While in high school I used to make fun of people who liked the Cure. I saw them on the opposite side of the spectrum from, say, Jesus and Mary Chain. But you knew the type. They had feelings , wore black a lot, and might have worn eye liner. (See Allison Reynolds in The Breakfast Club) Strangely, in college, after I heard songs from Mixed Up on a mixtape from Becca, I started to like them. The mix of Caterpillar is stellar. That mix itself, might have been my baptism. Or rebirth. Oh, and I started to wear eyeliner too. No correlation. In fact at that point I am not sure I even knew what Robert Smith looked like. Clearly it was more an extension of the likes of Perry Farrell. Anyways, I give you my 10 Best Cure Songs – guaranteed goth-free and in no particular order:
- The Blood (Head On The Door)
- Pictures of You (Disintegration)
- Plainsong (Disintegration) – I know it’s kinda random, but like Sometimes (Lester Piggott), by James, I just adore the dialog and narratives.
- High (Wish)
- The Caterpillar (The Top)
- One Hundred Years (Pornography)
- Primary (Faith)
- Snow in the Summer (B-Side of Just Like Heaven)
- Harold and Joe (B-Side of Never Enough)
- Jumping Someone Else’s Train (Boy’s Don’t Cry)
Interesting post! I was the overacheiver sorority girl who you’d never guess was a huge Cure fan but my brilliant druggie next-door-neighbor in the dorm got me hooked to all sorts of alternative 80’s music that wasn’t Madonna. The Cure is probably still my all-time favorite band.
I’d say that my favorite songs have got to be “From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea,” “2 Late,” and “Lovesong.” I love coming across covers of “Lovesong,” and have heard Tori Amos do it twice already. Still, there’s not a lot of Cure music I DON’T like, so it would be hard to pick out just ten best, but those three are ones I could listen to over and over and over again (and probably have!). Maybe I’ll give it more thought.
Great post!
I grew up listening to (and loving) the Cure because my mom had me too young and listened to all the cool shit in her 20s while I was still impressionable. When I got to high school and college and kids my age were just discovering the Cure, I thought it was so weird that the people who were super into them were of a certain type — the exact type that you described. I also found it weird that they had all just discovered the band recently and didn’t know each song since childhood.
I guess I was just under the impression that the cure was a “mom” band. I thought all of my friend’s moms listened to the Cure and The Smiths and shit. I thought it was like Oldies, or something, I guess. But it turns out, I was ahead of the curve and super awesome, thanks to my mom!
I’m glad I’m not the only James fan. SEVEN is one of my favorite records from the 90s.
Great post. I have been listening to The Cure since I was three. Here are my favorites.
1. Out Of This World
2. Disintegration
3. One Hundred Years
4. The Kiss
5. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
6. Treasure
7. A Letter To Elise
8. 39
9. Watching Me Fall
10. Just Like Heaven