
US Dance Club Play (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Template:Small	3
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	30

Year-end charts

Chart (1987)	Position
Australia (Australian Music Report)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	51
New Zealand (RIANZ)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	42
UK Singles (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	60
West Germany (Media Control)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	68

"True Faith-94"

Weekly charts

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Chart (1994–1995)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	69
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	32
UK Airplay (Music Week)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	6
UK Club Chart (Music Week)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	19

Year-end charts

Chart (1994)	Position
UK Singles (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	130

Cover versions

George Michael version

English singer-songwriter George Michael covered "True Faith" in 2011 in support of the charity fund Comic Relief. Throughout the song, Michael's vocals are electronically masked using a vocoder, which garnered mixed reactions. In response, he joked: "People like to make exceptions for me."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Peaking at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart, the song made its television debut on BBC, as one of five music videos recorded for Red Nose Day 2011.

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Chart (2011)	Peak position

Lotte Kestner / The Last of Us Part II version

The trailer for the 2020 action-adventure video game The Last of Us Part II featured the character Ellie performing an acoustic rendition of the song, which bore a striking resemblance to a 2011 cover by Lotte Kestner.<ref name="Polygon">Template:Cite web</ref> When Kestner revealed that she had not been credited for her cover of the song being featured, the game's director Neil Druckmann apologized and blamed it on an oversight.<ref name="Polygon"/> The game's publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment looked into the matter, and Kestner was subsequently credited on promotional materials.<ref name="Polygon"/> The television adaptation of The Last of Us would eventually feature Kestner's version in the end credits to the episode "Please Hold to My Hand".

The Flux (Noah Sebastian) / Paradise City version

The song was performed by Noah Sebastian of Bad Omens under the fictional band the Flux. This version was recorded for both the TV series Paradise City and the soundtrack album of the same name released by Sumerian Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Anberlin version

American rock band Anberlin included a cover version of the song on the Deluxe edition of their 2008 album New Surrender.