| "Why Can't I Be You?" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by the Cure | ||||
| from the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me | ||||
| B-side | "A Japanese Dream" | |||
| Released | 6 April 1987 [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Fiction | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| The Cure singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Why Can't I Be You" (TopPop, 1987) on YouTube | ||||
"Why Can't I Be You?" is a song by the English rock band the Cure, released as the lead single on the 6 April 1987 from their album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me .
"Why Can't I Be You?" was the first single released from the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me—the band's seventh LP. On 14 April 1987, it peaked at number 21 on UK Singles Chart. [5] In the United States that same year, the song reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100, while a remix of the track charted at numbers eight and 27 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales and the Dance Music/Club Play Singles charts, respectively. [6]
The video for "Why Can't I Be You?" was filmed in early 1987, in between rehearsals for the Cure's first South American tour. It was directed by Tim Pope, a past video collaborator of the group's. Filmed in a Ardmore Studios in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, [7] [8] the video featured the band members performing what biographer Jeff Apter referred to as "some of the most poorly choreographed dancing ever seen on MTV". All five band members wore costumes: Robert Smith dressed as a bear and as school-girl in a pinafore dress, Simon Gallup was costume as both a crow and a Morris dancer, Porl Thompson was a Scotsman as well as cross-dressed, Boris Williams was a schoolgirl & a vampire and Lol Tolhurst wore blackface and then a bumblebee costume. Pope referred to the clip as "the video I've always wanted to make". [9] In a 2019 interview with The Quietus , Pope said he regretted featuring Tolhurst in blackface in the video, calling it "A very inappropriate choice," adding that the scenes were "Not a thing I feel great about retrospectively." [10]
In the NME's review of the single, writer Donald McRae singled out Smith's voice as the sole element of the song that "doesn't shout 'TEEN FUN'". Nonetheless, he praised the band, and concluded, "Shameless and cheap enough to steal Wham's 'Young Guns' riff, this ditty will soon be another Top of the Pops cracker". [11]
Stewart Mason of Allmusic described the song as having "the remarkable ability to be simultaneously incredibly catchy and frankly rather annoying", noting it as an " antic, herky-jerky" successor to previous singles such as "Let's Go to Bed" and "The Love Cats". [2] Stephen Thomas Erlewine, also of Allmusic, called it "deceptively bouncy" and noted it as a high point of the album and helps make it "one of the group's very best". [12]
Live tracks taken from the concert film The Cure in Orange
Remixed by François Kevorkian and Ron St. Germain
Video directed by Tim Pope
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member, though bassist Simon Gallup has been present for all but about three years of the band's history. The band's current line-up features Smith and Gallup alongside longtime members, Roger O'Donnell (keyboards), Perry Bamonte (guitar), Jason Cooper (drums) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar).
Robert James Smith is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and the co-founder, lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the Cure, a British post punk rock band formed in 1976. His guitar-playing style, singing voice, and fashion sense, often sporting a pale complexion, smeared red lipstick, black eye-liner, unkempt wiry black hair, and all-black clothes, were highly influential on the goth subculture that rose to prominence in the 1980s.
Disintegration is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 2 May 1989 by Fiction Records. The band recorded the album at Hookend Recording Studios in Checkendon, Oxfordshire, with co-producer David M. Allen from late 1988 to early 1989.
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me is the seventh studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 26 May 1987 by Fiction Records. The album was recorded at Studio Miraval in Correns, France.
The Top is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 4 May 1984 by Fiction Records. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number ten on 12 May. Shortly after its release, the Cure embarked on a major tour of the United Kingdom, culminating in a three-night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
Galore: The Singles 1987–1997 is the second singles compilation by The Cure and was released on 28 October 1997. It contains singles from the years 1987–1997. The song "Wrong Number" is the only new song on the album. The album cover features Isabel Caroline Slark photographed by Ralph John Perou c.1997.
Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by English rock band the Cure. It was first released in Japan on 7 November 2001, before being released in the UK and Europe on 12 November and then in the US the day after. The band's relationship with longtime label Fiction Records came to a close, and the Cure were obliged to release one final album for the label. Lead singer Robert Smith agreed to release a greatest hits album under the condition that he could choose the tracks himself. The band also recorded a special studio album released as a bonus disc to some versions of the album. The disc, titled Acoustic Hits, consists of the eighteen songs from the North American release re-recorded using acoustic instruments.
"Lovesong" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the third single from their eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989), on 21 August 1989. The song saw considerable success in the United States, where it reached the number-two position in October 1989 and became the band's only top-10 entry on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, the single charted at number 18, and it peaked within the top 20 in Canada and Ireland.
"Pictures of You" is a song by English rock band the Cure. It was released on 19 March 1990 by Fiction Records as the fourth and final single from the band's eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989). The song has a single version which is a shorter edit of the album version. The single reached No. 24 on the UK Singles Charts.
Laurence Andrew Tolhurst is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He left the Cure in 1989 and later formed the bands Presence and Levinhurst. He has also published two books and developed the Curious Creatures podcast. His most recent studio release is the album Los Angeles (2023), in collaboration with Budgie and Jacknife Lee.
"Let's Go to Bed" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as a stand-alone single by Fiction Records in November 1982. In the aftermath of the dark Pornography, Robert Smith returned from a month-long detox in the Lake District to write the song, the antithesis to what the Cure currently represented. It was later included on the album Japanese Whispers, which compiles the band's three singles from 1982 to 1983 and their five B-sides.
"The Caterpillar" is a song by English rock band The Cure, released as the sole single from their fifth studio album The Top (1984), on 30 March 1984. It was written by Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst. It spent seven weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 14 on 7 April of that year. It spent five weeks on the Dutch charts in June 1984, reaching number 35 there on 2 June. It reached number 51 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart.
"Close to Me" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released in September 1985 as the second and final single from their sixth album, The Head on the Door.
"Catch" is a song by English rock band The Cure released on 22 June 1987 as the second single from their album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987). It was only released as a single in the UK, where it charted at No. 27, and Europe.
"Just Like Heaven" is a song by British alternative rock band the Cure. The group wrote most of the song during recording sessions in southern France in 1987. The lyrics were written by their frontman Robert Smith, who drew inspiration from a past trip to the sea shore with his future wife. Smith's memories of the trip formed the basis for the song's accompanying music video. Before Smith had completed the lyrics, an instrumental version of the song was used as the theme for the French television show Les Enfants du Rock.
"Hot Hot Hot!!!" is a single by British rock band the Cure released on 8 February 1988. It is taken from their 1987 album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. The song reached number 45 in the UK, whereas it was more successful in Ireland where it reached number 18, and in Spain where it reached the Top 10.
"Fascination Street" is a song by English rock band the Cure from their eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989). It was issued as a single only in North America, as the band's American record company refused to release the band's original choice, "Lullaby", as the first single. The song became the band's first number-one single on the US Billboard then-newly created Modern Rock Tracks chart, staying on top for seven weeks.
"Lullaby" is a song by English rock band the Cure from their eighth studio album, Disintegration (1989). Released as a single on 10 April 1989, the song is the band's highest-charting single in their home country, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart. It additionally reached number three in West Germany and Ireland while becoming a top-10 hit in several other European countries and New Zealand. The music video, directed by Tim Pope, won the British Video of the Year at the 1990 Brit Awards.
"Friday I'm in Love" is a song by British rock band the Cure. Released as the second single from their ninth studio album, Wish (1992), in May 1992, the song became a worldwide hit, reaching number six in the UK and number 18 in the United States, where it also topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also won the award for European Viewer's Choice for Best Music Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.
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