The Cure: A Retrospective (1976-2001)

The Cure A Retrospective: 1976-2001

Overview: Goth-rock group formed in Crawley, West Sussex, England in 1976. Originally called Malice and then The Easy Cure. Only lead singer Robert Smith has remained a constant through every incarnation of the band. The Players Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, keyboards: 1976-) Lol Tolhurst (keyboards, drums: 1978-89) Michael Dempsey (bass: 1978-79) Simon Gallup (bass: 1979-82, 88-92) Matthieu Hartley (keyboards: 1979-80) Phil Thornalley (bass: 1983-84) Andy Anderson (drums: 1983-84). Died in 2019. Porl Thompson (guitar: 1984-93, 2005-11) Boris Williams (drums: 1984-94) Roger O’Donnell (keyboards, percussion: 1987-90, 1995-2005, 2011-) Perry Bamonte (guitar, keyboards: 1990-2005, 2022-25). Died in 2025. Jason Cooper (drums, percussion: 95-) Reeves Gabrels (guitar: 2012-) Links DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Cure TheCure.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia

Awards

Compilations SB Standing on a Beach (covers: 1978-85, released 1986) GL Galore!: The Singles 1987-1997 (covers: 1985-96, released 1997) GH Greatest Hits (covers: 1979-2001, released 2001) Spotify Playlist Here’s my The Cure 1978-2025 playlist at Spotify which includes all songs featured on the above compilations plus other singles and material released after 2001. Songs featured on any of the above anthologies are detailed below. Click for codes to charts.

Killing an Arab The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, Lol Tolhurst Recorded: 9/20/1978 at Morgan Studios in London, England Released: 12/22/1978 (single), Boys Don’t Cry (compilation, 1980), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986) B-Side: “10:15 Saturday Night” Peak: 22 CL, 9 CO, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.21 video, 1.43 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Stark, minimalist, and hugely energetic, ‘Killing an Arab’ marked the start of the Cure’s extraordinary career.” TB-180 The group’s first single and its B-side (“10:15 Saturday Night”) “displayed a unique talent for songwriting, which was literate and whimsical.” TB-112 “Although it failed to chart, it plunged them into a worldwide debate about whether or not its lyric was racist.” TB-180 Robert was “horrified by the interpretation of racism,” TB-180 saying, “It was a short poetic attempt at condensing my impression of the key moments” TB-180 in The Stranger by Albert Camus.

10:15 Saturday Night The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, Lol Tolhurst Released: 12/22/1978 (B-side of “Killing an Arab”), June 1979 (single – France), Three Imaginary Boys (1979), Boys Don’t Cry (compilation, 1980), Standing on a Beach (compilation – CD version, 1986) Peak: 35 CL, 30 CO, 27 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.23 video, 30.95 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: On this B-side to their debut single, “Killing an Arab,” The Cure are found “taking a standard form and subverting it into something new and a little uncomfortable. The rousing jangle of Creedence Clearwater Revival is filtered through a very English perspective to become something stark and functional, a depiction of quiet teenage confusion.” MD-11 Author Dave Thompson described the song as thus: “Another night at home with your cloying claustrophobia, listening to the tap drip…drip…dripping.” DT-190 Robert himself explained, “I’d fallen out with someone I was supposed to be going out with…so the evening fell apart and I decided to stay home and feel sorry for myself.” MD-11

Boys Don’t Cry The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Michael Dempsey Recorded: 1979 Released: 6/12/1979 (single), Boys Don’t Cry (compilation, 1980), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Plastic Passion” Peak: 18 CL, 1 CO, 22 UK, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 165.60 video, 1330.34 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “The Cure’s second single presents a melodic sensibility that the first only hinted at.” MD-16 It has become “a cult anthem.” MD-16 “It’s a simple but devastatingly effective pop song about the expectation of men to repress emotion – a theme Robert tackled repeatedly in that period, his narrators often revealing turmoil behind the blank masks they present to the world.” MD-16

