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THE CURE
"THE HEAD ON THE DOOR"
Fiction, 1985
Produced by David M. Allen and Robert Smith
Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Simon Gallup – bass
Porl Thompson – guitar, keyboards
Lol Tolhurst – keyboards
Boris Williams – drums, percussion
- "Inbetween Days"
- "Kyoto Song"
- "The Blood"
- "Six Different Ways"
- "Push"
- "The Baby Screams"
- "Close To Me"
- "A Night Like This"
- "Screw"
- "Sinking"
The mid-'80s Cure are at a crossroads: their mercurial leader, Robert Smith, launched them into the ebbing wave of punk, then progressively and inexorably guided them into the chasms of his toxic obsessions, leading them to destruction after Pornography and an immediate rebirth in a new guise. Former drummer Lol Tolhurst, in fact, now does the tasks assigned to him by uncle Bob on keyboards, and the old drinking buddy, bassist Simon Gallup, has returned to the fold after a good 24 months of solo jaunts; the drum seat is firmly occupied by the excellent Boris Williams, while in the family (Smith's, of course) is the acrobatic Porl Thompson, guitarist from past Cure seasons. In 1985 Robert had to decide what to do when he grew up: whether to continue in his cavernous gothic experiences, embrace the pure and sometimes too unpredictable experimentation of the previous "The Top," or soar into the musician's Hall of Fame.
How? With tracks like "Inbetween Days". The song is a great pop fabric, a mosaic of the never banal talent of the sad clown, where every instrumental piece knows exactly where to place itself. The acoustic guitar rides along carefree with the drums, while the keyboards lazily try to conjure a smile, that half-smile that only Robert Smith can manage while telling us, with a sardonic air, "Yesterday I Got So Old I Felt Like I Could Die". The contrast between the apparent carefreeness of the music and the tension of the lyrics is fully in focus, shaped by the rich and meticulous rhythmic work and the catchy keyboards. This is how successful and valuable songs are born.
The subsequent "Kyoto Song" is less bouncy and more laid-back, endowed with an irresistibly dark charm. The whirlpools of Pornography are far away, however: the darkness is no longer just a shell of nightmares, but also of Eastern reflections in Robert's mind. The keyboards dot the black advance of the bass with light, giving the track a strange magic echoing in the night.
Just to vary again, Robert Smith brings out an unexpected flamenco reinterpretation of his religious obsessions. "The Blood" is indeed a triumph of strummed acoustic guitars in a magnificent Moorish Spanish frame, full of fascinating Arabian specters. If Smith is “paralyzed by the blood of Christ,” we are by the grand versatility of this artist.
It's a forest of scampering electronic animals that welcomes "Six Different Ways", a sweet and extravagant experience of a shy Robert who has really decided to cut the brakes and dive headlong into every corridor of his labyrinthine mind. The result is pleasant and airy.
Of a completely different caliber is "Push", perhaps the true masterpiece of the album. The guitars sing and run simultaneously, while in the sky the first signs of what will be a terrific drumming are flickering. When the track takes off in a symphony of strings, it all takes on a gently epic tone, capable of being the ideal backdrop for an unforgettable journey, or at the same time for a melancholy look at a photo album. The song rises and falls, following the magnificent scalene heartbeat of Boris Williams, until Robert's voice, never so familiar, sweeps away any hesitation with his “Go, go, go!”. It's like the official start for one of the most fascinating songs in the Cure's repertoire.
The second half of the album opens with "The Baby Screams", electronic and energetic. Gallup's bass is the usual minimal but highly effective driving force for a song that flows with power, woven with thick textures by the highly effected guitars and Smith's high-pitched vocals.
"Close To Me" is the manifesto of the Cure of the period: supported by a constant and thick rhythm, it is painted with hand claps, sighs, whispers, and a keyboard of embarrassing shyness and sweetness. The grand performance by Robert does the rest, delivering an improbable yet brilliant pop gem that enters your head instantly and never leaves.
Rising from afar, menacing, is "A Night Like This", with the waves of guitar highlighting an obsessive piano. The piece, like the others on the record, combines an inherent song sensibility with a disarming inability to be banal, even offering a nice sax solo, painting your '80s evenings as few could.
The bass becomes aggressive in "Screw", heralding a hard and nasty piece. Well, not at all. Dear Robert surprises us again, bouncing on top of it, mixing toy keyboards, and adding a touch of metropolitan madness: what can you do, the canvas is his, and (fortunately) he paints what he wants.
The closure is entrusted to "Sinking", a beautiful nocturnal swell perfectly constructed; like in a great theatrical work, the instruments enter the scene at the right moment, guiding us through the relaxed and once again melancholic atmospheres of Robert Smith's dark dreams.
