The song begins with a distinctive semiquaver kick drum intro, programmed on an Oberheim DMX drum machine. Keyboardist Gillian Gilbert fades in a sequenced melody, out of sync with the beat because she had forgotten to input a note into the sequencer. The verse section features the song's signature throbbing synth bassline, played on a Moog Source, overlaid with Peter Hook's bass guitar leads. The synth bassline was sequenced on a Powertran Sequencer home built by Sumner. Bernard Sumner delivers the lyrics in a deadpan manner. "Blue Monday" is an atypical hit song in that it does not feature a standard verse-chorus structure. After a lengthy introduction, the first and second verses are contiguous and are separated from the third verse only by a brief series of sound effects. A short breakdown section follows the third verse, which leads to an extended outro.