“It’s really hard to keep in control of your younger self”
“It’s really hard to keep up with your younger self. When you’ve written about it, it’s like journaling when you’re writing songs, and you’re kind of like, “F*** me, right?” The sad when I was so young?’ I had no idea.”
That’s what Robert Smith said on the first night of The Cure’s sold-out, three-show show at the 17,500-seat Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, speaking to an enthusiastic generation that’s grown — and aged — listening to his tormented, terrified confessionals the last four decades. During the nearly three-hour set each night, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted post-punk band introduced darker tracks (notably “A Thousand Hours,” which opens with “For how long longue can I howl into this wind”/Wie how long can I cry like that?”) certainly had a different impact in 2023. But it was the six unreleased songs from The Cure’s long-delayed and much-anticipated 14th studio album. Songs of a Lost World (This will be their first LP release since 2008 4:13 Dream), which were particularly somber even by Cure standards, as Smith, now 64, came to terms with his mortality in a way he just couldn’t in his 20s and 30s.
“I’ve really seen more of the darker side of life. I used to write about things I thought I understood. Now i know i get it The lyrics I wrote for this album are more true to me personally.” Smith told Britain NME in 2019 when he first announced plans for the new album. “You are more honest. That’s probably why the album itself is a bit darker. I feel like I want to do something that expresses the darker side of what I’ve experienced over the past few years — but in a way that involves people.” The same year, Smith told him Los Angeles Times The Songs of a Lost World would be “very much on the darker side of the spectrum”. I recently lost my mother, father and brother and it obviously affected me. … It will be worth the wait. I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, but I’d say that too. A lot of the songs are difficult to sing, so it took a while.”
Smith, one of rock’s most instantly recognizable voices, actually sounded flawless as he dug deep into the subject Songs of a Lost World Material. Release of a new album In the song “Another (Happy) Birthday” he whined, “And your birthday is the worst day/I’m singing to a ghost/’Happy Birthday’…I forget how to do it…” Although the origin of this song may well be can be traced back to 1997Smith could have sung it for his recently deceased musician parents or for his late brother Richard. Richard, affectionately known as “The Guru” and 13 years Robert’s senior, was very influential in the formation of the Cure, teaching Robert how to play the basic guitar in the early ’70s and introducing Robert to his extensive record collection.
“I Can Never Say Goodbye” opened each night especially for Richard and included the heartbreaking chorus: “This is how evil comes/From the cruel and treacherous night/This is how evil comes/To steal my brother’s life.” “ Every night is different Songs of a Lost World Previews included “Alone,” “A Fragile Thing,” “And Nothing Is Forever,” and the aptly titled finale before the encore, “Endsong,” in which Robert sang, “And I’m Outside in the Dark/Staring at the Blood – red moon/I remember the hopes and dreams I had/All I had to do/And wonder what became of that boy/And the world he called his own/And I’m out in the dark /I wonder how I got so old. ”
The Cure’s music is indeed timeless, and their Shows of a Lost World Tour wasn’t all death and despair. One of the most shapeshifting bands of all time, their nightly setlists veered away from spartan punk-pop Three imaginary boysto the bubbly Eurodisco of “Let’s Go to Bed” and “The Walk” to the bad-acid-trip psychedelia of The summitShake Dog Shake is blissful 120 minutes-era classics from The head on the door And kiss me kiss me kiss me…and then back to the mourning of the two albums that seem to have the most in common with the upcoming album Songs of a Lost World1982s pornography and the 1989s decay.
Smith has cried, claiming each album will be The Cure’s last since the release of decaywhat many fans (including the South Park Children!) and is considered by critics to be the peak of the band’s career. (Ironically, Smith wrote this claustrophobically depressing album with the intention of calling it “commercial suicide,” as he once explained to Yahoo Entertainment, but it ended up being The Cure’s biggest release, selling three million copies and spawning the hit single “Lovesong ‘, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later covered by 311, Adele and at least two american idol participant.) However, it seems so Songs of a lost world could really be Smith’s final, crucial testimony.
In 2020 keyboardist Roger O’Donnell told Classic pop for advising Smith, “We’ve got to do one more record.” It has to be the most intense, saddest, most dramatic, most emotional record we’ve ever made, and then we can just call it quits.” He agreed. Listen to the demos Is that record.” A year later, Smith himself said the UK Sunday Times“The new [album] is very emotional. It’s 10 years of life distilled in a few hours of intense things. I can’t imagine we’ll ever do anything else. I definitely can’t do that again.”
But regardless of what the future holds for The Cure, the lyrics to the new song “And Nothing Is Forever” resonated with the band’s loyal LA fans this week, many of whom attended all three nights of the Hollywood Bowl performance at the Cure were there. “My world has grown old/But it really doesn’t matter/If you say we’ll be together,” Smith pleaded. “Promise me you’ll be with me at the end… You’ll remember me tonight.”
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: