Wish (thing)

The Cure • Wish

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The Cure released what was to be their swan song, Wish, on April 21, 1992. Incidentally, that date has another historical significance; it was also frontman Robert Smith's thirty-third birthday. Following Disintegration, Robert had (for the umpteenth time) said that The Cure would disband, but obviously the release of Wish proves otherwise. While much of it is infinitely more upbeat that its predecessor, it does retain the trademark Cure melancholy, most notably on the latter half of the album. In many ways it is as pure a pop album as you could want; the pop songs are light, infectious, and uppity, but at the same time, the darker half of the album rears its manic-depressive head, and most of the darker songs are more guitar-driven and hard rocking than their lighthearted counterparts. If Distegration was Robert's submersion into bottomless depression, than Wish appears to indicate that he's started seeing a therapist, but hasn't let go of all that angst he's kept bundled up for so long just yet.

Tracklist:

01. open 6:51

· · · Right at the start, Robert lets us know that he's sick of doing this, yet the music industry, the fans and the press keep pushing him back into it. The opening line, I really don't know what I'm doing here tonight / I really think I should've gone to bed tonight, but... is quite similar to statements Robert made in interviews during the Wish era.

 

02. high* 3:37

· · · From the depressive, alcoholic tones of Open, we cut straight into High, a playful pop tune guaranteed to make the listener think of kittens and flying kites and birthday parties. This is somewhat of a recurring theme throughout the album; playtime then downtime then playtime again.

 

03. apart 6:38

· · · Apart is a fairly simple, low-key song about a failing relationship. Definitely the most detached song on the album, yet at the same time quite engrossing due to the memories that it forces to the surface (at least for me).

 

04. from the edge of the deep green sea 7:44

· · · The obligatory drugs song. Possibly the most musically concise composition on Wish, it does ramble on a bit at nearly eight minutes long. During concerts in the late 1990s, an abridged version of this song was played, which omitted all the drug references and turned it into a (wait for it...) song about a failed relationship.

 

05. wendy time 5:13

· · · I'm totally unsure of what to make of this song. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's about an annoying fan called Wendy.

 

06. doing the unstuck 4:24

· · · Another voyage into Wish playtime, Doing the Unstuck manages to make most people want to dance (like we can't hear the beat) upon hearing it, myself included. It's a very un-Robert sort of song, and I can only imagine that some amphetamines were involved in its recording.

 

07. friday i'm in love* 3:38

· · · The Cure's most commercially successful single, Friday had Electra Records executives dancing atop their desks, shouting "It's gotta be! It's gotta be!" Robert himself took a simple view of the song, describing it simply as "happiness."

 

08. trust 5:33

· · · Trust is almost an instrumental, as the first three minutes of the song consists only of the haunting piano melody and Porl Thompson's rhythm guitar, while the vocals kick in towards the end with a two-verse poem, of sorts, spoken/sung by Robert. The piano goes perfectly with the lyrics.

 

09. a letter to elise* 5:14

· · · I think of being let down when I hear this song: I thought you were the girl I'd always dreamed about / but I let the dream go / Elise, believe I never wanted this. Though it couldn't have been applicable at the time the song was written, I find it rather appropriate when the subject of online romance comes up; instant letdown.

 

10. cut 5:55

· · · The rocking-est number on the whole album. The lyrics are typically depicting a failing relationship.

 

11. to wish impossible things 4:43

· · · This track is what I take to be Robert's would-be goodbye to Simon, Porl, Perry and Boris. It's downbeat, wholly depressing and 100% Cure.

 

12. end 6:46

· · · If To Wish Impossible Things was Robert's goodbye to the band, then End is his goodbye to the fans. Please stop loving me / I am none of these things.

* indicates that a video was made for this song, and, ergo, a seperate single release

Of course, The Cure did not disband following the release of Wish, despite Robert's threats to the contrary. They followed it up with appearances on the soundtracks for The Crow and Judge Dredd in 1994 and 1995, respectively; with the full-length album Wild Mood Swings in 1996; with a new greatest hits compilation called Galore in 1997; with a contribution to the soundtrack for The X-Files movie and a Depeche Mode tribute album in 1998; and with (supposedly) the real final Cure album, Bloodflowers, in 2000, though two new single-only releases have since followed Bloodflowers, perhaps indicating that Robert was just yanking our collective chain once again. A new full-length, self-titled album appeared in mid-2004, as well.

There was a world tour with Portsmouth's own Cranes in 1992/1993 to support Wish, which went swimmingly well and produced two live albums: Paris, recorded at Le Zenith in Paris, France, in October 1992; and Show, recorded at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA in August 1993. At the recording of Show, eighteen encores were performed for the sold-out crowd, so the band would be able to pick and choose an albums-worth of songs for the CD. A video compiled from this concert was made, also entitled Show.

An EP of instrumental tracks were also recorded during the Wish sessions, called Lost Wishes, which never saw proper release (very limited edition) and is now extremely rare.

Wish was recorded over the course of 1991 at The Manor, Oxfordshire, UK. The album cover and inlay booklet was designed by Parched Art. It was released on CD, casette and vinyl, by Fiction Records/Electra Records in the USA and elsewhere, and by Fiction Records in the UK.

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Background info on Friday I'm in Love recycled from http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cure/lyrics/fridayiminlove.html