The Cure: Three Imaginary Boys/Boys Don't Cry

The Cure: Three Imaginary Boys

1979

Fiction Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. 10:15 Saturday Night  2. Accuracy  3. Grinding Halt  4. Another Day  5. Object  6. Subway Song  7. Foxy Lady  8. Meathook  9. So What  10. Fire in Cairo  11. It's Not You  12. Three Imaginary Boys  13. The Weedy Burton




 Wow, it just struck me I'm probably going to be listening to nothing but the Cure for about a month straight...If you see me losing interest in things I used to care about or start giving away all of my possessions, maybe have someone check up on me...

 Alright, pretend Tom Hanks or Alec Baldwin or James Earl Jones is narrating this, and it'll make it sound a bit more important...

ahem...Somewhereshire, England...1978...The murky, dub-influenced sounds of post-punk had infiltrated the music scene and Robert James Smith, Michael Dempsey, and Laugh Out Loud Tolhurst entered Morgan Studios to record what would become their landmark debut album, "Three Imaginary Boys"...

They actually start out sounding surprisingly peppy...Sort of in the spiky vein of "Pink Flag"-era Wire, or maybe a more theatrical Gang of Four or something...I'm probably going to squander what's left of my credibility by naming this one of my favorite Cure albums...But I can't help it! It's so lively and catchy! I wish they would have done another record or two in this style before surrendering to the void...



Alright, here's my love pile: Album opener "10:15 Saturday Night" is hushed and atmospheric but in a way they didn't really do after this...Instead of using the technique to luxuriate in gloominess, it's used to make the rock sections rock a bit more...I tend to point to this song and "Killing an Arab" (not included on this album, but we'll get to that below) when I refer to Robert as being a quintessential post-punk guitarist...Lots of stabs, screams, and brooding lines...He has a way of using the guitar as a way to accentuate the lyrics as well as interacting with the rhythm section, which helps sell the imagery (taps drip...drip...drip...drip...dripping for example) It's much clearer here than on the more keyboard heavy later albums (which I used to strain to hear the guitar, as a teenager)....

The title track is another favorite of mine...A nice, plodding drone, that manages to pull off catchy...Again, I can't help but think of "Pink Flag" Wire...Compare and contrast the song to "Reuters," for example....

Oh yea, "Fire in Cairo"! One of my all-time favorite Cure songs...I don't know if this song was ever a single, but it seems like it should be...Catchy, poppy punk...I'm telling you..Pick this album up and you're going to walk away with the chant F-I-R-E-I-N-C-A-I-R-O!! rattling around in your head non-stop...With such clear highlights, it took a few of the songs ("Meathook," "Accuracy,") some time to burrow their way into my brain, but eventually it all grew on me... Nowadays I really only skip the snoozey bass-mumble "Subway Song" and the the Hendrix song "Foxy Lady," which they cover in the exact same way that XTC covers "All Along the Watchtower," if that makes sense...

I think this album gets dismissed too often as a formative effort...They hadn't established their voice, sound, sad clown make-up, blah, blah, blah... I think even if they disbanded after this album, it'd be remembered a snappy '78 post-punk gem...If'n you don't believe me, here's "Fire in Cairo" by the Cure..Enjoy...

  




The Cure: Boys Don't Cry

1980

Fiction Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Jumping Someone Else's Train  2. Boys Don't Cry  3. Plastic Passion  4. 10:15 Saturday Night  5. Accuracy  6. Object  7. Subway Song  8. Killing an Arab  9. Fire in Cairo  10. Another Day  11. Grinding Halt  12. World War  13. Three Imaginary Boys




This is the  US/Australia version of "Three Imaginary Boys...It swaps out "So What," "Foxy Lady," "Meathook," and "It's Not You" for "Jumping Someone Else's Train," "Boys Don't Cry," "Plastic Passion," "Killing an Arab," and "World War."  So, that's a prety good trade, in my opinion...Although I might trade back "So What" for  "World War"...



Y' know how I talked about how I squandered the last of my credibility by saying "Three Imaginary Boys" is one of my favorite Cure albums? Well, I just found a hidden shred in my pants pocket, so this is it...The very last of my credibility....I like this popped-up Frankenstein version even better... I can't help it! I love poppy shit, and the minute the first guitar rings out on the title track...That is some poppy shit! Robert Smith is a world-class writer of pop songs! Something he'd prove again and again throughout his work...Sure, I love the gloom and doom too, but not better than flippin' "Boys Don't Cry." 



This is also where you can find the "Killing an Arab" single...Which has gotten a bit of a bad reputation...Hell, even Robert Smith won't sing the original lyrics anymore...

 "I'm the Stranger! Eating some CAROB!!"

If you're wondering what carob is, they're giant pieces of poop that grow on trees...

Anyway, Robert's always seemed like a pretty cool guy...Not the racist type...The song's actually about the novel "The Stranger" by Big Al Camus...

My friend Josh had this exact copy of the book...I read it once without really intending to...Y'know where you pick up a book and kind of read the last page, and then you find yourself  turning to the previous page to find out what's going on and then pretty soon you realize you've read the entire book backwards?  That was one of those books...I haven't re-read it since the 90's, but I haven't forgotten a single thing about it...It really sticks with you for some reason...I can see how someone would feel compelled to write a song about it...Maybe I should write a song about reading it backwards!!!

"I've been executed and then I come back to life,
and then I kill an arab but he gets back up,
and he follows me for awhile then he goes back home,
and then some guy bones his ex,
and then I go to my mom's funeral,
and suddenly Jamin's looking at the front cover and can't believe that new books used to only cost a $1.25 (only a $1.25),
I'm dead,  (Sprooooooinnnng) I'm alive...
I'm the Stranger, I killed an Arab but he got back up and went home..."

I'm not big on songs that rhyme...I'm more of  a bongo-playing,  free-verse/free-love guy...

It feels like I've been writing this post for a long time, so I'm going to end it willy-nilly...I love the "Boys Don't Cry" record, even more than the "Three Imaginary Boys" album, although I'll admit it's impact is blunted a bit by so much overlap with the "Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea" singles collection...But pick it up for the fantastic "Plastic Passion" and the alright-ish "World War." 

Here's "Boys Don't Cry" by the Cure...Enjoy...