If THIS isn’t the CREEPIEST Song of the 80s… I Don’t Know WHAT is | Professor Of Rock
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
- The unorthodox track known as Lullaby by Robert Smith and the Cure has so many stories tied to it. It came from the 1989 classic Disintegration that record execs called a career killer. The creepy opus really was misunderstood from the start. However, hypnotic, haunting, and kind of horrible, this song told a tale that was too shocking to turn away from. About a Spider eating Smith alive. it was the 80s creepiest song and induced plenty of nightmares but where did it come from and what is it really about?
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Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock, always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. If you ever bought a pack of Wacky Packages or Garbage Pails Kids, You are going to love this channel. Pure Nostalgia We also have a patreon where we host all sorts of exclusive content including some up coming specials including a live event I’m going to be doing on the history of professor of rock . Click on the link below. Also check out our latest merch just below.
It’s time to return to one of the newest shows that we do on this channel. I call it ‘Career Suicide.’ This where we break down an artist, song or album that took a major risk. And maybe the gamble paid off. Or maybe it was a complete disaster. In this show it could go either way. But whatever the outcome, it’s a guaranteed great story. Last time out, we covered David Bowie’s Let’s Dance. This time however, we are revisiting The Cure’s Disintegration and their single, Lullaby. It’s hard to believe now, but when the label heard this song and album they believed it was a career killer. More on that later.
On April 21, 1988, Cure front man Robert Smith celebrated his 29th birthday. But for Smith, the party was short-lived. That’s because he immediately started thinking about his 30th birthday, which filled him with utter dread. Not only did the big three-oh highlight his mortality, but Smith also worried that his prime creative years might be behind him.
Faces of rock legends whom he believed produced their best work in their 20s flooded his mind... The Beatles, the Stones, Zeppelin, Bowie, Hendrix, The Who... As he thought about what they had accomplished, Robert feared he hadn’t created anything meaningful. Yes, the Cure had accumulated years of success. They were just coming off their seventh album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me... a platinum-bound double-album that featured their first Top 40 single in the US, Just Like Heaven.
But Smith yearned for more than popularity. He wanted to leave an indelible mark on rock history... to compose an undisputed masterpiece of a record. Driven by this anxiety, Smith isolated himself in his London home and set to work writing the most intense demos he had ever made. Drawing inspiration from the darker, more introspective records in the Cure’s catalog, Robert developed several long and dramatic instrumental pieces.
But as he reflecting on this new batch of songs, Smith wondered if they fit the Cure aesthetic. They were so different from his Kiss Me material that for a while he considered using them for a solo project instead. The following June the band gathered at drummer Boris Williams’ home to give these instrumentals a listen. At this time, the rest of the band included Simon Gallup on bass and keyboards, Porl Thompson on guitar, Roger O'Donnell on keyboards, and Lol Tolhurst on, well, he’s credited with ‘other instrument’ on the album. We’ll touch on that in a few minutes.
POLL: With The Cure Disintegration in mind, what do you think is the absolute MASTERPIECE album of the 80s?
Peepshow of course. :)
I'd say "Moving Pictures" by Rush. All 3 were at their very best.
Heaven Up Here - Echo & The Bunnymen.
The Cult _Love_
There are several '80s masterpiece albums but the diamond perfection of _Love_ is unrivaled, imo.
Of course, Patrick Bateman would say Huey Lewis' "Sports".
It was their most accomplished album to date...
Disintegration is one of those rare "perfect albums" in my opinion. For me, "perfect album" means I listen through it start to finish without skipping a track. I love the whole damn thing.
It really is even if im more of a fan of pornography
exactly!!
Right. Usually with an album you're listening to a song and kind of waiting for, or anticipating the next song or this specific song later on the album. Not with Disintegration. I love EVERY song, the order they appear on the album, the mood and feel that fluctuates and everything else about it... artwork, song titles... it's a PERFECT album that won't ever be duplicated.
I agree! This album topped “Kiss Me” IMO. It was great seeing them on this tour.
Blood flowers is just as good. IMHO
I don't remember Disintegration being considered "career ending." I remember it being considered a masterpiece.
Exactly! I saw them twice on that tour in London and Dallas. They were at their height.
@@avalondreaming1433 was this at Texas Stadium in like 1992/3?? If so I saw them there also!!
@@sonoranreptile No this was at Starplex in 1990.
The cure were never career ending...just way ahead of their time and iconic.
@@avalondreaming1433 ahhh ok! I saw Def Leppard there in 91!
Thank goodness Robert Smith wasn’t one to give in to record companies. Even in his early 20s when he wrote A Forest the record company was asking him to make it sound more commercial and he flat out refused. He said he had a vision for the song and he was sticking to it. A Forest is one of the greatest Cure songs ever written. Imagine it sounding any different.
I listen to it again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and agaaaiiinn.
@@seaoftranquility7228 😂
You're right, Robert had a clear vision from early on. But he actually wrote A Forest when he was a teenager. The song wasn't released until March of 1980, but they were playing early versions of the song back in 1979.
Very much like Rush
I LOVE the song A Forrest!
The whole damn album is a masterpiece, but "The Same Deep Water as You" is still the one that just guts me every time...and I've been playing this album for over 30 years now.
Agreed
Me too ! For 30 years!
