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"Nineteen63" or "1963" is a track by British rock group New Order. It was originally released as a B-side to "True Faith" in 1987, and appeared on the Substance compilation of the same year. It was then released as a single in January 1995, in a radio mix by Arthur Baker.
"Nineteen63"'s b-sides were all remixes of the title track or songs previously released.
According to the band's lyricist, Bernard Sumner, the song is about the JFK assassination, which occurred in 1963. In the song, Sumner sings from the point of view of Jackie Kennedy, and theorises that John F. Kennedy (a devout Catholic for whom divorce was unthinkable) paid the mobster Jack Ruby to arrange for a hitman to take out his wife so that he could continue his relationship with actress Marilyn Monroe. It further theorises that Monroe committed suicide when she found out that the hired gun, Lee Harvey Oswald, had hit the wrong target. Oswald was, according to Sumner, then in turn assassinated by Ruby for causing his hitman business to go bust.
Sumner's theory is unlikely to be intended seriously, given that Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, over a year before the assassination took place.
The producer Stephen Hague has referred to the song as "the only song about domestic violence you can dance to".
Music video
The video for the single's release has nothing to do with JFK; it depicts British comic actress Jane Horrocks waking up in a box in the countryside and hitch-hiking to the city.
Released 9 January 1995
Format Vinyl record (12" and 7"), CD
Recorded 1987
Genre Alternative
Length 5:05
Label London
Producer Stephen Hague
New Order
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