"The Head On The Door" is a compendium of the Cure: in just 38 minutes it gathers a vast array of sounds and emotions, always focused and attractive. The album is rich and varied, never redundant or dispersive and played excellently (the additions of Thompson and Williams really give it an extra edge). Yes, in 1985 the Cure made the leap to Olympus.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 In Between Days (02:59)
Yesterday I got so old
I felt like I could die
Yesterday I got so old
It made me want to cry
Go on, go on
Just walk away
Go on, go on
Your choice is made
Go on, go on
And disappear
Go on, go on
Away from here
And I know I was wrong
When I said it was true
That it couldn't be me and be her
Inbetween without you
Without you
Yesterday I got so scared
I shivered like a child
Yesterday away from you
It froze me deep inside
Come back, come back
Don't walk away
Come back, come back
Come back today
Come back, come back
What can't you see
Come back, come back
Come back to me
And I know I was wrong
When I said it was true
That it couldn't be me and be her
Inbetween without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
03 The Blood (03:45)
Tell me who doesn't love
What can never come back
You can never forget how it used to feel
The illusion is deep
It's as deep as the night
I can tell by your tears you remember it all
I am paralysed by the Blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop
How it feels to be dry
Walking bare in the sun
Every mirage I see is a mirage of you
As I cool in the twilight
Taste the salt on my skin
I recall all the tears
All the broken words
I am paralysed by the Blood of Christ
Though it clouds my eyes
I can never stop
When the sunset's glow drifts away from you
You'll no longer know
If any of this was really true at all...
04 Six Different Ways (03:20)
This is stranger than I thought
Six different ways inside my heart
And every one I'll keep tonight
Six different ways go deep inside
I'll tell them anything at all
I know I'll give them more and more
I'll tell them anything at all
I know I'll give the world and more
They think I'm on my hands and head
This time they're much too slow
Six sides to every lie I say
It's that American voice again
"It was never quite like this before
Not one of you is the same... "
This--this is stranger than I ever thought
Six different ways inside my heart
And everyone I'll keep tonight
Six different ways go deep inside
05 Push (04:35)
Go go go
push him away
no no no
don't let me stay
He gets inside to stare at her
the sleeping mouth
the mouth that knows
the secret you
always you
a smile to hide the fear away
oh smear this man across the walls
like strawberries and cream
it's the only way to be
Exactly the same clean room
exactly the same clean bed
but I've stayed away too long this time
and I've got too big to fit this time
06 The Baby Screams (03:46)
heaven
give me a sign
waiting for the sun to shine
pleasure fills up my dreams
and I love it
like a baby screams
it's so useless
how can you be proud
when you're sinking into the ground
into the ground fills up my dreams
and I love it
like a baby screams
couldn't ask for more you said
take it all
and strike me
strike me dead
waiting again
waiting
like I waited before
waiting again
waiting here for nothing at all
heaven fills up my dreams
and I love it
like a baby screams
couldn't ask for more you said
couldn't ever let it end
take it all
take it all
and strike me dead
heaven!
heaven!
07 Close to Me (03:26)
I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed asleep today
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
This close to me
Just try to see in the dark
Just try to make it work
To feel the fear before you're here
I make the shapes come much too close
I pull my eyes out
Hold my breath
And wait until I shake...
But if I had your faith
Then I could make it safe and clean
If only I was sure
That my head on the door was a dream
I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed asleep today
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
This close to me
But if I had your face
I could make it safe and clean
If only I was sure
That my head on the door was a dream
08 A Night Like This (04:17)
Say goodbye on a night like this
If it's the last thing we ever do
You never looked as lost as this
Sometimes it doesn't even look like you
It goes dark, it goes darker still, please stay
But I watch you like I'm made of stone as you walk away
I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night
A witch hunt for another girl
For always and ever is always for you
Your trust
The most gorgeously stupid thing
I ever cut in the world
Say hello on a day like today
Say it everytime you move
The way that you look at me now
Makes me wish I was you
It goes deep
It goes deeper still this touch
And the smile
And the shake of your head
And the smile
And the shake of your head
I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night
Can't stand here like this anymore
For always and ever is always for you
I want it to be perfect like before
I want to change it all
I want to change
I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night
Can't stand here like this anymore
For always and ever is always for you
I want it to be perfect like before
I want to change it all
I want to change
I want to change it all
I want to change
09 Screw (02:40)
When you screw up your eyes
When you screw up your face
When you throw out your arms
And keep changing your shape
Taste the taste in your mouth
Taste the taste on your tongue
On the film on your eyes of what I've become
What do I do when you screw up your eyes?
What do I do when you screw up your face?
What do I do
When you throw out your arms
Fall on the floor
And keep changing your shape?
Jump right into your mouth?
Jump around on your tongue?
And the film on your eyes of the way I've become
Makes me sick at the way that I try
Anything in the world
To impress that I'm doing this
Only for you
10 Sinking (04:53)
I am slowing down
As the years go by
I am sinking
So I trick myself
Like everybody else
The secrets I hide
Twist me inside
They make me weaker
So I trick myself
Like everybody else
I crouch in fear and wait
I'll never feel again...
If only I could remember
Anything at all
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By RingoStarfish
The step that for any other band would have been interpreted as a desire to sell out becomes for The Cure a small triumph of courage and willpower.
It is not just the magnificent birth of joyful sadness, of the more amusing and humorous side of the dark: it is the joy of discovering that being a sensitive and fragile person is not a curse, but a splendid gift.
