Well this is it. The Third and final Cure album on the list for me to listen to, so be prepared it's going to be a long post.
I love The Cure. They are my all time favorite band. I don't listen to them all the time so I forget they are my favorite band until I hear them again. They are the first band that really introduced me to deep, thought provoking music. I started listening to them when they released their album "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" which is full of many such songs. Songs like "Just Like Heaven" "Catch" and "Why Can't I Be You?", and while The Cure can also make catchy, silly pop songs, their true brilliance is in their dark, brooding, emotional songs.
Released in 1989 Disintegration is, in my mind, their best, most perfect album. It is so well crafted. Every detail of each song is so well thought out. Every note, every word layered to create levels that draw you in. Recorded in 1988 with Robert Smith facing his 30th birthday the songs explore his feelings about his life leading up to that point and moving forward.
Track Listing
Plainsong:
"I think it's dark and it looks like it's rain, you said
And the wind is blowing like it's the end of the world, you said
And it's so cold, it's like the cold if you were deadAnd you smiled for a second
I think I'm old and I'm feeling pain, you saidAnd it's all running out like it's the end of the world, you said
And it's so cold, it's like the cold if you were deadAnd you smiled for a second
Sometimes you make me feelLike I'm living at the edge of the worldLike I'm living at the edge of the worldIt's just the way I smile, you said"
It's almost 2-1/2 minutes into the first song before Robert Smith even sings a word. Plainsong is a back and forth between and man and woman. I imagine that they are talking about the break down in their relationship. The dark, the rain, the wind and the feeling like it's the end of the world, their relationship is over.
Pictures of You:
"If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart If only I'd thought of the right wordsI wouldn't be breaking apart All my pictures of you"
The Relationship is over. All he is left with is pictures and memories of the past. Regret. If only he could have done things different...
Closedown:
"I'm running out of time
I'm out of step and closing down
And never sleep for wanting hours
The empty hours of greed
And uselessly always the need to feel again
The real belief of something more than mockery
If only I could fill my heart with love"
Turning 30. Getting old is a bitch
Lovesong:
Whenever I'm alone with youYou make me feel like I am young againWhenever I'm alone with youYou make me feel like I am fun again"
Last Dance:
And never as bright as when we used to fall
And even if we drink I don't think we would kiss
In the way that we did when the woman was only a girl"
"Quietly he laughs and shaking his head
Creeps closer nowCloser to the foot of the bedAnd softer than shadow and quicker than fliesHis arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyesBe still be calm be quiet now my precious boyDon't struggle like that or I will only love you moreFor it's much too late to get away or turn on the lightThe Spiderman is having you for dinner tonight"
Unfortunately for Robert, as a child he had an uncle that would whisper terrifying bedtime stories in his ear, usually revolving around a character simply named the "Spiderman". I absolutely love this song. Even though the music is a little up beat and cheerful the imagery is terrifying. Throw in an amazing video and you might not sleep for days.
Fascination Street:
"Oh it's opening time
Down on Fascination Street
So let's cut the conversation
And get out for a bit
Because I feel it all fading and paling
And I'm begging
To drag you down with me
To kick the last nail in"
Written about a band adventure on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, THIS IS my favorite Cure Song. Released as the first single to the album, I had not heard as perfect a song as this before. Another long musical intro completely hooks you and transports you into his world.
Prayers for Rain:
"You shatter me your grip on me a hold on me
So dull it kills
You stifle me Infectious sense of Hopelessness and prayers for rain
I suffocate I breathe in dirt
And nowhere shines but desolate
And drab the hours all spent on killing time
Again all waiting for the rain "
This song is about a person in a relationship that is so constricting, so ruining, so hopeless that all that they can do is pray for rain, hope for some relief.
The Same Deep Water As You:
"Can't you see I try
Swimming the same deep water as you is hard"
How can I ever live up to your expectations?
"So it's all come back round to breaking apart again
Breaking apart like I'm made up of glass again
Making it up behind my back again
Holding my breath for the fear of sleep again
Holding it up behind my head again
Cut in deep to the heart of the bone again
Round and round and round and it's coming apart again
Over and over and over"
I imagine this song is about Robert's drug use and his attempts to put is aside, but it keeps coming back to him and it's tearing him apart, causing him to disintegrate.
Homesick:
When Robert considered writing another album following the success of Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me he didn't know if he had it in him. He didn't know if the band would or could go on. I'm so glad that they did.
Untitled:
"Hopelessly drift in the eyes of the ghost againDown on my knees and my hands in the air again
Pushing my face in the memory of you again
But I never know if it's real
Never know how I wanted to feel
Never quite said what I wanted to say to you
Never quite managed the words to explain to you
Never quite knew how to make them believable
And now the time has gone
Another time undone
Never quite said what I wanted to say to you
Never quite managed the words to explain to you
Never quite knew how to make them believable
And now the time has gone
Another time undone
Hopelessly fighting the devil futility
Feeling the monster climb deeper inside of me
Feeling him gnawing my heart away hungrily
I'll never lose this pain
Never dream of you again"
I've read that Robert felt that song was so sad that he couldn't possibly give it a name. What better way to end the album.
I have had the honour of seeing The Cure twice in concert. I started listening to them in 1987 and I took me 20 years to see them for the first time and another 10 years for the second. Will I ever see them again? I have no idea, but I sincerely hope so.
Tomorrow's Album #30 Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack
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