March 1, 1984 - Bravo (Germany) (Translation below)*
“Worms eat my skin” CURE Scary Band with Horror Songs

“Worms eat my skin” CURE Scary Band with Horror Songs

 Walls and ceiling move in time, pushed a blade into my hands, slowly up the stairs … dancing in my [trouser] pocket worms eat my skin.  She glows and grows her arms outstretched, her legs around me.  In the morning I cried, leave me alone to die …” [sic]

Lyrics like these, that convey anything but joy and happiness are the speciality of Cure boss Robert Smith.

His funny “Love Cats” hit is a totally untypical exception for Robert.  In contrast to his fans he doesn’t like the song.  In concert he just gestures tiredly when people shout for the singalong smash.

In any case, the public aren’t exactly spoiled at Cure concerts.  Robert has ordered his band strictly to wear black and banned any movement during the show.

“Jumping around on stage is terribly old-fashioned,” is his attitude.  “Everyone acts as if they can play really well thrashing their arms around and shaking their head and backside like an excited turkey.”

Robert doesn’t.  A few strange twisting hops – which with his stocky figure and the black pastor’s outfit appear slightly comical – are his entire show.

Nevertheless he always drives his fans really wild – with sounds of madness from his psycho guitar, his voice that penetrates marble, stone and iron, and an inexplicable, fascinating charisma, with which Robert draws people under his spell.

“Robert is the strangest character I’ve ever met,” his band colleague and school friend Laurence Tolhurst thinks as well.  “He runs around like a scarecrow, laughs once a year at most, and is always against everything if you ask him.”

“He’s really mad, but a genius.  And he can get away with almost anything, just because people like him.  Many people think he has to take a ton of drugs, to write such mad songs and lyrics.  But he doesn’t take anything [sic – lol].  His imagination is always roaming.  There’s nowhere in the Universe that he hasn’t been in his dreams.”

One of his quirks is suddenly falling asleep during the day at any possible or impossible opportunity, in the taxi, in the restaurant when eating, even in the middle of a conversation.

Consequently, at night he is extremely lively.  He rushes excitedly from club to club in London.  He never dances, standing with a stony expression in a corner and observing people.  Nobody knows what’s going on in his head when he does this.

Possibly Mr Smith finds at these times that “walls and ceiling move in time” or that worms are dancing in his trouser pocket.  Dismal and eerie places such as cemeteries or old cathedrals, and thoughts of death have a particular fascination for Robert.

Annihilation and corruption appear repeatedly in his songs.  And sowing scary thoughts is the greatest pleasure to the ex-punk.  So he paints his face chalk white, styles his shock of hair chaotically in all directions and wraps it with ribbons and scarves into a proper cleaning woman look …

Hans-Jörg Riemann

 Laurence Tolhurst (front) and Robert Smith (centre) form the core of The Cure.  Background: Paul Thompson [sic]

Robert, the mad Cure boss, has a love of fantastical and morbid settings

Robert monopolises stage appearances entirely in black and usually without batting an eyelid.  Left: rhythm guitarist Paul Thompson [sic!]

 Thanks so much Alison/Usedtobe for TRANSLATING.