So, The Cure are back with Alone, their first release in 16 years and the precursor to 14th album Songs Of A Lost World, promised for so many years that there was perhaps some reasonable questioning about whether Robert Smith would ever be satisfied enough with the results to let it out into the world.
He should be, for whilst Alone isn't breaking new ground, it distills in just under 7 minutes all that makes Smith as a songwriter - and therefore The Cure - so great.
Alone plays almost like those extended 12" versions of the 1980s, of which Fascination Street was a prime example, where you essentially get the instrumental version followed by the vocal version. Pretty much bang on the halfway mark of Alone, Robert utters the opening line, "This is the end of every song that we sing" and it's like a warm hug (or should that be cold embrace?) from a friend that you thought you may never see again.
Robert's voice is in astonishingly good form. It's hard to believe that he celebrated his 65th birthday back in April as none of the passage or ravages of time seem to be reflected in his vocals. Certainly not the "broken voiced lament" of which he sings.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that I didn't have to look too hard to discover a fan-made video for Alone already out there. This one is courtesy of Ishtar Dark Films and whilst it's almost certainly not what Robert Smith has in mind if or when an official video for Alone is released, I'm always intrigued by other people's response to songs and how to capture it visually.
The video for Alone is in monochrome, prominently features a long-haired female 'lead' who spents the entire time with her back to the camera, wandering along the beach and various other locations, never seeming to arrive at a final destination. And there's some lovely shots of cats, and a protracted scene with a curious dog on a lead. The video succeeds insofar as it intrigues without distracting from the song or its narrative.
Ishtar Dark Films has also recently posted another video, for The Last Day Of Summer taken from The Cure's 2000 album Bloodflowers. I'm assuming that this was filmed and edited around the same time as Alone, not least because it features the same female lead, beaches and other locations. This time, though, the video is in full colour and you get a pleasing sequence of shots around and atop a lighthouse. Stirring stuff.
Welcome back, Bob, it's good to hear you again.
This is the end of every song that we singThe fire burned out to ash andThe stars grown dim with tearsCold and afraidThe ghosts of all that we’ve beenWe toast, with bitter dregs, to our emptiness
And the birds falling out of our skiesAnd the words falling out of our mindsAnd here is to love, so much loveFalling out of our livesHopes and dreams are goneThe end of every song
And it all stops we were always sure thatWe would never change and it all stopsWе were always sure that wеWould stay the same but it all stopsAnd we close our eyes to sleepTo dream a boy and girlWho dream the world is nothing but a dream
Where did it go? Where did it go?
Broken voiced lament to call us homeThis is this end of every song we sing
Where did it go? Where did it go?
Where did it go? Where did it go?
Broken voiced lament to call us home
This is the end of every song we sing alone
As you said - good to have him back with a great new song and thank you for the videos.
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