Jumping Someone Else’s Train The Cure

Writer(s): Michael Dempsey, Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst Recorded: 1979 Released: 11/2/1979 (single), Boys Don’t Cry (compilation, 1980), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986) B-Side: “I’m Cold” Peak: 44 CL, 12 CO Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.83 video, 32.73 streaming About the Song “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” finds bassist Michael Dempsey “in fine form, propelling the song with a series of busy melodies that also highlight why he had to go: Robert’s songs were growing increasingly sparse, and Michael didn’t like what he was hearing. The lyrics…take aim at trend-hoppers, giving advance notice that The Cure’s own somewhat faddish sound was about to mutate into something less palatable.” MD-17

A Forest The Cure

Writer(s): Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Matthieu Hartley, Lol Tolhurst Recorded: January 1980 Released: 4/8/1980 (single), Seventeen Seconds (1980), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Another Journey by Train” Peak: 19 CL, 3 CO, 31 UK, 27 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 42.08 video, 10.39 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “A Forest” was a “defining moment for the young band,” MD-23 “an outstanding composition that the band play at almost every concert.” MD-23 “The lyrics play out like a dream – and they probably were.” MD-24 Robert initially asserted the song was based on a childhood experience, but later said he made it up.” MD-24 A review in Sounds magazine described the song as “The Cure take a trip to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in search of Dr. Who and find the ghost of Hawkwind.” MD-24

Play for Today The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Simon Gallup, Matthieu Hartley Released: Seventeen Seconds (1980), Standing on a Beach (compilation – CD version, 1986) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.11 video, 48.44 streaming About the Song “Play for Today” was one of the first songs written for the Seventeen Seconds album. “The title, a reference to the BBC TV anthology series, was apt given the song’s soap opera dramatics: here, we have another of Robert’s detached dismissals, full of cold sentiments…as his sullen character brushes off a crying lover.” MD-22 Robert said the song was about “the fraudulent aspects of an insincere relationship.” MD-22 The song “introduces itself with the splash of an electric cymbal over Lol’s flat, dry drums before Simon’s spiky bass brings the beat to life under a delicate curtain of guitar harmonics. Then Robert’s distinctive rhythm style, making liberal use of stuttering 16th-note strums and open strings around the chords, ushers the song into a prime phase as Matthieu plays a simple but engaging melody.” MD-22

Primary The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst Released: 3/28/1981 (single), Faith (1981), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986) B-Side: “Descent” Peak: 40 CL, 7 CO, 43 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.90 video, 20.61 streaming About the Song The first attempt of this song was known as “Cold Colours” and featured “markedly different lead melodies and lyrics.” MD-30 “The finished cut is stronger, faster, leaner, and its distinctive sound – both Simon and Robert playing bass, no guitars, or keyboards – is a breath of fresh air. The lyrics address childhood innocence and the effects of its loss.” MD-30 “The song title refers to the colours mentioned in the song: red, yellow, and blue, the bright shades of childhood as yet uncomplicated by the deepening shades of experience.” MD-30

Other Voices The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst, Simon Gallup Released: Faith (1981), Standing on a Beach (compilation – CD version, 1986) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.25 video, 5.96 streaming About the Song “Built around Lol’s unchanging drum pattern and double-tracked, stereo-panned bass, ‘Other Voices’ is as close as Faith got to a second single.” MD-30 “The lyrics, possibly inspired by Truman Capote’s Other Voices, Other Rooms and George Orwell’s Keep the Aspidistra Flying, are typically tortured – though there’s a sardonic humor at work when Robert sings.” MD-30

