Elegia

Song infobox
Name = Elegia


Artist = New Order
Album = Low-Life
Released = 13 May 1985
track_no = 5
Recorded = Jam and Britannia Row Studios, London (1984)
Genre = Synthpop Electronica
Length = 4:56
17:30 (Full Version)
Label = Factory Records
Writer = Peter Hook, Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner
Producer = New Order
prev = Sunrise
prev_no = 4
next = Sooner Than You Think
next_no = 6

"Elegia" is a song by the seminal British electro/rock band, New Order. Unusually for New Order, it is an instrumental and a waltz. It can be found on their third studio album, "Low-Life" (1985).

According to drummer Stephen Morris in an interview with Select magazine in 1993, the album version of the song was a 5 minute highlight of a recording 17 and a half minutes long. As the internet became widely available, a poor quality mp3, allegedly of this recording, surfaced in the mid-90's. However, it wasn't until the release of the compilation boxset, "Retro", in 2002 that the full recording officially saw the light of day. The song was used as the conclusion to the bonus fifth disc included with early releases of the set. It should be noted that the mp3 that found its way onto the internet did appear to be the same as the song later released.

Although Portuguese for "(it) chose", it is more likely that the songs title is taken from the English word "elegy". The band have stated that the song was written in memory of the late Ian Curtis, lead singer of the band's former incarnation, Joy Division.

The album version of the song was featured in the Academy Award-nominated short film "More" by Mark Osborne, the film "Pretty in Pink" and the "" episode "Compulsion". It was also used in an American Masters documentary on writer Truman Capote. Also used in "Rust" – a black and white music video by Nenko Genov.