Yes..thanks..my Cure favourite too..and one of my all time tracks ever..the pure art..the rest of Disintegration is close behind..and to think I only got the CD by mistake..was the best wrong decision or mixup my family ever made..I think I asked for The Cult..well done sis..she was already a fan of Smith's work..and incidentally of the other Smith's too..Morrissey
Great song !! Also “Prayers for Rain” has a similar tone
Me too!
I'm just absolutely impressed that he sounds JUST as good now singing as he did then. Rarely do good voices age well.
They only do when you keep using it regularly. When you do it's amazing because you actually have more range and still sound young.
I do wish he would quit the makeup and hair though. It doesn’t work on an old man. He doesn’t need it anymore.
Agreed, hearing them live these days sounds exactly like they did when I saw them in the 90’s and they still put on an amazing show.
@@keirfarnum6811 I don’t mind the makeup, but the thinning hair does make the look...unique. Though the hair & makeup have become part of his concert ritual and having done it for so many years, I could see how it would be hard to change those rituals.
Yes! This!
Lullaby is hands down my favorite Cure song. It’s one of their most original, haunting, sweet, well produced songs, and Robert’s take on the song is perfect.
It's a dark opus.
Not sure if that snare sound holds up - otherwise it’s a great track for sure
My favorite is on the B sides of "Standing on a Beach--The Singles"
Oh, I don't remember the name...
"Just put your hands around my heart
And squeeze me til I'm dry
I never thought you'd ever stop
To ever ask me why
I never saw you again
I never saw you again"
@@lapislazarus8899 A Few Hours After This
My fave on B-sides was a toss up between that one, Exploding Boy, and Mr Pink Eyes
You should invest in Join The Dots.
The Cure has had the most dreamy, dreadful, daring songs ever! Disintegration absolutely my favorite album...The Cure is Magic!! xo
I am a huge fan of them. I love Robert Smith.
On South Park, Kyle told Robert Smith that Disintegration was the greatest album 🥀🕷
@The Sinful Bastard I recommend CRASS, Poison Girls, Minutemen, The Damned, Gary Numan, Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine!! 🏴☠️🕷
I think the pornography album takes it to a darker place
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 probably not as huge as Fat Bob.
Lullaby is a modern masterpiece. No one else could have written it- it’s so personal. I still listen to it, as it lives on my favorite playlists (usually near the Cocteau Twins, and Love & Rockets ‘Love Me’). Life wouldn’t be anywhere near as atmospheric without it.
Great taste
When I was like 6, my babysitter introduced me to The Cure. She used to dress me and my sister up as Robert Smith - she even bought spray in hair color. She took photos of us re-enacting the Lullaby video. The first tape I ever bought with my own money was Disintegration, using my allowance money at age 9. She used to record MTV on VHS and bring it to my house to show us videos. I have her to thank for my "coolness."
I aspire to be like your babysitter hahaha
@@alysethepirate1595 me too!
Oh wow! The dress up thing is both super cool and kinda creepy :D But seeing that you became a fan of The Cure, you must've had a lot of fun with that!
It wasn't me. LOL, but I used to dress my brothers and sisters like that.😄🥺 Miss the 80's
@@danikim235 here I am at 41 still fondly remembering it.
I thank my mother's endless patience with me for playing this and Violator by Depeche Mode on repeat for days in my early high school days...
I love how both of those are creepy AF
I’d say Lullaby is about anxiety creeping at night. Even before anxiety was widely talked about. One of my favorite albums ever.
I love Lullaby. I once heard it played instrumental as elevator music
Agreed! It actually calmed me down and made me feel peaceful. There was no proper diagnosis for what was wrong with me in the seventies. ADHD, manic depressive, bipolar....I was just a hyper brat with too much emotions incapable of being still and proper. By the time I was in high school, I was a complete freak. My mind wouldn't shut off to let me sleep, but if I crept out of bed and played Lullaby on my mix tape, all was well in the world. Lullaby was my lullaby.
I was just listening to this yesterdqay. I love that song, although I never analyzed it (I analyze everything) your thoughrs make sense.
Not to mention he was almost 40 when he defeated Mecha Streisand. Dude is truly bad ass.
"I have to try. I can't let Barbra Streisand do this to the entire world."
I strongly believe that the “spider” overtaking him in bed before he falls asleep is depression/anxiety. The way those negative emotions/thoughts creep over you like a spider or shadow is the closest experience I’ve felt wrestling with this beast. It feels like you’re paralyzed and completely helpless as it takes hold. Haha maybe I’m just looking too much into this, but I’ve always related to this tune on that level
OH MY GOD THAT'S WHY I ALWAYS STAY UP LATE!!! I'm anxious and filled with a nonsensical FOMO.
Absolutely
It's about being dopesick in the morning and heroin guys,🤷♀️
Absolutely my feelings/thoughts about this song.
It's about child molestation
As a The Cure listener, one who enjoyed records before kiss me3x, I felt that Kiss me3x was actually the departure from what the cure was about. And that Disintegration WAS the return. I consider it their best! Makes me think if record producers had actually listened to their previous recordings.
I don't know man... those long acoustic intros in Kiss ME 3x were epic!!
I agree. It was like a return to The Singles. My favorite album of all time.
I totally agree!