Charlotte Sometimes The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst Recorded: July 16-17, 1981 at Playground Studio in England Released: 10/9/1981 (single), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986) B-Side: “Splintered in Her Head” Peak: 41 CL, 14 CO, 44 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.70 video, 28.65 streaming About the Song “As monumental as Faith is, it’s not exactly bursting with pop appeal.” MD-34 The next single, “Charlotte Sometimes,” “is more approachable…though its misty vibe is very much in keeping with the preceding record. They keyboards and yearning vocals inspire that special…feeling upon which The Cure have essentially built their career: part wistfulness, part doleful empathy, part…nostalgia for things that never were.” MD-34 Robert’s lyrics “explicitly reference lines and scenes” MD-34 from the 1969 book Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer. The character of Charlotte Makepeace “falls asleep at her boarding school and wakes up in the same bed some 40 years prior.” MD-34

The Hanging Garden The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst Released: 7/12/1982 (single), Pornography (1982), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986) B-Side: “Killing an Arab” (live), “A Forest” (live) Peak: 19 CO, 34 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.50 video, 13.15 streaming About the Song “The December 1981 demo of ‘The Hanging Garden’ reveals a standard Cure jangle with alternative lyrics and an entirely different feel. The album version has been rethought from top to bottom, built on multi-tracked tribal tom-toms and juddering bass, the guitar relegated to playing a flanged hook as reversed piano swells and effects dart across the surface of the mix like black birds. Its strange and visceral.” MD-39-40

Let’s Go to Bed The Cure

Writer(s): Laurence Tolhurst, Robert Smith Released: 11/15/1982 (single), Japanese Whispers (compilation, 1983), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Just One Kiss” Peak: 4 CO, 44 UK, 9 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.30 video, 60.29 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “The Cure’s first single following the collapse of their previous iteration was released a mere seven months after Pornography, and a more drastic tonal shift can scarcely be imagined.” MD-46 Smith even considered releasing the song under the name Recur “to separate it from his past.” MD-46 “Let’s Go to Bed” “proves an irresistible piece of knowingly daft pop, the implied salaciousness of its title undercut by the atypical innocence of its lyrics.” MD-46

The Walk The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst Released: June 1983 (single), Japanese Whispers (compilation, 1983), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986) B-Side: “The Dream,” “The Upstairs Room,” “Lament” Peak: 13 CO, 12 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.50 video, 27.79 streaming About the Song “’The Walk’ was a radio hit, but controversy developed when critics found it too similar to New Order’s ‘Blue Monday,’ which had dropped just one month prior.” MD-48 Of the song’s success, Smith said, “I didn’t expect it to get so high but I’d suspected something was up when my mum liked it.” MD-48

The Love Cats The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith Recorded: August 1983 Released: 10/21/1983 (single), Japanese Whispers (compilation, 1983), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Speak My Language,” “Mr. Pink Eyes” Peak: 3 CO, 7 UK, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 23.85 video, 131.76 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Robert said this song “was inspired by a line in a book he was reading, where a sackful of kittens is thrown into the sea. But the song quickly escaped that ghastly imagery to become one of the most wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully pretty hits of the 1980s.” DT-200

The Caterpillar The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst Released: 3/26/1984 (single), The Top (1984), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Happy the Man,” “Throw Your Foot” Peak: 15 CO, 14 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 9.70 video, 14.96 streaming About the Song “When ‘The Caterpillar’ appeared a month ahead of its parent album, fans could be forgiven for thinking that business was continuing as per the new usual. It certainly sounds of a piece with the Fantasy Trilogy, what with all the catchy doo-doo-doo’s and eccentric instrumentation.” MD-55

In Between Days The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith Recorded: 1985 Released: 7/19/1985 (single), The Head on the Door (1985), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “The Exploding Boy,” “A Few Hours After This…” Peak: 99 BB, 1 CO, 15 UK, 10 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 59.99 video, 277.58 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: On this “instantly iconic Cure hit” MD-60 “the upbeat music is contrasted by Robert’s typically downbeat lyrics” MD-60 “yet the song never falls into doldrums performing a delicate balancing act with absolute aplomb. It’s one of Robert’s extroverted songs for introverts, playing off both extremes of his personality and melding them to devastating effect.” MD-60 Some accused the band of plagiarizing “Dreams Never End” by New Order. Peter Hook, the bassist of New Order, said, “Plenty of people have ripped us off…but the Cure really take the piss sometimes.” MD-60

