Teased black hair, charcoal-lined eyes and gloomy riffs… it can only be The Cure. In honour of the goth legends’ latest tour hitting Cardiff in December, India Munday counts down her top five essential Cure songs old and new fans alike should build their pre-gig playlists around.

BOYS DON’T CRY

From their debut album Three Imaginary Boys, Boys Don’t Cry sticks out to me not just because of its infectious guitar hooks but its raw lyrics that expose the myth of impervious masculine emotion. Speaking about societal pressures in a Rolling Stone interview, frontman Robert Smith explained: “I couldn’t help but show my emotions when I was younger, despite feeling encouraged to do the opposite as an English adolescent boy”. The song didn’t chart on release in 1979 but seven years later, a remixed re-release reached number 22 in the UK singles charts.

A FOREST

From the second the haunting opening bass riff begins, A Forest crawls into an eerie place that unifies the new wave sound of second Cure album Seventeen Seconds. Unsettling lyrics (“See into the trees, find the girl while you can”) merge with the propulsive melody of this nightmare-ish song about a woman lost in the woods. Smith himself described the moody track as “the archetypal Cure sound”. That bassline by Simon Gallup deservedly secured him as the perfect replacement in their lineup when Michael Dempsey departed the group in 1979. 

CLOSE TO ME

In a Q magazine interview, Smith summed up 1985’sClose To Me as the impending doom he began experiencing after having chickenpox as a kid. Which is fitting, because Close To Me is one of their most (positively) catchy songs. Despite the sombre inspiration for its lyrics, the music is full of charm, from its starting handclaps to the subtle keyboard rhythms to Smith’s breathy vocals – the production never fails to astound me. It’s a track I can play endlessly on repeat without boredom. 

JUST LIKE HEAVEN

Show me show me show me a better 80s love song than this one… Inside three minutes and 31 seconds, Just Like Heaven offers a soaring journey into love with dreamlike keyboards and delightful guitar riffs. Though The Cure are known for their melancholy bent, Just Like Heaven proved they can be just as good, if not better, at uplifting poppy romanticism. Hearing it performed live all these years later is living proof that Smith’s voice is still well intact and hardly-aged. It also spawned some awesome covers too, my favourite being Dinosaur Jr’s 1989 version just two years after its original release.

LULLABY

You can’t get more new-wave goth than Lullaby: a stirring melody, creepy lyrics and a music video that’s definitely not for arachnophobics. Lullaby’ssound epitomises The Cure’s classic Disintegration LP, which, after years spent solidifying their pop-friendly status, backtracked the band to their moodier roots on its 1989 release. Conjuring images of a Tim Burton-esque man-eating monster with lyrics like “candy-striped legs”, the contrast of cutesy descriptions with dark desires (“I feel like I’m being eaten / By a thousand million shivering, furry holes”) gives an irresistibly sinister feel. Smith’s whispery vocals only exaggerate this, along with the haunting strings. 

Although just a small selection of The Cure’s extensive discography since their formation in 1978, 13 albums and 44 years later, songs like these have helped secure their legacy as one of British rock’s most influential bands. From their successful in-and-outs between pop and goth, to their famously quirky fashion, to the fact that they’re still rocking in their 60s, this band will stay iconic forever.

The Cure, Cardiff International Arena, Thurs 8 Dec. Tickets: from £41.05 (sold out). Info: here

words INDIA MUNDAY