I turned from 11 to 12 years old the year “disintegration” came out. That was also the year I became a young woman, curious about all sorts of new things I had not thought about before in my prepubescent childhood. It was also the beginning of adolescent depression setting in, but I found solace in The Cure’s music, & had many revelations...
I was introduced to their sound by my friend & neighbors older brother, who would play their records on repeat, while his walls were covered in the bands posters, & his style of dress was Gothic & intriguing to me. We lived in houses that mirrored each other, & we each lived in the same room of that identical floor plan. Every time I went to visit, I was being drawn in by the tunes emanating from that room. Yet his domain was so different than mine, & so much cooler with its dark aesthetic & vibe. The mood fit with the one I carried, & in him I found someone who also mirrored my emotions, & music preferences that probably scared my parents. He would spend hours playing their records for me, & explaining things that made him seem otherworldly. I was soon experimenting with art, & new dimensions of expressing…
It wasn’t long before I too dressed darker than most of my peers, & had a taste in music that wasn’t the most popular. For me I had found another home within that sound, that still makes me smile, despite it’s sad undertones…
I will forever find nostalgia & memories I treasure in those records…🖤🤍🖤
Do you like fields of the nephilim?
@@joesmith9216 I don’t know about her but I sure as hell do! Dark as it gets.
That was such a great period
Disintegration
Pretty Hate Machine
Nowhere (Ride)
Didn't Skinny Puppy's Rabies come out then too?
My whole music paradigm shifted right around then
I moved from middle school to high school
A great time to be that age!
@@josephguida5432 Yeah, good to hear, not many people know of them.
Bruh Robert Smith is so pure. He's the sweetest rock star there is, and has lost none of his magic through the years, only gaining some pounds. Would love to sit with him and talk about his life.
It would be a DREAM COME TRUE> I would give my left arm to do it.
@@ProfessorofRock he "promises" the new album will be out by October, before they start the new tour. Maybe you could reach out for something under the guise of promotion? ;)
Let’s have Adam do an interview with Robert Smith!!!
@@ProfessorofRock Yeah, I'd watch that.
@@ProfessorofRock it was 2001. I was an insanely obsessive Cure fan. My dream came true when I got to meet him and go on tour (Dream Tour) with him as just some guy. Very down to earth, just one of the lads, but also mysterious, dreamy, and intelligent...it was hard for me to not freeze from his penetrating gaze. He cared about the music and his fans before money, success, and celebrity. One of the best times of my life.Hope you get your dream too.
When my sister and were young children, our mother read us a poem called The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, an English poet from the 1800’s. The poem, basically, is about a spider talking to a fly that was caught in his web. There is a line in the poem that goes “Welcome to my parlour said the spider to the fly”. So the first time I heard Lullaby, I recognized the poem in the song! And then I listened to the song again (and again and again and again…) This song, THIS WHOLE ALBUM, has been a favorite since it’s release!! My favorite tracks on the album, aside from Lullaby, are Disintegration and Fascination Street. And the fact that it’s SO DAMN DARK! I love Dark Wave…. This album brings 1989 back to me VIVIDLY! And that mid life crisis Robert Smith went through turning 30, I went through it when I was turning 25…. LOL. It’s kinda reassuring to know I wasn’t the only one…
Thank you Adam, for talking about one of MY favorite albums…
It’s such a masterpiece album. So haunting.
My mother also read me that story...she also read me Edgar Allan Poe's The Telltale Heart for a bedtime story...was it any wonder I turned out the way I did, lol? 😉
I’d completely forgotten about that poem.
Always loved that poem as well.
@@robertcronin6603
SO DID MINE!! And she read us all 4 books of the Hobbit when we were very young. We got so excited when the cartoon movie for the Hobbit was shown on tv back in the 70’s….
Lullaby and a Forest are hands down my favorite songs of the Cure. The dreamy melodic trance the entire album put me in as a teenager helped me get through things. Still my favorite album 30 years later.
Its so damn good
I have always been partial to The Hanging Garden myself.
We loved that song-came out when I was in hs. Bands like the Cure really saved a lot of kids-gave us a community and common culture, as we lived our teen-centered life with next to zero adult supervision.
I absolutely love the all mixed up extended version of lullaby! Such great musicianship.
I literally listened to this yesterday for the first time in ages! I'd forgotten how great that whole album is.
💯
I was a hard rocker metal head and 20 years old when this album came out. I heard fascination street and it caused me to buy the album. Lullaby is my second favorite song on the album. This is a great album. This album made me a cure fan.
Same here. All my school buddies were into metal and some classic. Of all of it, Zeeoelin was the only thing I enjoyed. Went into the military and got stationed in Germany and new buddies in the unit introduced me to the Cure and others. A whole new world. Fascination street and Plainsong are anthoms.
The Cure was and still is one of my favorite groups of all time. The Disintegration album has to be one of the albums ever made and not just in the 80's. The musicianship is just incredible and almost if not pure perfection. Robert Smith has one of the most incredible voices. You can just hear in his voice how much each song means to him.
I agree, of all the albums ever made, Disintigration is one of them. One of them of all time.
Disintegration, AND wish... they both hurt as much as the other.
True. I played it constantly.
I didn't get into The Cure until later but I never considered this song creepy, although with your dive into it I can certainly see it now. I always saw it as brilliant, intelligent, deep and very introspective but never creepy.