Close to Me The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith Released: 9/13/1985 (single), The Head on the Door (1985), Standing on a Beach (compilation, 1986); remix: 10/22/1990 (single), Mixed Up (1990), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “A Man Inside My Mouth,” “Stop Dead” (9/13/1985); “Just Like Heaven” (dizzy mix) (10/22/1990 remix) Peak: 97 BB, 64 CB, 1 CO, 13 UK, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 69.20 video, 468.78 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Robert “Smith struggled with his success through career defeating albums and years of drug and alcohol abuse.” TC-79 However, “in early 1985, Smith resolved to get happy. In two weeks he wrote a new album, Head on the Door. It was recorded with an unashamed delight for hooks and catchy melodies.” TC-79 Smith said, “I think the Cure really started again at this point…It felt like being in the Beatles – and I wanted to make substantial ‘Strawberry Fields’-style pop music. I wanted everything to be really catchy.” TB-79

A Night Like This The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith Released: The Head on the Door (1985), Standing on a Beach (compilation – CD version, 1986) Peak: 17 CO Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.75 video, 43.33 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Stepping sharply away from the Gothic Rock tag that hung round their neck in the earliest years, Robert Smith and the Cure look at love and declare, just like the song says, that it’s just the most gorgeously stupid thing.” DT-157

Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea (compilation) The Cure

Recorded: 1978-1985 Released: May 15, 1986 Peak: 48 US, 4 UK, 48 CN, 13 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.10 UK, 4.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: goth rock Rating: 4.538 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)

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Tracks: (1) Killing an Arab (2) 10:15 Saturday Night * (3) Boys Don’t Cry (4) Jumping Someone Else’s Train (5) A Forest (6) Play for Today * (7) Primary (8) Other Voices * (9) Charlotte Sometimes (10) The Hanging Garden (11) Let’s Go to Bed (12) The Walk (13) The Love Cats (14) The Caterpillar (15) In Between Days (16) Close to Me (17) A Night Like This * * CD edition Total Running Time: 60:40 About the Album: This is an excellent compilation of The Cure’s music in the early part of their career, covering singles and a few album cuts over their first six albums.

Why Can’t I Be You? The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst Released: 4/6/1987 (single), Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “A Japanese Dream” Peak: 54 BB, 47 CB, 2 CO, 21 UK, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.27 video, 64.64 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The lead single from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me “promised poppy delights in the vein of the previous album.” MD-71 “Driven by a 1960s pop beat, inspired by Porl and Robert messing around with either The Supremes’ ‘Can’t Hurry Love’ or The Chiffons’ Sweet Talkin’ Guy’…‘Why Can’t I Be You?’ revels in layers of funky guitars and parping synth-brass keys as Roberts mugs and capers in delirious devotion.” MD-71 Robert said the song came about because of a desire to, as he said, “escape discreetly from myself and just leave my empty body.” MD-71

Catch The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith Released: 6/22/1987 (single), Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: “Breathe,” “A Chain of Flowers” Peak: 17 CO, 27 UK, 35 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.48 video, 19.47 streaming About the Song “’Catch’ unfurls its gentle pop charms in a gentle haze of violin keys and vocal scatting. Two verses, two choruses and we’re out, with only a delicate guitar solo to break up Robert’s wistful reminisces of a recalcitrant girl.” MD-70 The song was inspired by two very different experiences. The first was “a scene from Rocky II between the titular boxer and his comatose wife.” MD-70 The second was about “Robert suffering a head injury as a child, hallucinating a girl called Bunny for a few years, then meeting her spitting image at JFK airport in 1984!” MD-70

