THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

951-The Cure-In Between Days. (Extended Version.)

1985-Number 15 single.

Best Bit At 0.01. When I state that the ‘Best Bit’ is at ‘0.01,’ it generally means I an blown away by that songs intro. With this song I am blown away by all 1.51 seconds of it’s intro.

The Cure were formed in Crawley, West Sussex, England, in 1978, although the groups one constant Robert Smith refuses to be labelled with any genre, ‘The Cure’ are considered to have recorded ‘Gothic Rock,’ ‘Post Punk,’ Alternative Rock,’ and ‘New Wave.’ In total there have been seven past members, and six current members, with Robert Smith being the groups only ever present.

Robert James Smith was born on April 21st, 1959, in Blackpool, England, he is known for his guitar playing style, distinctive voice, and fashion sense. His public persona, and stage presence of a pale complexion, smeared red lipstick, black eye-liner, a dishevelled nest of wiry black hair, and all-black clothing, have been highly influential on the ‘Goth’ subculture that rose to prominence in the early 1980’s. The earliest incarnation of ‘The Cure’ was when a 13 year old Robert Smith and his schoolmates performed at a school function somewhere between 1972-1973 as ‘The Obelisk.’ The nucleus of that group moved on to secondary school where as friends they continued to play together, with other members coming and going, with Smith, and his other young band mates experimenting with differing musical genres. By 1977 they had become known as ‘Easy Cure,’ which was also the title of one of their earliest songs, it was Smith who changed the name to ‘The Cure’ on their official formation in 1978.

The discography of The Cure includes 13 studio Albums released between 1979-2008, and 46 singles issued between 1978-2019, their are also six official live Albums, and seven official compilations available. In the UK, 23 of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Lullaby’ from 1989 charting the highest at Number 5. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, two of their songs have made the top 40, with ‘Lovesong’ from 1989, charting the highest at Number 2. Away from The Cure, Robert Smith has appeared on two Albums by the English Alternative Rock band ‘Siouxsie and the Banshees,’ (see also best songs 668 and 238) as an official member. He played guitar on their 1983 live double Album ‘Nocturne,’ and also on their 1984 sixth studio Album ‘Hyaena,’ where he played guitar and keyboards. On Robert Smith’s time as a member of ‘Siouxsie and the Banshees,’ Steven Severin, that bands co-founder has said,’I think he learnt how to be a front person, just by standing next to Siouxsie for a couple of months every night. I think he completely changed his persona on stage because of that, he came out of his shell. I think that he learnt how to be a bit more flamboyant, and how it was okay, and I think he saw how, y’know… how should I put it… Siouxsie’s more ‘diva’ moments were kind of acceptable because they were the front person, and I think he learnt how to get away with stuff. And just a bit about stagecraft, and how to use the audience a bit more. Because if you look at early clips of their performances you can see he’s sort of much more shy and retiring than he becomes a bit later on, and of course, his whole look changes as well.’

‘In Between Days’ was written by Robert Smith, and produced by Smith and David M. Allen, who in total worked on five of The Cure’s studio Albums. Other notable production work from Allen includes Albums by ‘The Sisters of Mercy,’ (‘First and Last and Always’-1985) The Mission, (Aura-1996) and Nenah Cherry (Man-1996.) ‘In Between Days’ was the first of two singles released from The Cure’s sixth studio Album ‘The Head on the Door’ from August 1985, it has been noted that the songs bass line is very reminiscent to the 1981 song ‘Dreams Never End,’ the opening track on ‘New Order’s debut studio Album ‘Movement.’ ‘In Between Days’ is an upbeat, happy sounding ‘Pop’ song, something not always associated with The Cure, (although there have been a few) but unlike the beat, the lyrics are not happy, as they tell of an affair that the narrator had, then realising that he had made a mistake, he is now wanting to get his first love back.

‘And I know I was wrong when I said it was true, that it couldn’t be me and be her in between without you.’