The Cure song that changed Robert Smith’s life
In a conversation about The Cure song that changed Robert Smith’s life, it would probably be expected that it would be ‘10:15 Saturday Night’ or ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, or one of the early singles that shot them to fame. It was these early tracks that positioned them as part of the UK’s new musical leading pack as post-punk took the country by storm. Along with acts like The Smiths and Joy Division, The Cure were positioned as one of the acts leading the charge for the darker rock of the era. But actually, Smith’s pick has nothing to do with their breakthrough.
While some artists sadly grow to hate their own music, with acts like Radiohead, Nirvana and more ending up refusing to play their biggest songs as they started to dislike the tracks, Smith has never had that. Across his discography, he feels pride in what the band have achieved and still feels deeply connected to the music, even if it was penned when he was just a young upstarter.
That’s what he thinks of ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ as he said the song “reminds me of being very young”. On the flipside, ‘A Forest’ represents maturing as he sees that track as a turning point, welcoming a new era for the band. He said: “It was probably the turning point when people started listening to the group and thinking we could achieve something, including me”.
He even has love for the band’s most mainstream or commercial songs. He said of ‘Just Like Heaven’ that the song was “the best pop song The Cure has ever done.”
But his choice for the track that changed his life has nothing to do with success or sales or even sound. Instead, it’s a personal selection that means a lot to the frontman. “I don’t think I’ll ever write a song that’ll ever move me as much as ‘Faith’, that’ll change my life as much as that song did, or encapsulate a period of my life as well as that one does,” he told the Chicago Tribune.
He picked out the title track of the group’s 1981 third album, Faith. It’s by no means the band’s most well-known release and is largely overlooked for other albums like Disintegration or Pornography. But for Smith, it holds a special place in his heart.
It’s a gloomy track that perfectly captures the energy of the band at the time as they leaned heavily into the goth-rock vibe. But there is something about ‘Faith’ that feels bigger than all their other songs in this vein. The lyrics read like a classic poem as Smith showed of his literary power. The band are both tight yet atmospheric. It’s the sort of song that captures you and sweeps you up in its mood without needing to do too much to keep you there.
For Smith, it seems like a personal pick, reminiscent of this period in his life. But there is also an element of ‘Faith’ feeling like an encouraging track as the band levelled up and continued to develop in sound, skill and potential.