Just Like Heaven The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst (see lyrics here) Recorded: 1987 at Studio Marval in France Released: 10/5/1987 (single), Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Snow in Summer,” “Sugar Girl,” “Breathe,” “A Chain of Flowers” Peak: 40 BB, 42 CB, 33 GR, 30 RR, 1 CO, 29 UK, 89 AU, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 32.74 video, 301.29 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The Cure emerged during the punk era of the late ‘70s and became a mainstay of the college rock radio movement of the early 1980s in the United States. When they released their 1987 album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, The Cure were on the cusp of yet another transformation: becoming a mainstream band. The album produced three Billboard Hot 100 hits; the most important was “Just Like Heaven,” the band’s highest-charting hit to date and first entry into the top 40. AllMusic.com’s Ned Ragget called the song “an undisputed ‘80s classic” AM-JH that is “instantly memorable, sparkling with rough energy…it’s a perfect showcase for Robert Smith’s ear for wistful, romantic numbers.” AM-JH Smith was inspired by a trip to Beachy Head in southern England with his future wife, Mary Poole. WK-JH The video recreated many of the memories detailed in the lyrics. WK-JH Musically, the original version bore some similarity to the Only One’s 1979 song “Another Girl, Another Planet.” Drummer Boris Williams increased the tempo of the song to give it a different feel. WK-JH Smith called it “the best pop song the Cure has ever done,” WK-JH telling his bandmates, “I’ll never write something this good again.” SF

Hot Hot Hot!!! The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Boris Williams, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst Released: 2/8/1988 (single), Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: “Hey You!!!” (extended remix) Peak: 65 BB, 82 CB, 11 CO, 45 UK, 30 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.29 video, 3.22 streaming About the Song “An operatic vocal quote from Charles Aznavour’s ‘She’ introduces The Cure’s full-blooded attempt at white-boy funk, which should be dreadfully embarrassing but gets over due to its proficient arrangement and knowing ridiculousness. The Nile Rodgers-styled guitars are satisfyingly nimble and the bass riff hints at Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ as Robert provides a gurning, exaggerated vocal about…being struck by lightning?” MD-74

Lullaby The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Roger O’Donnell, Boris Williams Released: 4/10/1989 (single), Disintegration (1989), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Babble,” “Out of Mind” Peak: 74 BB, 57 CB, 23 MR, 5 UK, 33 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 105.70 video, 285.51 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: This was the lead single (at least in the UK) from Disintegration, The Cure’s most successful album. It was “accompanied by one of the creepiest videos of the age.” DT-274 The Cure “look back on their early reputation as a Gothic band and rewrite it as a horror movie.” DT-274

Fascination Street The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Boris Williams, Porl Thompson, Roger O’Donnell, Lol Tolhurst Released: 4/18/1989 (single), Disintegration (1989), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: “Babble,” “Out of Mind” Peak: 46 BB, 74 CB, 24 AR, 17 MR, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 22.93 video, 1.77 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Here The Cure “prove that you only need one great riff to make a great song. Simon and Boris power through the same four-bar figure for its whole duration, with dynamic variations being provided by the interplay of guitar parts, keyboards, and, eventually, the vocal. Robert’s lyrics are oblique, alluding to some place or event that will lift the narrator and their partner out of a lull.” MD-84

Love Song The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Boris Williams, Porl Thompson, Roger O’Donnell, Lol Tolhurst Released: 8/21/1989 (single), Disintegration (1989), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “2 Late,” “Fear of Ghosts” Peak: 2 BB, 2 CB, 7 RR, 30 AR, 2 MR, 18 UK, 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 100.37 video, 471.33 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: This was The Cure’s biggest hit yet most of the band disliked the song and opposed it being a single. MD-82 “It’s fair to assume the band warmed to it over time.” MD-83 The song has since been covered by Tori Amos, Adele, and others. “Robert saw so much promise in the music written by Simon that he chose it as the backdrop for his most heartfelt ode of love – a gift to his new bride.” MD-82 He said, “It’s the most upfront, true, frank and honest thing that I’ve ever sung.” MD-83

