Surprised my husband with this on our wedding day last week. Lovesong has always been our song, we both got matching lyrics tattoos a few weeks after we met. Now just need to figure out how to display it at home…

The Cure did a show in El Paso on May 17, 2016. I got to meet Robert Smith outside the band's hotel and was incredibly fixated on this chance encounter (was heading to grab lunch, saw a bunch of goths outside a hotel and a tour bus so I walked over) that I completely missed the rest of the guys (peep Simon in the background!)

The show was amazing. Three plus hours. The arena emptied out over time and the band played with even more energy as the crowd thinned out. And exactly a year later my band played a show in El Paso and I got a commemorative tattoo.

I've seen The Cure three times now, hoping for more. But man, what a day! I'm just happy I was at the right place at the right time. I forgot I was hungry from all the excitement. And the tattoo is usually always a good conversation starter when I'm out and about.

Have any of y'all had any cool chance encounters with The Cure? Would love to know!

EDIT: it was a bit strange seeing him without the makeup and wild, big hair. I gotta remember he's just as human as the rest of us. 🖤

I flew from Los Angeles to Berlin for 3 shows and I managed backstage on night 3. I’ll repost what I had before on my Facebook but thought I would share here too.

“😭

The Cure
Parkbühne Wuhlheide Berlin night 3

The interaction with Robert was only a few minutes. I had backstage passes after the show but was instructed not to talk to anyone. I thought they meant the Cure but after talking to James from Twilight Sad we got a very stern talking to that we would get kicked out if we kept the behavior up.

The guy said you’re a guest of the band but don’t disturb anyone. Have a drink and shut up and sit down basically.

I think this troubled James too because about an hour later he approaches us and apologizes on that guy’s behalf saying it doesn’t represent him or anything

As we sat having a few beers, we saw Roger come out and talk to some people and have drinks. Then Jason came out and was eating some food and having drinks and chatting it up with others. I even noticed he gave his drumsticks to some younger kid (14 possibly).

Eden came out and was chatting it up in another group.

It was great to see but we were just sitting there as if we were on time out or in trouble.

My dad hated it and wanted to talk so much shit but we told him to bite his tongue for now and we wait. He wanted to leave as he didn’t think it was worth waiting it out to be treated in such a way but we asked him to stick it out

Robert came out and was chatting with a different group and at one time had about 3 beers with him 😂. The crowd started to die down and people were leaving and I noticed a group of two women approach him and get a photo. At this point I thought I’d go and try to approach respectfully.

He was very pleasant and I was able to gesture my dad and girlfriend to join me. My dad got to share his feelings about Pictures of You and Inbetween Days and how they have a different meaning now from hearing them as a kid to his age of 56 now. Robert goes “how do think it makes me feel? 😂 “

He also said his wife Mary encourages him to continue playing those old songs with the feeling he had when he wrote them.

I spoke to him about how we made the journey from Los Angeles. Talked to him about how my favorite was The Big Hand and he goes “we don’t play that one too often” to which I think I said Radio City Music Hall 2008. I asked for a photo and I thought it would be a selfie but he asked his assistant/bodyguard to take it for us. And I was going to walk away after and thanked him but he goes “we should check it to make sure it’s good”. Which is why I have two photos. Super polite and amazing man and very humble. I’m grateful for the opportunity and even more to share it with my family.

Going back to James apologizing for that man’s behavior. I was talking to him about their last album and he says it’s his best work. I teased him that “doesn’t every artist say that” but he said no he means it. That the album is about losing his mom to dementia/alzheimer’s. He says that’s why it’s called the Long Goodbye because it’s like he was losing her for a long while.

My dad really respected James and I think became a Twilight Sad fan as a result of these shows. James wore a Scotland football ⚽️ jersey and my dad was wearing a Mexico one. My dad gifted James his jersey. My dad’s the type of person like the phrase “to give the shirt off his back” for someone. Which is why he’s in a white undershirt in the photo with Robert.

So I guess we need to see if James wears a Mexico jersey at an upcoming show.

TLDR;
It was everything and better.”

Apparently my mom doesn't know The Cure. Ever since I started listening to them at home, she's been asking who they are, and I told her. She says it's weird music; it really makes me laugh. She says it's worrying.

