i am sinking ... (the cure fanboy post)

[mr_lebowski]

sinking

i am slowing down

as the years go by

i am sinking

so I trick myself
like everybody else

the secrets I hide
they 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
if only I could
if only I could
remember ...
anything at all

lyrics by robert smith


I'll never forget the first time this high school headbanger bought a (vinyl) record by this 'The Cure' band on the recommendation of a goth girl I met in gym class at JC, circa 1985. I'd heard of them and heard 'Close to Me' on the dance floor at the Palladium in SF (an erstwhile, Under-21 dance club in the 80's near Columbus and Broadway, if you're familiar) at the time, but knew little else about them. Depeche Mode was blowing up simultaneously, but I was not sold on their wimpy pop stuff, nor Wham nor Culture Club ... lol ... I like 'em now, but different story then.

Anyways, the rest of this particular album 'The Head On The Door' ranged from fairly ebullient (In-Between Days, Close to Me, Six Different Ways) to epic pop (A Night Like This), to kinda weird (The Blood, Kyoto Song, Push), to outright strange (The Baby Screams) and I really liked most of it ... but then there was this strikingly EPIC slab of GLOOM that closed out the album ... and maybe more than any other single tune, changed my 'taste' for the next 10 years. I.E. it went pretty decisively from 'metal' to 'alternative'

The track was called 'Sinking' ... and even at 19 years old, I sensed the profundity of the simple lyrics and the awesome (and strangely, somewhat metal-like) power that this band wielded.

Then I discovered there were whole albums full of this stuff from their catalog before Head, like the Faith and Pornography albums, which I later bought and consumed voraciously ...

So, thanks to The Head On The Door, these guys pretty much they ended up being the Soundtrack to College for me along with U2, REM, The Smiths, The Replacements, The Alarm, B52s, Talking Heads, Violent Femmes and so many others ... And then the ULTIMATE in goth gloom 'Disintegration' came out smack in the middle ... probably the single album I listened to the most times as a college student. Right place, right time, man.

I ended up seeing them 6 times from 1986 to 1994, on 5 different tours ... Anyways ... here's a little Sinking anthology. Maybe someone else on DU experienced something similar

1985 ... studio version ... on the eve of their massive stardom ... this tune was eerily prescient for a fairly young man like Robert at the time ...

A somewhat obscure, but very cool Peel Session Remix (not sure on year but surely 1980's)

1998 live version

2016 live version (30+ years on ... slowing down a bit ... but not sure he's sinking just yet)

I cannot believe this song is 33 friggin years old ... Anyways, it'll always mean a lot to me as it really opened my mind to a whole new style of music ... not sure 'The Head on the Door' makes quite the impact on my taste that it did ... without this song closing it out with such gusto.

And to close out my fanboy post ... here's my Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Submission ... cause it's WAY PAST TIME ... these dudes have been doing it way too long, in way too influential a way ... to be left out. If they were a US band they'd have been in 15 years ago ... so here's the lads rocking Germany right when Head on The Door came out ... the middle track of A Forest which was 4 years old at the time ... shows very clearly the power of The Cure as a rock band ... and nobody was doing this at the time. They were unique and seminal, it's that simple ... plus Simon on Bass and Boris on Drums ... kicked total ass ... and Robert on guitar was forging a whole new style, along the lines of The Edge at around the same time.

[Abu Pepe]

1. That song was definitely a preview of the Disintegration material

more than it was like HOTD.

IMO

I was all heavy metal up until my Jr year in HS. Then everything changed my Sr. Year when post-punk/alt like the Cure and The Smiths, Love and Rockets, etc got played for me Spring Break of 1986 Then college was all teased hair, eye liner, LSD and clubs like Numbers in Houston. Still like Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast and other metal from back in the day.

Got to see The Cure on the Disintegration tour in Dallas.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Had a feeling there'd be at least someone ...

Yeah, can't believe I left L&R off the list. LOVED those guys ... all of their first four albums are chock-full of great songs ... I still like to strum and sing Haunted When the Minutes Drag ... all came out when I'z in JC or College (6 year plan for me lol)

Oh, and Hallowed be Thy Name still one of my all-time favorite songs ...

Disintegration 2 nights in a row, Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View ... SUCH a great tour. peak o' their powers ...

[Abu Pepe]

3. Saw Maiden in 81. NotB tour

Summer between 8th and 9th grade. Got in trouble for smoking pot.

And later, I too was on the 6 year plan.

[mr_lebowski]

4. '82 Piece of Mind tour ...

Up The Irons!!!

I went on BART by myself and bused to the Cow Palace in South SF and met some friends there ... it was epic. My first concert w/no grown up. I got my pint bottle of SoCo that was in my back jeans pocket confiscated walking around the show, figured since I got it in I was in the clear ... NOT.