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"Boys Don't Cry" represents the American alter-ego of "Three Imaginary Boys", the first album by the group from Crawley, Sussex. Robert Smith and company (Michael Dempsey on bass, Lol Tolhurst on drums) were not at all satisfied with the tracklist of the latter, thus, taking advantage of the publication in America of the aforementioned debut, they took the opportunity to make some changes. First of all, obviously the name. New tracks are added, others omitted. Among others, the famous "Killing an Arab" appears here, which will lead to accusations against the group of being anti-Islamic (nothing more ridiculous, as the reference is to Camus' existentialism and his "The Stranger").
The cover reflects the mood of the album, a geometric and desert-like landscape, with a prominent sun, which with its "Camusian" power numbs the senses. It begins with "Boys Don't Cry", and the title track itself will remain the most well-known song by The Cure, with its catchy melody propelled by a danceable rhythm, an undisputed must in any pop-orientated nightclub. However, it is not the chorus, original but not so spectacular after all, that hits the mark, but rather the lyrics, permeated by an adolescent poetry as "romantic" as it is spontaneous. The classic text to dedicate to a loved one.
"Plastic Passion" is classic post-punk. The rhythm is syncopated and fast, with most of the attention reserved for Smith's guitar, which sounds fresh, new, to the ear. He is known for being attributed with great compositional qualities, lyrically speaking, but his approach to the instrument, decidedly personal and innovative, is often overlooked, destined over the years to evolve, especially in the psychedelic field (see Wish, The Top...).
"10. 15 Saturday Night" also leverages the pains of love, and suggests to us the sweet vision of the "Loser" waiting for his beloved’s call, sitting on the sink, in an endless wait marked by the hammering, continuous dripping. The small guitar touches at the beginning of the piece are precisely the transmigration of the small and annoying drops (another of Smith's inventions). "Accuracy" introduces the exotic component of the album, with repeated echoes of Arabic music, or rather "Arabesque," with its cadenced and transcendent gait.
"Jumping Someone Else's Train", as the title suggests, is a railway dance, with excellent work by Dempsey, this time as the protagonist. The subsequent "Subway Song" is difficult to analyze, seemingly a tasteless joke at first glance; the pace is velvety, imperceptible until absolute silence. The silence, however, is broken by a chilling scream, representing the epilogue of the "little story" narrated by Smith, concerning a night-time stalking. "Killing an Arab", with its desert melody (ingeniously rendered in the video, shot in a desolate, but frozen, rather than sunlit place as one might expect) is a candidate for the masterpiece of the album; Smith sings in a dry and detached tone, as a devout disciple of "Camus," on a fantastic, distant, dizzy, and dreamlike soundscape. Guitar and bass outdo themselves this time, especially the latter, with an absolutely memorable riff.
"Fire in Cairo" remains on the same level, whose misfortune is not being able to rely on the surprise effect of the aforementioned, as it was published some time earlier. The outline is always "Arabic," however, the content is about eros, unrestrained and indeed "fiery." Smith's future frustrations and melancholies emerge painfully with the gray, yet beautiful, "Another Day", the triumph of adolescent existentialism. Boredom, a sense of uselessness, stagnation:
"I stare at the window"Grinding Halt", with its exuberance, is almost annoying, and we can hypothesize that the reason for including it now is precisely this... after all, our guys are still youngsters, and despite an uncommon depth, the punky temptation to shock is great. The cutting edge of the album is a possible anticipation of the future "Seventeen Seconds".
Stare at the window
Waiting for the day to go
Winter in water colours
Shades of grey"
"Three Imaginary Boys" is a dark and rarefied lament. The singing and music are stretched out and remote, and it is precisely this rendering that definitively cuts off the, albeit very young, post-punk roots, which had already been questioned in "Another Day" . The track is a classic sad jewel, like many more that the tormented and moody mind of Smith will still offer us. Unlike a more manneristic torment, such as in "Pornography" but especially in "Disintegration" (two fantastic albums, but which respectively exceed in catastrophism and self-pity, in my opinion), here the discomfort is as spontaneous as it can be, as only that of a young person can be.
The heart of the album is therefore the handover from adolescence (aware, but carefree and not without vigor, as testified by the majority of the tracks, oriented towards post-punk), to a phase of life that is reflective, dedicated to introversion, disillusionment, and more adult concerns. The path that each of us has had to, or will have to undertake, interpreted with freshness, originality, awareness, and 20th-century existentialism. This is "Boys Don't Cry".