I always wanted Tim Burton in his heyday to make a movie based on what's in Robert Smith's mind. That would have been something special.
That would have been amazing!
I would have loved to see a movie like that from the Batman guy!
And the movie was called Edward Scissorhands. Johnny Depp as a hybrid Robert Smith/Michael Jackson type. I always thought of it as a MJ parable.
@@rayutube Maybe but it could just as easily be Burton himself, given their shared looks, which is how I see it. I was after a deeper dive into Smith's mind, a film taken directly from this thoughts, dreams and nightmares.
Personally, I've never seen it as a Sicko Micko parable and I never will but I also don't like him, so there is that.
The video for Lullaby is actually pretty shocking.
I got into the Cure as a teenager in the 80s, and still love them now. I really LOVED “Lullaby” and later “Like Cockatoos” and all their earlier stuff, my parents actually saw them live even earlier in the “Seventeen seconds” era when I was just a kid.
Lullaby has always hit me at my core, first time I heard it I cried, it dragged up deep buried emotions and makes me feel like I was not alone that someone else was dealing with dark demons as well. Robert was able to put into words things I couldn’t. It’s dark and it’s lovely it’s a true masterpiece.
Such a great song. As someone who has struggles with an addictive personality, I always interpreted it as someone being eaten alive by their own vices.
Agreed
"Same Deep Water" is my favorite song, and has been for over 30 years. The song is like audible relaxation and beautiful pain. If I listen to it on headphones in bed in my darkened bedroom, I'll be asleep well before the song is over.
Disintegration is one of the greatest albums ever! It stands alone to this day.
Oddly enough I started out listening to the Mixed Up album, which started out with an extended mix of Lullaby. And I fell in love! And I remember too that when I did listen to Disintegration that it was unlike anything I had heard. It “feels” like listening to a painting. (If that makes sense to anyone) 🙂
The Cure was huge in my school and amongst my friends from the early 80's.
Some of us even had albums like Japanese Whispers and Head on the Door.
I guess we never considered how big a band they were or weren't with the outside world, to us they had a long string of #1's.
I know the subject of this video is Lullaby, but I just have to say "Pictures of you", from the same album, is an AMAZING song.
One of my faves songs of theirs without A doubt
Amazing song. I once heard a country band cover Pictures of You at a honky tonk bar and they absolutely nailed it. You could see some of the people stop for a moment to process what they were hearing, then smile and listen. I think a hallmark of a great song is that it can lend itself to different genres, but somehow I don't think Lullaby, as great as it is, would have garnered quite the same response.
Yes. Decades later. It will always be true. Legendary album.
Pictures of You is still my all time favorite song.
"The Same Deep Water As You" is pretty amazing too. That's my personal fave, but an amazing album altogether.
_Disintegration_ is one of my desert island albums. It is a true masterpiece.
"Lullaby" is a bit creepy, I admit, but I think "Sex Dwarf" by Soft Cell is THE creepiest tune of the 1980s.
All he was trying to do was lure disco dollies to a life of vice...nothing to see here.
...HA-HAA!! ...made the HUUUUUUUUUUGE mistake of seeking out "SD", when Prof. did the 'Tainted Love" post....I kept getting 2 'censored' versions on YT, until I hit the ....ummm... "Hub", and me eyeball is STILL suffering!! "😖"...ha-HAAA!!
Dude, Soft Cell sang about taint love.
@@gui-texzan7477 ...WELL, the original 'SD' Video would leave ANYONE 'tainted'!! ..ha-HAAA!!
“Tainted Love” is pretty dark too.
By the way, the entire album of "Disintegration" is Robert Smith measuring his since of self worth against the inevitability of growing old.
Lullaby is my absolute favorite Cure song. First heard it when Disintegration was released and I was stationed in the UK. Thanks for showcasing this gem
I am a huge Cure fan, I remember distinctively when this record was released and how the radio stations didn't know what to make of it. I loved it and fully appreciated Robert's soul barring music contained within...
Disintegration is pure magic, a true masterpiece of 80's. Lullaby has an infectious groove that defies logic.
It's hard to think of anything from "Disintegration" being less than the classic material it is now.
agree , my favourite album is Pornography , disintegration is a very close second
I love the whole album!
@@patthewoodboy Same. Disintegration hasn't got a thing on Pornography. The latter album is a Goth Rock Masterpiece.
l heard the album soon after it was released. It was an instant classic.
I always thought this song was a metaphor for a child suffering abuse from an older predator. Which would make it one of the darkest songs ever recorded. After this, the otherwise borderline abusive lines of “Fascination Street” come as almost a relief.
Honestly, i think you don’t realize how close you are to the bullseye on that one. But that’s just my personal opinion
Many years ago I thought it was only about sleep paralysis but then I started paying attention to the lyrics now I think it's about child abuse, very disturbing.
Disintegration is a masterwork in retrospect. Is there a more addictive groove than “Pictures of You”? Brings me the waterworks every time.
Great stuff, Professor! Disintegration is arguably the most complete masterpiece of an album from the peak period for alternative rock. 35 years on, it still amazes me every time I hear it. To experience it fully, you really have to listen to it end-to-end. Truly great songwriting!
I've discussed "Disintegration" on my German blog. What a statement! What a hell! I close my article with the words: "The listener is left distraught and alone, completely mesmerized by how much decay he has been subjected to in the past 72 minutes."
