The Cure’s 1989 Disintegration Entwines Emo, Melancholy, Angst, Sexy, Creepy, and Bittersweet Into an Album That Endures
4/100 albums in 2023
The Cure’s album Disintegration, remastered from 1989 in 2010 was recommended to me by music writer Kevin Alexander. Disintegration begins with a slow lullaby-like intro song, “Plainsong.” I’ve heard the current historical era we are experiencing described as a time of the “Great Disintegration.” In this way, the album title is timely.
“Pictures of You” was one of my favorite Cure songs in the 1990s. As second on this album, the intro is faster, more rock n’ roll. I wish I knew my instruments better. The cosmic symphony lures me in before any words are sung. The singing doesn’t begin until almost 2 minutes into the 5+ minute song.
The video integrates layered photo imagery with videography in an avant-garde style. The blur, recession, and surfacing of images work as a representative collage of how memory works.
It’s also a fantastically weird video. Watch for a random bear costume and snowball fight amongst the palm trees about halfway through.
Remembering you how you used to be
Slow drowned, you were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes, but I never see anything
— “Pictures of You,” Disintegration, Robert James Smith, Laurence Andrew Tolhurst, Boris Williams, Porl Thompson, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, 1989
Comforting and sad. Melancholy. Bittersweet? Gets me in the feels now as it did then.
As I listen to this album for the first time in decades, it occurs to me this was one of the albums I must’ve listened to on repeat in my teenage years.
Another old favorite, possibly up there with “Just Like Heaven” and “Friday I’m In Love,” is “Lullaby.”
Seeing the title “Lullaby” has me giddy with anticipation. Isn’t it the creepy love song I super adored in my youth?
“The Spider-Man is having me for dinner tonight.”
Beautifully creepy.
The music video is a mini horror film in which lead singer Robert Smith is both the hunting spider and the spider’s prey. This reminds me of when we get in our own way, the doubt that can hold creatives back.
Is The Cure the OG EMO band? Please discuss in the comments.
There are some songs that pull in more than others; still, I’d call This a solid — if not classic — album.
— “Lullaby,” Disintegration, Roger O’Donnell, Laurence Andrew Tolhurst, Porl Thompson, Simon Johnathon Gallup, Robert James Smith, Boris Williams, 1989
“Disintegration” is oddly energetic.
“Lovesong” makes me swoon.
According to Genius.com, Robert Smith wrote “Lovesong,” in 1988 for his future wife.
Whenever I am alone with you / You make me feel like I am home again.
— “Lovesong,” Disintegration, Robert Smith, 1988/1989
The last song, “Untitled,” has a sound that’s sexy AF. But it’s a downer.
“Hungrily I’ll lose this pain / never dream of you again.”
Revisiting Disintegration was well worthwhile. I loved the glam goth rock-boys of the 1980s and 1990s. If The Cure is new to you or an old fave, I think you’ll enjoy sampling or resampling this record. It’s a solid work of art.
Aimée Brown Gramblin is practically a superspy because that’s basically what writers are, right? She dabbles in nonfiction articles, emits poetry, and lives her life as a WIP memoirist. She sometimes dabbles in pop culture musings.
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