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Jumping Someone Else's Train (02:57)
Don't say what you mean
You might spoil your face
If you walk in the crowd
You won't leave any trace
It's always the same
You're jumping someone else's train
It won't take you long
To learn the new smile
You have to adapt
Or you'll be out of style
It's always the same
You're jumping someone else's train
If you pick up on it quick
You can say you were there
Again and again and again
You're jumping someone else's train
It's the latest wave
That you've been craving for
The old ideal was getting such a bore
Now you're back in line
Going not quite quite as far
But in half the time
Everyone's happy
They're finally all the same
Because everyone's jumping
Everybody else's train
Jumping someone else's train
Jumping someone else's train
Jumping someone else's train
02 Boys Don't Cry (02:50)
I would say I'm sorry
If I thought that it would change your mind
But I know that this time
I have said too much
Been too unkind
I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try and laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
I would break down at your feet
And beg forgiveness
Plead with you
But I know that it's too late
And now there's nothing I can do
So I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
I would tell you
That I loved you
If I thought that you would stay
But I know that it's no use
That you've already
Gone away
Misjudged your limits
Pushed you too far
Took you for granted
I thought that you needed me more, more, more...
Now I would do most anything
To get you back by my side
But I just keep on laughing
Hiding the tears in my eyes
'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
Boys don't cry
03 Plastic Passion (02:49)
Plastic passion is a hard to handle
Plastic passion is a sold out scandal
Oh! it's a plastic passion
Plastic passion is the ladies lover
Plastic passion is the marble mother
Oh! it's a plastic passion
Plastic passion is a diamond delight
Plastic passion is the nadir of night
Oh! it's a plastic passion
Plastic passion is a hycoscine heart
Plastic passion is a transparent tart
Oh! it's a plastic passion
Plastic passion is a gold guarantee
This plastic passion is murdering me
Oh! it's a plastic passion
05 Accuracy (02:15)
We sit in the same room
Side by side
I give you the wrong lines
Feed you
Look into my eyes
We both smile
I could kill you
Without trying
That's accuracy
Practice all day for accuracy
Mirror mirror on the wall...
06 Object (02:58)
You know you turn me on
Eyes so wide and legs so long
But don't try to talk to me
I won't listen to your lies
You're just an object in my eyes
Sophisticated smile
You seduce in such fine style
But don't try to fool me
Because I can see through your disguise
You're just an object in my eyes
But I don't mind
I just don't care
I've got no objection
To you touching me...
Object object object object...
You know just what to do
Lick your lips
And I want you
But don't try to hold me
Because I don't want any ties
You're just an object in my eyes
But I don't mind
I just don't care
I've got no objections
To you touching me...
You're just an object
Object object object
You're just an object
07 Subway Song (01:57)
Midnight in the subway
She's on her way home
She tries hard not to run
But she feels she's not alone
Echoes of footsteps
Follow close behind
But she dare not turn around...
Turn around...
08 Killing an Arab (02:30)
Standing on a beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the Arab on the ground
See his open mouth
But hear no sound
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an Arab
I can turn and walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I choose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an Arab
Feel the steel butt jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes of
The dead man on the beach
The dead man
On the beach
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an Arab
09 Fire in Cairo (03:20)
Slowly fading blue
The eastern hollows catch
The dying sun
Night time follows
Silent and black
Mirror pool mirrors
The lonely place
Where I meet you
See your head
In the fading light
And through the dark
Your eyes shine bright
And burn like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Burn like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Shifting crimson veil
Silken hips slide
Under my hand
Swollen lips whisper my name
And I yearn
You take me in your arms
And start to burn
F.I.R.E.I.N.C.A.I.R.O
Then the heat disappears
And the mirage
Fades away...
F.I.R.E.I.N.C.A.I.R.O
Burn like a fire in Cairo
Burn like a fire
Blaze like a fire in Cairo
Blaze like a fire
Flare with a wonderful light
Like a fire in Cairo
Burn like fire
Burn like
Fire in Cairo
11 Grinding Halt (02:49)
No light
No people
No speak
No people
No cars
No people
No food
No people
Stopped
Short
Grinding halt
Everything's coming to a grinding halt
No sound
No people
No clocks
No people
No fine
No people
No me
No people
Stopped
Short
Grinding halt
Everything's coming to a grinding halt
Slow down
Slow down
No people
Slow down
Everything's coming to a...
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