Pictures of You The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Roger O’Donnell, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst Released: 3/19/1990 (single), Disintegration (1989), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Last Dance” (live), “Fascination Street” (live), “Prayers for Rain” (live), “Disintegration” (live) Peak: 71 BB, 67 CB, 19 MR, 24 UK, 12 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 129.36 video, 19.89 streaming About the Song “A cornerstone track of Disintegration and, indeed, The Cure’s entire career, ‘Pictures of You’ is a stunning widescreen epic with a characteristically narrow focus.” MD-81 “Robert sings one of his most powerful odes to love and loss, an perfect encapsulation of The Cure’s lyrical and spiritual essence.” MD-81

Never Enough The Cure

Writer(s): Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams Released: 9/17/1990 (single), Mixed Up (1990), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Harold and Joe” Peak: 72 BB, 72 CB, 33 AR, 13 MR, 13 UK, 22 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.49 video, 10.27 streaming About the Song When The Cure headed into the studio in June 1990 with new keyboardist Perry Bamonte, their intent was to record “an electronic-leaning EP.” <MC-89 Instead they produced this “blues-box rocker that must have had Porl beaming at the chance to stretch out. Guitars all over with not a keyboard in sight.” MD-89 It became “a band and fan favorite, no doubt due to its punchy demeanor and relatable lyric.” MD-90 It was the only new song featured on the 1990 remix collection Mixed Up.

High The Cure

Writer(s): Boris Williams, Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thomspon Released: 3/16/1992 (single), Wish (1992), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “This Twilight Garden,” “Play” Peak: 42 BB, 33 CB, 22 RR, 42 AR, 14 MR, 8 UK, 33 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.90 video, 45.27 streaming About the Song This “joyous first single” MD-92 from Wish is “a bouncy confection spawned from a Simon demo called ‘Anniversary.’” MD-92 Robert said, “As soon as I heard it, I knew it had to be our next single…It was such an inspiring, upbeat piece of music; I wrote the words to it really fast…It’s just about stopping to think about what you’ve got rather than always wanting something more.” MD-92 The song was “inspired by a child called Dorothy, a friend’s daughter who thought she could fly and was given to saying things like ‘sky as a kite.’” MD-93

Friday I’m in Love The Cure

Writer(s): Perry Bamonte, Boris Williams, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson Released: 5/15/1992 (single), Wish (1992), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Halo,” “Scared As You” Peak: 18 BB, 18 CB, 12 GR, 4 RR, 21 AR, 14 MR, 6 UK, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 165.05 video, 1107.67 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Robert said this is “a dumb pop song…but it’s quite excellent, actually, because it’s so absurd. It’s so out of character – very optimistic and really out there in happy land.” TB-254 He also said, “I could sit and write gloomy songs all day long, but I just don’t see the point.” TB-254 It was one of the band’s biggest pop hits thanks to its “irrepressibly happy mood” TB-254 and “Porl Thompson’s jangly guitar lines.” TB-254

A Letter to Elise The Cure

Writer(s): Perry Bamonte, Boris Williams, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson Released: 10/5/1992 (single), Wish (1992), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: “The Big Hand,” “A Foolish Arrangement” Peak: 2 MR, 28 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 13.98 video, 70.60 streaming About the Song “A Letter to Elise” is “a fetching semi-ballad dressed in jangling acoustic and 12-string guitars, adorned with tinkling keyboard melodies.” MD-95 It was “inspired by the character of Elisabeth in Cocteau’s Les Enfants Terrible,” according to Robert. He said, “It’s not actually about her, but she somehow got mixed up in my head with another Elise I was trying to write about and to.” MD-95

