Greetings Cure fans and Cure friends! I just wanted to give you a gentle reminder that today, March 25th is exactly three weeks before the pages are due on Weds. April 15th for the 30th Anniversary Book!
So, you officially have 21 days from today to finish your pages and quit procrastinating sending them in to me! Get off the sofa, find an envelope and a bit of stiff cardboard and send that puppy onward! Yes, it is best if you actually mail them to me ahead of time so that the final pages don't end up in a last minute hack job down in Vegas or Indio. *You* want your pages to look good for Robert and the guys, and *I* want your pages to look good for Robert and the guys, so please get them in well before the deadline so that they will be put in with all the loving care that they deserve. Not that they won't be put in with loving care anyway, but it is much harder to do things at the last moment, and should your page present a unique mounting problem, it would be best to be able to resolve it at leisure.
I also wanted to give everyone an update on the status of the book as of right now. I have received 31 beautiful, amazing pages filled with heartfelt emotion and love! Thanks again to all of the contributors to the book for sending a little piece of you to go in the book.
Given that the actual album only holds 50 pages total, it is well over halfway full, with several more pages promised as of this writing, I've been asked several times "What happens if you get more than 50 pages?" and that's a good question! The answer is that if we get closer to the date and it looks like the album will be full up, I will buy a secondary album to mount the pages in, and decorate it in a similar way to the first one. All the pages sent in will be treated with the loving care and respect that they deserve. Obviously I won't be able to spend as much time on it as I did the first one, but all the pages will go in a book. And honestly, I think that would be a great "problem" to have!
The book now has a case! My sweet husband is very skilled at the art of the sewing machine (he used to make those big funky hats in the 1990's) and his contribution to the book project was to help out with making the case. The case is made with a very nice high quality black velvet fabric and has two black velvet ribbons that are the ties. I hope to be able to decorate the case with some gold metallic embroidered ornamentation soon.
I created a set on my flickr for the "detail" photos of the book and it's creation. In this set you can see how pages are actually mounted in the book and also more details about the cover and case. I made a second set in order to avoid cluttering the "virtual book" with detail photos.
As always, see the original announcement about the project here if you still need my mailing address, page specifications or dimensions or any other information.
Finally, here's the slideshow from the "details" flickr set:
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Countdown to Coachella!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
30th Anniversary Book - ANNOUNCEMENT!
I sincerely hope that this announcement won't upset anyone, and I very much apologize in advance to anyone who spent extra $ or stress to get their page here before the original deadline. After a bit of thought about it (and after receiving *numerous* emails about the upcoming deadline for pages over the past few days) it has occurred to me that it would make vastly more sense to give the Cure their book at the Coachella event at the end of April. This would accomplish several good things at one time, so please bear with me as I enumerate the most important of them.
1. The Coachella date of April 19th, 2009 is actually much, much closer to the actual 30th Anniversary date of May 8, 1979 (which is the date when Three Imaginary Boys was released) and I believe is what the band are using as their actual official anniversary date. In fact, the Coachella show is just under 3 weeks before this date. Not to mention that it is also extremely close to Robert's 50th birthday.
2. Moving the "delivery" date to the middle of April will not only relieve the pressure of those who wanted to participate but just did not have the time, it will allow for those who haven't yet heard of the book to participate as well.
3. Anyone who felt that their page was "rushed" out has a chance to re-do it if need be, and anyone who was freaking out trying to figure out how to get me their page by the end of next week can relax! :D
At the time that the book project was conceived, the London dates were the only ones that were announced, so that's why the plan to give them the book at the O2 shows started there. However, now that we have a show date which is much closer to the actual anniversary, I think that it makes the most sense to give it to them there. I hope that you will understand my reasoning and most importantly, help me to spread the word about the rescheduling. I appreciate all of your interest and passion about this project, and I think you'll agree that we will end up with a much richer and more comprehensive book by putting it off, even by a mere 60 days.
So that being said, the official new due date for pages is (are you ready for this?) April 15th! Yes, just like the tax due date. 60 days from now is April 15th, so do your taxes, and THEN do your page! And mail it to me so it will get there before the 15th! Anyone who was planning on delivering their page to me in London may still do so! Everyone else, take a deep breath and relax. :D
See the original project post about the 30th Anniversary Book HERE for all of the details about how to participate.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Five New Designs
Apparently, I'm a sucker for Cure teeshirt designs. Who knew? :D
The LoveCats - Ornate version Available NOW!