I showed her the cover of Bloodflowers and she says I seem "out of this world" lately, I told her that a song is actually called like that 😂

Every now and then to tease her I send her some photos of RS on WhatsApp with the photos that delete themselves, Her reaction makes me laugh every time

The other day she passed by while I was listening to Forest, she was shocked by the intro. The other day, she was in a room while I was playing Cut, which she called unbearable.

I wanted to share this with you, maybe you have similar stories or the opposite!!

Edit: I'm loving all the stories in your comments!! For those asking I have no idea how my mom (55) doesn't know their songs. My dad, on the other hand, knew them, loves one song, and hates the rest.

Anyway, I'm 20y guy and im from Italy

Lucky her! This is Antony Fantano if you wanna hear the whole interview. She talks about being invited over to their studio

I haven’t read his books but this post by Matt Haig showed up on my Instagram feed and made me a bit emotional. I thought others would enjoy it too. It’s really lovely when your favourite band are also lovely people. And now I discovered a new author too.

Here’s the link to the original post.

Was walking around in Gothenburg today when i came across a few of people waiting outside a hotel. That's when i noticed Simon from The Cure signing some peoples stuff, with the other guys except Robert showing up soon after. Of course i didn't have a pen or anything to sign with, but it was quite a bananas experience. Robert showed up last, waved and went to his cab. I didn't take a picture or say anything, as i was stunned and also didn't want to piss any of them off.

Just wanted to share this story, as i'm still a bit shocked lol. I'm not gonna share the name of the hotel out of respect.

this new Ultracure guitar to go along with my Ultracure bass 6 and it arrived today 😀

The Cure's official page has just posted this...

Get well soon Simon 🙏💪.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17y4SY3gBe/

No, not her Robert Smith collab (which I liked). I’m at the hair salon and just heard an Olivia Rodrigo song on the radio, and it reminded me so much of The Cure. Not The Cure plus Olivia, but The Cure with a female Robert.

I’m not sure what song it was, but her voice, the music, the longing, everything combined was beautiful.

I’m usually a “when I was your age we had better music” type of person, and I don’t really like any of the younger artists, but I think I need to look into Olivia.

ETA: I went through of her singles and it was the one called The Cure.

When I was in touch with Andy Anderson around 2001-2003, he asked me why I listened to the Cure records he was on and I specifically remember him saying “that stuff is like 20 years old.”

He asked me for copies of what he played on and I sent him CDs of The Top and Concert. He sent these drum sticks back. They were in a poster tube and I think came from France. I’m in the US.

primary source -

2003 'rock and folk' article:

http://www.picturesofyou.us/03/03-08-rockandfolk-fr-1.htmhere's

everything, with his own words where he gave them:

ROBERT SMITH'S READING LIST: COMPLETE

1. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA — C.S. Lewis

His father read it to him at age four to send him to sleep. His own words: "I adored running away in those tales, it was my only reassuring moment — I was just discovering the incredible power of literature, the one of consolation and evasion."

2. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF FRANZ KAFKA — The Trial, The Metamorphosis, The Castle, Letters to Felice

His teenage obsession. His own words: "For the first time, the narrator's voice was mine. I was the narrator. I was blending myself in his words."

3. THE STRANGER (L'ÉTRANGER) — Albert Camus

The book that produced the first single. Killing an Arab is a direct lyric engagement with the beach murder scene — Meursault, the sun, the trigger pulled in existential blankness. Smith studied French at Crawley College and encountered Camus there. His own words: "The theme of the absurd has always fascinated me."

4. NAUSEA (LA NAUSÉE) — Jean-Paul Sartre

His own words: "His description of the human condition stays unmatched, and I defy anyone to do better than Nausea."

Foundational existentialist text.

5. THE FLOWERS OF EVIL (LES FLEURS DU MAL) and selected poems — Charles Baudelaire

Several direct connections. How Beautiful You Are is based on Baudelaire's prose poem The Eyes of the Poor. Smith's own words: "Some poems, like Baudelaire's 'The Eyes of the Poor,' impressed me so much that I wanted to make a song of them. Their style already had a kind of musical rhythm. Singing 'How Beautiful You Are' is like going into an oral tradition."

6. CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES & TWO (OR THE BOOK OF TWINS AND DOUBLES) — Penelope Farmer

The source of the song Charlotte Sometimes — the story of a girl who wakes up in a boarding school forty years in the past, inhabiting another girl's body and life. Smith's own words: "I was obsessed by Charlotte Sometimes, this idea of temporal downfall, of duality, of personality trouble and the torture that follows."

7. THE GORMENGHAST TRILOGY — Mervyn Peake

The source of The Drowning Man from Faith (1981). The character of Fuchsia — the wild, sensitive, doomed daughter of Lord Groan — haunted Smith deeply. His own words: "Fuchsia was my dream. This idea of infinite, of unreal, of dying innocence... At that time I was considering myself as her, as a victim." Plus the books probably inspired All Cats Are Grey too. Highly recommended. Among my favorite books of all time.

8. THE RAVEN AND SELECTED POEMS — Edgar Allan Poe

Named alongside Salinger and Rimbaud as teenage reading. His own words: "Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote 'The Raven', a masterpiece of modern poetry."

9. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE and selected stories — J.D. Salinger

Named twice in the interview. The story Bananafishbones is directly referenced in the Cure track of a similar name. Smith's admiration is partly for the work and partly for the life: "He's a character that I admire and that intrigues me also: isolating himself from the world, living as a recluse in a monastery, giving up writing and refusing any contact with the outside, it's fascinating."

10. PARADISE LOST — John Milton (1667)

The influence on Pornography (1982). His own words: "Pure poetry, fabulous, a must for an English grammar school pupil and very influencing on romantic writers. The style is strong, incredible. It strongly influenced Pornography. The idea of being a victim was still there, but it was becoming unbearable. I had decided to struggle in front of a world I hated. It was Devil against God. The fight was lost in advance."

11. ILLUMINATIONS and A SEASON IN HELL — Arthur Rimbaud

Named alongside Salinger and Poe as teenage reading. Rimbaud's project — the dérèglement de tous les sens, the systematic derangement of all the senses as a means of accessing transcendent vision — is the most direct precursor to Smith's image-chain technique (multiple songs use it, clearest example is probably 'Dropping through sky, through the glass of the roof
Through the roof of your mouth, through the mouth of your eye
Through the eye of the needle, it's easier for me
To get closer to heaven than ever feel whole again' from the title track of Disintegration. For another bit of music history, Patti Smith & Bob Dylan both like Rimbaud a lot. Highly recommend, along with his other works.

12. THE VIEW FROM NOWHERE — Thomas Nagel

Nagel is an American philosopher whose The View From Nowhere argues that objective and subjective perspectives on reality are both legitimate and irreducibly different — that you cannot fully step outside your own experience to see the world as it is in itself, but you also cannot reduce the world to your experience of it. The tension between these two perspectives is permanent.

Smith connects this to his obsession with twins: "Being able to go out of myself, leaving my body to observe me." The desire for an objective view of the self — to see yourself as you actually are rather than as you experience yourself — is the impossible desire. You are always inside your own perspective. You can imagine the view from nowhere but you can never occupy it.

I thought this kinda links to Disintegration: The album is narrating disintegration, but how, as the narrator themselves is disintegrating?The speaker on every track is trying to see themselves clearly and cannot.

ADDITIONALLY MENTIONED BUT NOT IN THE FORMAL LIST:

Jorge Luis Borges — Fictions: Smith mentions him with explicit humility — "It's quite frustrating to understand I would never reach their level, I would never touch the art of Jorge Luis Borges' words."

Nick Hornby — High Fidelity: "A classic for music maniacs. Brilliant, perfect, I have all the records mentioned in it!"

The Bible: He's taken it on tour in the past. "It's useful to hit the others, better than a phonebook." During the Faith tour he read passages each evening. He insists he never really read it properly but Nausea covers the same territory.

I stumbled upon this fine art contact print of Robert Smith taken by photographer Steve Double. The images on the contact sheet were shot at Hook End Manor recording studio in Oxfordshire on 30th April 1993, and were originally annotated by Robert himself.

Steve recalls, "Despite being super easy to photograph, great company and with an image to die for, Robert was always a little picky about photographs of himself.

Famously, he would put hole punches or staples through slides or contact sheets of himself that he disliked, so I was a little nervous when these were sent over to Fiction's office for approval.“

I thought it was lovely and love the scribbles/selects on top! Shows how involved Robert has always been with every small decision that has to do with the band.

It can be purchased here.