The 13th The Cure

Writer(s): Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, Robert Smith Released: 4/22/1996 (single), Wild Mood Swings (1996), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: “It Used to Be Me,” “Ocean,” “Adonais” Peak: 44 BB, 47 CB, 15 MR, 15 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.19 video, 2.67 streaming About the Song “After four years away from the charts, The Cure chose to reintroduce themselves in a typically obtuse way – the first single [from Wild Mood Swings] is a cracked, woozy mariachi number replete with exuberant brass and a highly mannered vocal about a Colombian club dancer.” MD-105 While “many thought the band had lost their minds” MD-105 this “is a fun romp entirely in keeping with The Cure’s reputation for whacked-out pop.” MD-105 “It’s a terribly entertaining song that shows they hadn’t let age and fame steal away their sense of humor.” MD-105

Mint Car The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Roger O’Donnell Released: 6/17/1996 (single), Wild Mood Swings (1996), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Home,” “Waiting,” “A Pink Dream” Peak: 14 MR, 31 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.99 video, 23.11 streaming About the Song “Mint Car” is “an almost tropical pop bash about true happiness that rides along on a bold bass groove and some tasty lead guitar.” MD-106 It could have been the first single from Wild Mood Swings but “its resemblance in mood, if not music, to ‘Friday I’m in Love’ would have given listeners the impression they were back with more of the same.” MD-106 Even the videos were similar with “Mint Car” recalling “its constant costume changes and studio stage setting.” MD-106

Strange Attraction The Cure

Writer(s): Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, Robert Smith, Jason Cooper Recorded: 1995 Released: 10/9/1996 (single), Wild Mood Swings (1996), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: “The 13th” (Feels Good Mix), “This Is a Lie” (Ambient Mix), “Gone!” (Critter Mix), “Strange Attraction” (Strange Mix) Peak: 32 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.28 video, 2.63 streaming About the Song “The Hitchcockian swell of strings that opens this track is immediately revealed to be a misdirect, as ‘Strange Attraction’ is a bouncy, lightweight number with marimba keys supply the hooks. The intro string does foreshadow the lyrics, however, as Robert’s narrator receives glowing correspondence from a fan, then meets and falls for her, only for her to end things with another letter when he didn’t match up to what she’d imagined.” MD-105

Gone! The Cure

Writer(s): Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, Robert Smith Recorded: 1995 Released: 12/2/1996 (single), Wild Mood Swings (1996), Galore! (compilation, 1997) B-Side: CD1: “The 13th (Feels Good Mix), “This Is a Lie” (Ambient Mix), “Strange Attraction” (Strange Mix); CD2: four mixes of “Gone!” Peak: 60 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.80 video, 0.80 streaming About the Song This “critically reviled song” MD-107 was an “experiment in light-hearted genre-hopping.” MD-107 “Sassy brass, jazzy electric piano flourishes and a swinging beat provide a good-humored backdrop for Robert’s admonition to fight depression by getting out into the world.” MD-107 In hindsight, Robert said the song, originally called “Get Up, Get Out, and Get Gone!,” should have been left off the Wild Mood Swings album. He said it “was one that everyone was thinking was one step too far.” MD-107

Wrong Number The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith Released: 11/17/1997 (single), Galore! (compilation, 1997), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: four additional mixes of “Wrong Number” Peak: 64 BB, 8 MR, 62 UK, 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.06 video, 8.24 streaming About the Song This “started out as a song called ‘Lime Green’ or ‘A Thought,’ as its unrecognizable instrumental demo is titled on Greatest Hits Rarities.” MD-111 Robert reworked the song with Reeves Gabrels – then David Bowie’s guitarist – after they met at rehearsals for Bowie’s 50th birthday concert. MD-111 “The result is a nonsensical but charming dance track featuring just them and Jason’s drum loops, with a brief appearance from producer Mark Plati’s friend’s wife on the other end of the phone.” MD-111

