How The Cure were inspired by David Lynch for the ‘Lullaby’ video
It should be no surprise that a connection between The Cure and David Lynch can be made, given that the band leader Robert Smith and the famed auteur are both masters of intrigue and, at points, of sheer horror.
The Cure has enjoyed a fascinating stylistic arc, which touches on everything from glacial post-punk textures to heady electronic palettes. Tracks like ‘A Forest’ and ‘Charlotte Sometimes’, for example, explain why the band is hailed as one of the finest in goth.
However, it must be said that The Cure took the idea of goth and ran off into the distance with it on 1989’s Disintegration, a body of work that many fans deem their finest. Although the group had blended goth with psychedelia to full effect before, the frontman’s relapse into taking hallucinogenic drugs and his desire to create something more unique generated friction that produced a refined masterpiece. Accordingly, it is the most distilled gothic offering the Crawley band has ever made.
Whether it be ‘Pictures of You’ or ‘Lovesong’, the record is brimming with classics. However, the most quintessentially Cure effort included is the lead single, ‘Lullaby’. Boasting a creepy atmosphere, haunting central refrain and Smith’s whispered vocals, as soon as the keyboard strings emerge, it is easy to understand why it is considered one of the definitive highlights by The Cure.
To add an extra dimension to the horror of the track, which features lyrics such as, “When I realise with fright / That the Spiderman is having me for dinner tonight” and “His arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes / Be still be calm be quiet now my precious boy / Don’t struggle like that or I will only love you more”, The Cure knew they needed the right promotional video.
During an enlightening chat with Q in 1989 on the set of the ‘Lullaby’ video shoot, it was revealed by the director Tim Pope that The Cure was drawing upon the spirit of David Lynch’s cult surrealist horror, Eraserhead, for the clip. He explained that he and Smith had coded in-jokes about it, with both independently visualising the track in terms of scenes and characters from the 1977 flick.
Pope told the publication: “Most videos, especially in America, right, it’s like stick a light behind ’em, make ’em suck in their cheeks, wobble their tits, dance or whatever, chuck in some fuckin’ smoke or a strobe and that’s it! But they’re getting a feature film production ‘ere.”
Following this, the interviewer wrote of how the surrealism of Eraserhead was influencing the video: “He gestures at the furry black thing, at the makeshift shed-like contraptions in which the rest of ‘Lullaby’ has been filmed, and at what might be four more members of The Cure, looking as casual as a rock band can when clad in raggedy Napoleonic military costume, an inch or two of white makeup and a substantial garnish of the gluey, cobwebby gunk.”
Watch the video for ‘Lullaby’ by The Cure below.