The LoveCats - Simple version Available NOW!
Cure Peeps - LOLdon World Tour '09 Sold out, sorry!
Robert Smith is my Homeboy - Yes, now available in V-Neck!
*On-demand*
Robert is my Homeboy - Yes, now available in V-Neck!
*On-demand*
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Cure for Love
In honor of the 20th wedding anniversary of Robert Smith and Mary Poole Smith, this post is all about the love songs of the Cure.
Robert and Mary were married on August 13th, 1988 at Worth Abbey near Crawley. It was a very private affair, and journalists were banned from covering the ceremony. In the book "Never Enough, the story of the Cure" by Jeff Apter, Robert is quoted as saying that the wedding was an excuse to have "a nice day so that Mary could walk down the aisle in a white dress and we could have all the aunties and uncles there". Now, 20 years later, that nice day has turned into a legendary moment in time.
Robert famously penned his most successful hit "Lovesong" as a wedding present for Mary, and it was subsequently released on the album Disintegration, to widespread acclaim. "Lovesong" went on to become the Cure's highest-charting US single to date, although many of their other love songs have reached great popularity as well, such as 1987's chart-topper "Just Like Heaven" and the cheery mood swing captured in "Friday I'm In Love" from 1992.
Although the Cure's music has often been labeled as depressing, morose or aloof, there are a multitude of songs which can be easily classed as outright love songs. We do not have access to Robert in order to confirm the inspiration for all of these songs, but it is easy to imagine that many of them are inspired by his love for his lifelong soul mate and partner, Mary. From the light and optimistic lyrics of "Mint Car" to the complex emotions contained in "Same Deep Water as You", the thirteen visions of love presented here are a celebration of their inspiring, life-long love affair.
Starting out with the as-yet-unreleased track "Underneath the Stars", this song, with lyrics about floating with your lover and looking up at the stars as the waves of the ocean break nearby is considered by many fans to be one of the finest of the tracks from the forthcoming album, and by some, to be one of the best Cure songs ever written. In a poll taken during the 4Tour of the summer of 2008 on the website "A Chain of Flowers" blog, this song garnered so many votes (ending at over 48% of the votes) that a new poll was released, saying: "BESIDES Underneath the Stars, which new song is your favorite?". A reading of many of the lyrics to these love songs shows that for Robert, romantic love is very intertwined with his love of the ocean and stars, as well as water in general, and these themes are grandly displayed in the soaring, emotive poetry and music of "Underneath the Stars".
As a B-side to one of the most popular Cure love songs, the 1987 single "Just Like Heaven", which has been called by Robert "the most perfect pop song" he ever wrote, the song "Snow in Summer" has garnered little attention in the intervening years. However, the playful sensuality of the song has long been a personal favorite of mine. It's companion B-side, the well-known track "Sugar Girl", is a sparkling little gem of a love song as well, but to me, the "Snow in Summer" track is a lusty vignette of a summer afternoon spent in the mountains with a lover, as expressed in the lyric "Sleek and deep, And salty sweet, You come, And close in me, Just like the snow in summer".
The same era that brought us "Just Like Heaven" also produced popular single "Why Can't I Be You", which shows us a person so in love with their partner that they wish to merge with them, a theme often explored elsewhere in love songs the world over. A giddy, over-the-top song notable for its video filled with amusing double-entendres and the Cure dancing in choreographed, costumed unison, it embodies the optimistic side of love where you feel that your partner can do no wrong. In live shows, the song was often used to incorporate lyrics from sources as diverse as the Disney film the Aristocats and the Frank Sinatra song "Young at Heart", thus serving as a very early version of the current mash-up fad.
Moving to present a more mature version of love, the Bloodflowers track "There is no if" shows us a couple who has been together since they were young, and the evolution of their love as it has gone through a transition from the first heady flush of young love to the steady, quiet and bittersweet reminiscences of adults. The simple lyric "If you die" you said, "So do I" you said is repeated in both instances of the story, but takes on different meanings, on one hand inducing tears of joy, and on the other, tears of the pain of the understanding of mortality.
Our next track, "Mint Car" is a happy romp through a day full of joy and abundant sunshine, a day where anything is possible. Starting out with the lyric "The sun is up, I'm so happy I could scream", this song is a cheery picture of exuberant, youthful optimism and love. This often-overlooked track from 1996's Wild Mood Swings initially charted as high as #14 on the US Modern Rock Tracks listing, showing that the fans appreciate a happy pop love song as much as they do a more solemn one.
