The songs that The Cure have played live the most
Emerging in the late 1970s, The Cure quickly became one of the most influential bands of all time, significantly aiding the development of multiple genres, including post-punk and gothic rock. With the release of their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, in 1979, the band captured the attention of critics, and they soon supported Siouxsie and the Banshees on tour.
However, when lead vocalist Robert Smith was asked to fill in on guitar for the Banshees, his attitude towards the music he was making changed. He once explained, via Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography, “On stage that first night with the Banshees, I was blown away by how powerful I felt playing that kind of music. It was so different to what we were doing with the Cure. Before that, I’d wanted us to be like the Buzzcocks or Elvis Costello; the punk Beatles. Being a Banshee really changed my attitude to what I was doing.”
Subsequently, as the years progressed, so did The Cure’s sound. Their sophomore album, Seventeen Seconds, honed a darker atmosphere, paving the way for the band to become icons of gothic rock. Their following few albums also maintained a gloomy, pessimistic sound, with Smith’s lyrics often concerning themselves with bleak, nihilistic themes. With 1982’s Pornography, the band sunk into their darkest hour, yet, it remains one of their most phenomenal outputs.
The band later experimented with greater pop sensibilities over the years, garnering a massive fanbase in the process. The Cure are now recognised as one of the most influential bands of all time thanks to their consistent output, which continued into the 21st century with albums such as 2008’s 4:13 Dream.
The band have maintained their fanbase by consistently touring the world, delivering their biggest hits to adoring audiences. But which songs have they played the most? It might be unsurprising to discover that the track they’ve played most frequently is ‘A Forest’ from Seventeen Seconds, easily one of their most recognisable songs. It’s one of their most essential gothic cuts, driven by a prominent bassline performed by Simon Gallup. The band have played the song a whopping 1,180 times since its release in 1980.
Their second-most played live track is ‘Boy’s Don’t Cry’, one of the band’s signature songs. Released in 1979 as a standalone single shortly after the release of Three Imaginary Boys, it has been widely used in television and movies, including The Wedding Singer, Starter For Ten, How I Met Your Mother and The Crown. The Cure have played the song 1036 times.
Some of their other most-played tracks include ‘In Between Days’ (937), ‘Just Like Heaven’ (844), ‘Play for Today’ (837) and ‘The Walk’ (768). Their debut single, ‘Killing an Arab’, inspired by Albert Camus’ The Stranger, is also one of their most-performed songs, having played it 693 times since 1978.
Songs The Cure played live the most:
- ‘A Forest’ (1180)
- ‘Boy’s Don’t Cry’ (1036)
- ‘In Between Days’ (937)
- ‘Just Like Heaven’ (844)
- ‘Play for Today’ (837)
- ‘The Walk’ (768)
- ’10:15 Saturday Night’ (764)
- ‘Killing an Arab’ (693)
- ‘Three Imaginary Boys’ (677)
- ‘Lullaby’ (672)