You cannot pick out any song from this whole symphony of destruction. Everything fits together. Of course, back in the days I listened to "Lullaby". And back then I loved it right from the beginning. And so, there was no question, I had to buy the record. I decided to buy the CD version.
The album starts with the song that changes everything that you could imagine at the end of the 80s. "Plainsong": You here the peaceful windchimes. When you hear this album for the first time, you don't know what may come. And so, you are shocked to death when the thunderstorm of synths, deep bass and the droning drum begins. And the you hear the breaking voice of Robert Smith telling the story of the fear that everything will end. "Plainsong" brings tears to my eyes even when I think of it right now.
The whole album is a testament how bad the world was in 1988 when Robert Smith wrote it. And so, you may have had bad dreams at the time. And so, this album was the only sound carrier on earth that could contain a song like "Lullaby". And all the stories of disturbing songs and creepy nursery rhymes in his childhood culminate in this song.
To this day, there is no album that is so intense like "Disintegration". You feel the fire in the house where he almost lost the lyrics and saved a wallet with old photos of his wife Mary (Pictures of you). You feel how the mad crowd dances on judgement day (Fascination Street). You smell the depression (Last dance, The same deep water as you). And you suffer together with Robert and you are completely exhausted after fighting the monsters (Untitled).
"Lullaby" shows you the way to the end of the world. But you don't know how big the destruction is until you discovered the 72 minutes of "Disintegration".
Saw The Cure live a few years ago. Robert Smith comes on stage looking his years and carrying some weight.... and performs with possibly more energy, passion, and sheer vocal and guitar talent than ever.
Completely awesome still.
He's magic.
He’s amazing.
He does not get nearly enough credit as a guitarist. Sure, he's not Eddie, Stevie Ray, or Jimi, but he's honestly not far removed either. Fascination Street really shows off his skill.
@@rylian21 The opening to The Kiss is pretty fricken great as well.
I saw them in 2016 in Chicago. We had the absolute worst seats and almost couldn't even see the stage. Still the best show I ever experienced. Just being in the same room took my breath away. It was mind-blowing.
The complexity of content on each and every one of your episodes is mind boggling.
Great work as always.
@Sub if you are against Antifa and BLM A walking encyclopedia of rock and roll music history. He has had so much influence on my discovery of music. Most of the oldies songs out there I know because of him.
I think that Disintegration was the Cure's best album, and I believe it was Smith's creative peak.
I agree, sadly I think they haven't been as good since.
@@HiDesert004 Wild Mood Swings was good.
but it's difficult to do better than Disintegration. How many other albums are on that level - by any band?
This is a must have record. It doesn’t matter what else you listen to, everyone should own this album.
Love the direction that Smith went here on this album- daring and outside the mainstream box... It's exactly another angle of his creativity inside his mind that his audience needed to absorb. EXCELLENT curation of this song, PoR!
Thanks! Love the Cure. Love this perfect album.
He’s a genius. So creative.
Thanks for (still) covering The Cure in 2022, what's more it's over a single song. This 1989 release is beyond classics and it goosebumps me ever since. I submerse once every year in a dark room for this album....truly darked!
The are few bands that you can tell have an unique sound, The Cure is one of the best examples of that. Truly one of the best rock bands in history.
The other is siouxsie
How this song didn't end up in "IT" is beyond me- would have been perfect.
You mean an album or the very cheesy and poorly adapted almost campy, Steven King films .... 🤨 Why would that even fit in the films?
I LOVE LULLABY!!!!!! Disintegration as south park so perfectly said.. is the best album ever!! Come on pictures, lullaby, lovesong, fascination... Around the same era they released never enough with the big mix being amazing. Actually mixed up was a great album. All I knew of them prior was just like heaven and that was my soul song. Mixed up introduced me to their other great songs. It was years later I finally heard a forest and the hypnotizing rhythm sealed my love for the cure.
Cool gonna listen to it. Mixed up.
What I love about Disintegration is, while the album itself has a collective theme which ties it all together, that each song has its own unique mood that sets it apart from all of the others so that they don't just sound like different versions of the same song.
Been a Cure fan for decades, and this may be my favorite song off what I consider their best album ever, front to back. I feel like I can say this is one of the top ten albums of the 80's without being accused of hyperbole.
I never hear it referenced anymore, but back in the day, when discussing this song, Robert mentioned the book "Les Chants de Maldoror" by Lautreamont. There is a chapter where the character is visited and bitten by a tarantula every night as he sleeps. This reference made me find the book, which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be in the early 90s...
Thanks for sharing this - absolutely fascinating. The mind of Robert Smith is a labyrinth of of creative innovation. I love that he drew inspiration from the chapter of this book. I feel like if we could peek into his library we would find quite a few interesting books that have inspired him.
I luv LesChantsdeMaldoror - - - magnificent literature there ! ! Can see that connection quite clearly now.
Spiderman is always... hungry.
I've always thought this song was about incestuous sexual abuse, and it definitely has that vibe. But in light of what you've said about how Robert Smith was feeling smothered and pigeonholed by success at the time, I think it could also be taken as a metaphor for that as well. He said everyone wanted a piece of him. Could the devouring spider-thing be the public, their label, etc, all balled into a single, always hungry entity? I know a lot of true artists struggle with handling success. I think of Kurt Cobain in particular, and it seems pretty clear to me that Robert channeled a lot of his dread about that into this album and that's how he exorcised those demons. If only Kurt had been able to do something similar, maybe it would've saved him. But alas, we will never know. BTW, new fan of this channel. Great content!
Yeah, sorry, but I think robert smith is probably from a typical irish incest family, could explain why he looks like he does, though he did look normal in the early days of the cure.
I thought it had to do with p e d o.
bro i absolutely loved this song bc everyone writes about themselves and love and those themes, which is ok but storytelling?? fantasy? YES PLEASE, THANK YOUU
Also, seeing that Robert always dances and performs like he is actually in bed and scared. He makes his hand climb the mic stand like it is the spider, while he whisper with crazy eyes. I absolutely LOVE that.. Scary stories or any type of story or literature makes me terribly happy, so i dont feel exactly uncomfortable with it
I just love to hear stories about how wrong record executives are about pretty much everything involving actual music. It is disturbing to think of how many classic platinum selling albums and/or artists never would have seen the light of day if the "suits" had their way.
Like The Beatles and Queen!
Yes me 2 it's so amazing 👏 perfection
I personally think it’s the best song they ever did. When a song sets a “mood”, it can transform you into another world. It pulls you right in. Notwithstanding the lyrics are metaphorically genius.
Nothing short of a masterpiece. Disintegration and each one of it's songs find something unique to say while it's dark and haunting mood make for one of the greatest albums of all time. 🖤
Picture this: I was backpacking through Southeast Asia in the Fall of 1989. I went into a music store in Singapore and found a cassetter of The Cure's "Disintegration." I purchased it and played it on my Walkman. It would go on to become the soundtrak to my 14 month journey across Asia. I wore the hell out of the tape. Even today, if and when I ever listen to songs from this album I am immediately transported to those magical places and experiences I had along the way, like riding on a train in India staring out the window and seeing the endless landscapes whizzing by, all along immersed in this alternate musical world that created its own mood and atmosphere in my consciousness. Some of the songs simply blended into others. One of my favorite parts of the album was towards the end of Fascination Street. We hear the sounds of rain and thunder, then comes Roberts voice beseeching for relief in Prayers for Rain. The entire album was magical like that. There wasn't a single weak song that could be considered "filler" like so often happens in other group's albums. Every entry stood on its own. The Cure's long acoustic intros in Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss me were epic. Thought that album was amazing, then came Disintegration with its own musical storytelling far beyond the lyrics, so lush and atmospheric. It remains one of my all time favorite albums. Thanks for giving The Cure and Disintegration their due justice. Lullaby, of course, was just one of the many classic entries on that album.
Man, I really enjoy the passion you put on talking about Cure songs. Is something I totally can relate. And also, as English is not my native language, I like the way your interpretations adds newer dimensions to my understanding of the lyrics.
I saw them live this December, and what I loved the most about lullaby, as creepy as it is, is that it was played on the "happy" set. The way Robert sings it on shows is like we're all celebrating our fears cannot get us. It's simply brilliant!
The Cure have so many gentle sounding songs in their catalogue, including "Close to Me", "Just like Heaven", or "In Between Days", so you'd expect that a song entitled "Lullaby" would follow suit, right? It somehow manages to be the exact opposite of gentle, with it likely keeping you up at night instead. Still, maybe the irony was intentional! 😱
It’s so haunting that it’s a perfect trick or treat song!
"Let's go to bed" 😂🤣
Someone has never listened to The Misfits.
*cute happy, poppy 1950s sounding music with super gruesome lyrics*
@@FlamethrowersAgainstSnowflakes I loved the Misfits. "Killing an Arab" is probably the hardest song (lyrically) the Cure has ever done. He's just saying "Lullaby" is creepy. Which it is. Love the video as well. Robert Smith and Glenn Danzig both strange guys that I love.
@@walkawaycat431 I still hold that as far as dark, creepy vibes, pornography has this album beat by 1000 X though, to be honest. After all, it was influential on the genre of Gothic Rock.
The creepy horror vibe that this song gave off was what I loved the most about it, to me it was always like watching a scary movie, and his whispered lyrics were the perfect choice to set that mood.
I'll never forget hearing Lullaby in 1989 at Dodger Stadium, it was so epic.
I thought everyone with ears and a progressive brain knows Disintegration is Cures masterpiece. His voice here is more loaded with gut emotion then on any other album. And every song is excellent. I get emotional myself listening to it. Not many other artists can do that.
Track 10 "Disintegration" is the real jewel hidden in plain sight within the Disintegration Album , its darker than a black hole.
It's my favorite track on the album and possibly favorite song period by The Cure.
@@ghostblue82 same
Darker than a black hole...sun?
yall same the best version of the song in my opinion is the london wembly stadium show 86 elektra cd believe is pictures of you single plus like 4 or songs from the show epic like 8 plus minutes long gave to friend should have kept suppose part time dj has a different mix of p.o.y. he liked i attended the show in va must have been 88 from the opener packed bbal arena audience die hards singing along shake dog shake into 10 15 saturday night no ordinary band great show played pretty much most of the record encore primary into a forest ironically turned out only time i saw the band live same with 2 friends went with we drove 5 hours each way to go long night but glad we did looking back may have been cures best record and lineup but all cure fans have there own personal opinion many great records and lineups over the years of course recentlly simon left the band so who knows what direction r.smith goes my guess would be new record with reeves gabrels
@@marktait2371 Send me a Link to that if you can Mark, I looked and couldn't find it, would love to watch that🖤🕸️🕷️🕸️🖤
I love how this channel introduces me to music I haven't experienced before. I gave the track a listen before I got into the heart of the video & now I want to listen to the whole album & maybe even The Cure's entire discography. I love their music but admittedly, only have heard their top hits.
