Released on their 1979 debut album, Unknown Pleasures, "She's Lost Control" was first performed live by the band in June 1978[5] and draws primary lyrical inspiration from a young woman experiencing a violent epileptic seizure.
[8] Curtis primarily drew the lyrical inspiration for "She's Lost Control" from a young woman with whom he had become acquainted through his employment as an Assistant Disablement Resettlement Officer at a Macclesfield occupational rehabilitation centre between 1978 and 1979.
[14][15][16][n 1] The woman's unexpected death and Curtis' subsequent awareness and experiences of the stigma endured by individuals suffering from neurological impairments formed the lyrical inspiration for the song.
In addition, the 2008 compilation release, The Best of Joy Division, includes the Peel session the band had recorded of this song in January 1979.
[23] A very loose cover version of the song, recorded by the Greek minimal wave band Alive She Died, featured prominently in a 2016 advertising campaign for the cruise/resort collection of the Italian fashion house, Gucci.