Top Five Cure Songs
The Cure. Constant outlet for angst and depression in my life. At the same time, filled with enough sugary sweet pop/dance songs to give all the black-hearted followers an ironic smile on their faces. And even though Robert Smith looked like a ridiculous pig in dire need of a haircut and a treadmill at Live 8 in Paris, we all still think he's something special.
This list took ages for me to compile. Really, I shouldn't have done it, because it's one of those that I might end up changing my mind about later on. To make a list for a band that's been around for more than twenty years... especially one you really love... that's challenging. So much good material gets left off. Two albums I adore, Seventeen Seconds and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me don't get a song in the top five! Ah well. Maybe I'll have to do a top five Cure albums to make up for it...
Honourable Mentions: "Gone!", "Play For Today", "Halo", "10:15 Saturday Night", "Us or Them"
5. "Burn" - (find it on The Crow Soundtrack)
From the highly regarded soundtrack to The Crow comes the rather autumn-like "Burn". It's far from containing really deep, challenging lyrics, but it manages to do a very good job evoking the images of the character from the film: "Every night I burn. Every night I call your name. Every night I burn. Every night I fall again." It earns a spot on this list because it's probably the first Cure song I ever actually listened to back in '94 or so, and dragged me by the throat into the gloom.
4. "Watching Me Fall" - (find it on Bloodflowers)
I wanted at least one 'epic' Cure song on my list, and this eleven minute plus monster is definitely my favourite. I've always assumed the song is about a man looking at himself from the outside while he succumbs to the desire to have an affair. Thus, he's 'watching himself fall'. Or maybe he's looking in the mirror while they're shagging... I dunno how freaky this character is supposed to be. The lyrics are quite descriptive, and have the ability to put me right there: "There's a thin, white, cold new moon and the snow is coming down. And the neon, bright, Tokyo lights flicker through the crowd."
3. "Cut" - (find it on Wish)
It's one of the few songs, save the cover of "Purple Haze", where Robert truly shows us just how much he loves Hendrix. The funky ass guitar playing and quicker tempo of the song masks the more sinister nature of the lyrics, a friend or lover who has pulled a spineshank and now feels nothing but pure, unadulterated hatred. "Breaking heart. Falling sky. Fire go out and friendship die. I wish you felt the way that I still do."
2. "Killing An Arab" - (find it on Boys Don't Cry)
Minimalist poetic recreation of l'étranger, The Stranger, The Outsider... whatever. Camus' Meursault ultimately achieves happiness by embracing the idea that human existence holds no great meaning, and this song homes in on that seemingly pointless existence. It works well either as a celebration of the existential lifestyle, or as a warning sign against it. "I could turn and walk away or I could fire the gun .... Whichever I choose it amounts to the same. Absolutely nothing."
1. "One Hundred Years" - (find it on Pornography)
If there was one line to define the Pornography era it's the first line of this song... "It doesn't matter if we all die." Just the way that it's delivered, along with the almost manic guitar riff that precedes it, captures the rage, self loathing, and worthlessness from a then heroin addicted, bordering on suicidal Robert Smith. It's the standout death kneel anthem from an album that almost became The Cure's Closer.