I never felt creeped out, I felt tiny and comforted. It's a very intimate song.
Lullaby was the song that introduced me to The Cure. I didn't know the band existed until that song. I didn't know it was dark, it just sounded different. Different felt new than what was being played at the time. I believe Debbie Gibson was the Taylor Swift of that era. Lullaby saved us from her.
This is one of the best Cure albums ever. Period. I still play it over and over in 2022. 🖤
The first time I heard Lullaby, I was at a pub and they had a large screen that they projected music videos on. I was immediately struck by the song and video. After that I was hooked. I love this song. This song got me into The Cure.
Thanks for the video.
Disintegration is one of my top all time fave albums. Great episode as always!
Thanks!!!
Darker alternative music of the 80's & 90's served for many of us as therapy (at a time when kids & young adults needing therapy was still very looked down upon), and "Disintegration" is absolutely one of the albums that helped me to channel & expel a lot of internalized darkness.
Unless you were truly abused you didn't need therapy you needed discipline
@@ericschulze5641 I see you're one of the folks who still shames people who are suffering. There are loads of reasons for needing therapy, and abuse is only one of them.
“I’m closer to heaven than I’ll ever feel whole again” just hits way too hard
I, personally, believe that The Cure's, "Disintegration" album is the quintessential album that help create, "Emo". The WHOLE ALBUM is a lullaby. Countless nights, "Disintegration" lulled me to sleep and took me away to another world.
No the pioneers of goth is the cure and sisters of mercy and other such bands like Depeche mode or Thompson twins. The earliest pioneers of the bastardized emo genre is taking back Sunday, the used, and saves the day. Though if course because we're talking about emo I have to add mcr just cause majority thinks it's also the earliest.
@@WillianyAmill While I like the Thompson Twins, I cant think of a single thing about them that would even remotely be considered goth.
@@treysimmons7707 As far as British pop goes, what was called 'New wave' was Gothic or ethereal at best. They may have formed in the late 70s era but by the mid 80s they faceted an entirely different genre. But also, LOOK AT THEM. the fashion, the make up the Aura.
@@WillianyAmill have you ever actually seen a picture of the thompson twins? Not goth man. Great band, but a top 40 band is what they were.
@@treysimmons7707 yes I've seen several photos of them and the two white members in particular are very gloomish and pale in the face with very exaggerated makeup and contour. Even the black member of the Thompson twins sometimes "stares into the void." They all look and sound like they where snapped off siousiex and the banshees.
My sisters and I would request this song in the car, it was a family favorite, if you will. The Cure started my love for dark and whimsical music. My parents were even playing the Cure the first day I was born. This band is so special to me, there’s nothing else like it
Robert a Smith is an out-of-the-box artist. The best type of artist in my view.
Disintegration was huge in Canada. I remember MuchMusic, Canada's music video station, had many of the songs from this album on HEAVY rotation. I thought it was a brilliant album that finally matched the dark aesthetic that the band had cultivated for years. Absolutely one of the best alternative albums of all time!
Oh the tragedy of turning 30! This is really a great album. I was 15 when it came out and luckily some friends of mine had this album and played it a lot or I might have never come to love it. Like others have stated, it’s a true reel-to-reel listen.
Lullaby has always been one of my favorite Cure songs. It's as beautiful as it is disturbing.
"Fun" fact: Robert Smith came up with the entire concept for this video. He does indeed have an overwhelming fear of spiders. In order to film this video, he had to stare straight ahead at the camera and ignore everything else around him, and not actually *think* about what he was doing. His terror was real.
I ignored this album as a teen, when it was released, but rediscovered it in my early 20s and couldn't believe the masterpiece it was. A perfect album, beginning to end
I love this album, love this song and thank you for highlighting it. To me, I just loved the creepy, haunting melody and Smiths vocal style more than anything...had not considered the lyrics or a deeper meaning till I was older. I always come back to it being a metaphor for depression, I can see the addiction aspect. I think it especially for me, speaks to loneliness and isolation that comes from the always hungry monster of depression. It was and still is a salve, a catharsis in song form for all out there suffering. One of the underrated greats in my opinion. Thanks.
Lullaby always sounded weird and creepy to me, but I liked it anyway back in the day. In fact all the Cure's songs were weird as hell---I only heard their songs late at night during the few hours some radio stations would play what would later be called "alternative music"---a good few years before anybody in the U.S. even knew who they were. I also liked Fascination Street, too.
The video to Lullaby was truly strange and disturbing as hell---it was like a little horror movie being shown on MTV.
This song was my favorite song when it came out. I was 16 and very pregnant. Fast forward 30 years and my daughter wins a costume contest her costume was lullaby She spent months working on it. Her hair was done to look like a spider complete with eyes and wide open toothy mouth that was devouring her. It's one of her favorites too.
my mother had just died...this song scratched the surface of the depression that I felt...I found it calming...