Galore!: The Singles 1987-1997 (compilation) The Cure

Recorded: 1985-1996 Released: October 28, 1997 Peak: 32 US, 37 UK, -- CN, 45 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.50 US, 0.06 UK, 0.60 world (includes US and UK) Genre: goth rock Rating: 3.980 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings)

Tracks: (1) Why Can’t I Be You? (2) Catch (3) Just Like Heaven (4) Hot Hot Hot!!! (5) Lullaby (6) Fascination Street (7) Love Song (8) Pictures of You (9) Never Enough (10) Close to Me (11) High (12) Friday I’m in Love (13) A Letter to Elise (14) The 13th (15) Mint Car (16) Strange Attraction (17) Gone! (18) Wrong Number Total Running Time: 72:47 About the Album: This collection picks up where Standing on a Beach left off. The two serve as perfect companions, each covering a distinct era of Cure. The first set captures the band as one of the premiere bands of college rock in the early ‘80s while the second set offers a snapshot of the band achieving mainstream popularity.

Cut Here The Cure

Writer(s): Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, Robert Smith Released: 10/29/2001 (single), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Signal to Noise” Peak: 54 UK Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 4.56 video, 14.17 streaming About the Song “Cut Here” is “a rumination on the loss of Robert’s friend Billy Mackenzie from The Associates, who ended his own life in 1997.” MD-119 “Though the song is a sad one, it came as a relief to fans who feared that Robert had finally put the band to bed.” MD-119 “Based on a bouncing beat and distinctive Fender VI lines with keyboard flourishes from Roger, it serves as a reminder of The Cure’s knack for idiosyncratic pop.” MD-119

Just Say Yes The Cure

Writer(s): Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Roger O’Donnell Released: 4/18/2001 (single), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2001) B-Side: “Just Say Yes” (acoustic version) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.98 video, 5.52 streaming About the Song This was recording during the sessions for 2000’s Bloodflowers. It “was never going to make the grade – not only is its message of positivity diametrically opposed to the album’s mood, but the first version, as heard on Greatest Hits Rarities, is notably lacking in pep. Successfully recut for Greatest Hits, it grew into an effervescent single that features a guest vocal by Republica’s Saffron. The track sounds like it was recorded a decade too late, coming off like a poppier Prima Scream or Stone Roses..” MD-120

Greatest Hits (compilation) The Cure

Recorded: 1979-2001 Released: November 7, 2001 Peak: 58 US, 19 UK, -- CN, 27 AU, 11 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.20 UK, 2.20 world (includes US and UK) Genre: goth rock Rating: 4.261 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Tracks: (1) Boys Don’t Cry (2) A Forest (3) Let’s Go to Bed (4) The Love Cats (5) The Caterpillar (6) In Between Days (7) Close to Me (8) Why Can’t I Be You? (9) Just Like Heaven (10) Lullaby (11) Love Song (12) Pictures of You (13) Never Enough (14) High (15) Friday I’m in Love (16) Mint Car (17) Wrong Number (18) Cut Here (19) Just Say Yes Total Running Time: 68:08 About the Album: This set does offer two previously unreleased songs but otherwise everything here is covered on Standing on a Beach and Galore! Those two compilations offer a more complete picture of The Cure than this single-disc anthology.

Resources/References: AM-JH All Music Guide review of “Just Like Heaven” by Neg Raggett TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. MD Matthew R. Davis (2025). On Track…The Cure. Every Album, Every Song. Sonicbond Publishing Limited: United Kingdom. SF Songfacts page for “Just Like Heaven” TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Pages 180 and 254. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Wikipedia page for Standing on a Beach Wikipedia page for Galore! Wikipedia page for Greatest Hits WK-JH Wikipedia page for “Just Like Heaven” Related DMDB Links: First posted 10/29/2026; last updated 11/1/2026.