The collaboration of Junkie XL and Robert Smith on the song "Perfect Blue Sky" is included as an example of how the songwriting talent of Robert is not limited to Cure songs, and as a demonstration again of the "vignette" style of song writing that he utilizes to perfection when writing a love song. In this song, we are invited to imagine ourselves standing "hand in hand under a perfect blue sky" with our loved one. The most successful love songs are those that allow the listener to feel the emotions of the singer, and put themselves "in the picture" of the songs, and the lyrics here are a wonderful example of this skill.
As the arguably best-known and most popular love song from the Cure, "Lovesong" as has been noted before, was written by Robert as a wedding present for Mary in the summer of 1988. A simple, accessible and straightforward song professing his love for her, "Lovesong" has become a romantic staple among Cure fans and non-fans alike. I have heard of several couples who became engaged while this song was being played during a Cure concert, and I am certain that countless dates, weddings and engagement parties have been enhanced by the song as well.
A Wish-era love song, "From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea" is a complex, layered ballad exploring the themes of love, loss and yearning, and effectively displays the extreme emotional depths so common in Cure lyrics. Like "Underneath the Stars", it builds on the story of lovers alone at the edge of the ocean that is woven through so many Cure love songs, but here the feeling is poignant and intense, without the confident maturity of the latter. The driving guitar chords intensify the meaning behind the lyrics and increases the sense of "distance within closeness" that characterizes the song. An intimate look at the multifaceted relationship between lovers, this song is a perennial live concert favorite of the fans and the band alike.
From the same time frame, and yet vastly different in feel and intensity, "Friday I'm In Love" hit #1 on the US Modern Rock Chart and was a Top 40 mainstream single as well. Although at a passing glance, it would seem to be a simple, fluffy love song, the lyrics actually display an interesting sense of ambivalence that tends to get lost on more casual listeners. Lyrics such as "Thursday I don't care about you, It's Friday I'm in love" seem to be an almost callous dismissal of the lover's feelings for his object of affection, however in the later part of the song, the callousness is cast aside in favor of the affectionate lyrics remarking on the gorgeousness of seeing "you eat in the middle of the night". Again, more complex emotions are displayed, and "Friday I'm In Love" could almost be seen as the classic example of a "love-hate" relationship.
In the box set booklet for Join the Dots, Robert describes the song "This Twilight Garden" as "one of the best love songs we've ever done", and as an attempt to distill the feeling of being in a beautiful garden at twilight in the summertime with the one you love. He masterfully captures the visual poetry of such a night in lines like these:
"I lift my lips from kissing you
And kiss the sky wide deepest blue
And slow the moon swims up
Into your golden words for me"
making it a staple on the playlists of amorously-inclined fans everywhere.
Another mood shift, and a return to the dramatic, majestic album Disintegration, "Same Deep Water as You" is a heart-wrenching exploration of love and despair, and became an instant classic "dark" love song when it was released. In this song, the lover is desperately trying to connect with his soul mate, and despairing that he cannot swim to the same depths as she. The nearly-abstract quality of the lyrics present moments that slip away as soon as they are grasped, and beautifully illustrate how difficult it can be to distill powerful emotional moments into words.
Returning to 1992, and the B-side to "Friday I'm In Love", "Halo" is a perfect Cure love song, suffused with delight and wonder and celebrating the brief and yet ecstatic moments when everything is perfect, where love is buoyant and there is only happiness. "Halo" replaces the ambiguity and callousness of the A-side track with bubbly, effervescent affection. It's a champagne glass full of sweet sips of devotion and tenderness, captured in song format.
Rounding out our album's worth of Cure love, the final track and first single from the Cure's forthcoming album, "The Only One" is a somewhat explicit ode to the physical side of love as he enumerates the many ways in which his lover pleases him. Never terribly shy about recounting his love relationship, as we saw in the lyrics to "Snow in Summer", here Robert lays all of his cards on the table, so to speak, and lets us know in no uncertain terms what he really likes!
A song that is certain to have male and female fans alike singing along, albeit for slightly different reasons, "The Only One" is a melodic and straightforward accounting, literally from the top down, of what goes on behind closed doors.
I hope you enjoyed this little trek through some of the love songs of the Cure, and that you'll join me in wishing Robert and Mary a VERY happy 20th anniversary! May they love each other eternally, and may Robert keep writing songs inspired by their amazing relationship.