Disentigration was the end of The Cure as we knew it. Nearly everything that followed had to be closer to what execs wanted.
Thank you for this. Wonderful, as always!
❤️💜❤️✌🏽❤️🎶❤️💜❤️
p.s. I don't think, "Lullaby", was the creepiest song of the 80's, and yet I also don't have an immediate better suggestion. And, I think the song is about anxiety and depression.
Creepy in a good sense?
Dark, spooky with a sinister drum and bass line. My kind of song. Vocals that are kept low in the mix forcing you to listen hard and repeatedly to get how twisted this song really is
My teenage daughter brought home a Robert Smith wanna-be for us to meet. After they left, my (soon to be) ex-wife was pretty upset--I told her to relax and be grateful it wasn't a Marilyn Manson clone. Fast forward to now, and that same daughter cannot understand why HER daughter likes Slayer and Slipknot. And I tell HER, be glad it's not GWAR lol
HA ha. I love that. What a great story!
....ha-HAAAA!! ....be grateful, me Niece likes Cardi B! ...I TRIED to educate her, but NO DICE! ....ha-HAAAA!!
@Anna Trail ....hell, I played "Sister Christian" for me niece Once, and, SHE didn't 'get' it! ...ah well, more Night Ranger for ME! ...ha-HAAA!!
Hahahaha! 😂😂😂
"Disintegration" has so many of The Cure's best songs I am happy to listen to individually, but I need a certain amount of emotional inventory to play the album in its entirety. It's unsettling, aching, deeply brooding, but also incredibly beautiful and an unflinching look at feelings everyone needs to confront (IMHO).
I love the album. I’m gonna play it this evening while I Color by Number on my phone.
I love the album. I’m gonna play it this evening while I Color by Number on my phone.
I personally don't think this album even compares to Pornography in the slightest.
If you remember the South Park episode "Robert Smith vs. Mecha-Streisand"...... In the end Kyle yells.... "Disintegration Is the best album EVER!". ABSOLUTE CLASSIC!!!
It took me many years to like The Cure, but one day the dam broke and they barged their way into my soul from all directions and never left. Disintegration is a spectacular album from start to finish. The Same Deep Water as You is probably my favorite on the album, and easily makes for one of my top twenty favorite songs of all time.
Man am I glad that The Cure released Disintegration, it's probably one of the best albums in the 80s. Man I think it's bad for me to watch your channel this much, reminding me of old bands I used to listen to a lot in the past, and the realization that I have many many many songs to add to my playlists...
Many children of sexual abuse identify with this song, seeing the "spiderman" as the abuser sneaking into the bedroom for another attack.
That’s what I think lullaby is about. The lyrics are so coincidental to me
The Cure will always be my favorite band. They are always authentic to their style and sound. Robert Smith is an icon among icons. His vision for the band and the music has never wavered. Still happily holding my breath for the next album.
I am so glad that they are still successful and that Robert Smith is in good health.
i second that..
Damn, Prof of Rock. You really are the professor of rock. What an astonishing explanation of a great modern rock song. No one could have done it this way but you. Thank you.
I was in high school when this came out, boy did it speak to the kids like me. I was blessed to have seen the tour, it's a cherished memory. I've requested it be played as my life slips away. It's always been a touchstone, a heartbeat for me, absolute perfection.
With lyrics like "Don't struggle like that/I will only love you more", I always thought this song was about child who was sexually abused.
Lullaby was my introduction to The Cure, this late in their career, and I’ve loved Lovesong just as much. Thanks for bringing this back to me, I’m off to hear the album for the first time now!
Wow, first listen? You are in for a treat. Other tips: Angel Dust by Faith No More, Unforgettable fire by U2, Strange Days by the Smiths, Substance by New Order, Shabooh Shoobah by INXS, The The, The Fall, The Sound, The Alarm, The Call, The Cult... could go on for days!
Wow! I’m that 17 year old kid again on a Friday evening, in the twilight, listening to Disintegration, now that I’m hearing it as it’s full length. Imagine if these suits had derail this birthing of genius!
@@jarrodkrohnert9939 A ton of great music from the 80s didn't get much radio play. It was dominated by pop, metal, and classic rock, I think because those were the biggest markets while the 'alternative' stuff hadn't gone mainstream until grunge. But yeah, 'the industry' sucks - just turn the radio on today - unlistenable!
Oh I don’t turn on the radio at all mate. I just play 80s hits and very, very few new artists. I’m securely cemented in the 80s me!
The Disintegration album is absolutely amazing! I had it on cassette and wore it thin! So many fantastic numbers on that album. That and Depeche Mode’s Music For The Masses truly made an impact on me, a Danish teenager who felt so weird and alone, but still hopeful.
First time I heard Disintegration, I checked the record out at the library and put on my headphones and didn’t come back to reality until I had to flip the record over to side two! I was in dreamland. It was life changing! One of my favorite albums EVER!!!
A boy at my high school taped it off onto a cassette and gave it to me at lunch break..I clearly remember sitting outside the classroom and listening to it on my walkman..
How the HELL have I not seen one of your videos before now??
This is an incredibly well-researched and engagingly presented historical document. Well done! Subscribed, and watching more!!