Robert Smith on the first book he ever cherished: “I adored running away in those tales”
Robert Smith had a rather unusual upbringing. Growing up in the suburbs, he developed a sense of detachment and a fascination with introspection and melancholy. His experiences in Crawley and the feelings of alienation and introspection were elements which greatly influenced the themes and mood of The Cure’s music.
The Cure emerged in the late 1970s, with Smith assuming the role of the band’s frontman, vocalist, and guitarist. Their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, introduced the world to a distinctive blend of melancholic melodies, introspective lyrics, and a hauntingly beautiful sonic landscape that would become the hallmark of The Cure’s sound.
Smith has consistently embraced his inspirations openly, yet it was the realm of literature that wielded the most profound influence on his creativity since his early years. “Sometimes as I look back on myself as a teenager, reading Salinger, Rimbaud or Edgar Allen Poe…it makes me want to laugh,” the musician told Radical Reads.
Adding: “But it would be a pathetic reaction, typical of a mocking father facing his child’s first emotions. The amazement is too pure to be laughed at. Authors for teenagers are considered caricatures. But let’s take Jean-Paul Sartre: his description of the human condition stays unmatched, and I defy anyone to do better than Nausea.”
Although Smith went on to discover the beauty within many esteemed works of literature, the first book that became important in his life was The Chronicles of Narnia. “My father used to read them to send me to sleep when I was 4. C.S. Lewis is a fantasy author, even if he’s very Catholic,” he said. “At the time, tensions were high between my father and brother, in his teenage crisis. I adored running away with those tales, it was my only solace: I was just discovering the incredible power of literature, one of consolation and escapism.”
However, as soon as Smith reached his teenage years, he discovered the poignant world of Franz Kafka. “For the first time, the narrator’s voice was mine,” Smith explained. “I was the narrator. I was blending myself in his words. I read and read again all of his books, The trial, The Metamorphosis, The Castle… His influence on my texts is huge, as on ‘A letter to Elise’ directly inspired by his Letters to Felice.”
Smith also alluded to Kafka in his song ‘At Night’, which was influenced by Kafka’s short story of the same name. “That song is inspired by Kafka, to the fact that there is a guardian – that is God’s concept after all – that sees us,” Smith explained. “Coming back to the night, it recurs frequently in what I write because I prefer it to daylight by far. I usually work at night and sleep during the day. I don’t know why, but it is so.”
