The Cure's full lineup history is as follows: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar 1976-present), Lol Tolhurst (drums, keyboards 1976-1989), Michael Dempsey (bass 1976-1979), Porl Thompson (guitar, keyboards 1976-1978, 1983-1992, 2005 -2010), Simon Gallup (bass, keyboards 1979-1982, 1985-present), Matthieu Hartley (keyboards 1979 -1980), Andy Anderson (drums 1983-1984), Phil Thornalley (bass 1983-1984), Boris Williams (drums 1984-1994), Roger O'Donnell (keyboards 1987 -1990, 1995-2005, 2011-present), Perry Bamonte (guitar, keyboards 1990-2005), Jason Cooper drums 1995-present) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar 2012-present)
Just as the group's lineup has changed, the band's sound has evolved throughout the years, starting off as a post-punk band similar to Wire and Gang of Four before morphing into a gothic rock band in the early 80's, to a synthpop group in the mid-80's and a power-pop-alternative band in the early 90's. The Cure has always been an alternative and very independent band which was evident from the early days. Shunning the anarchistic tendencies of many punk bands after their formation in 1976 , The Cure's first release was Killing an Arab, based on material from French writer Albert Camus' "L'Etranger" (translated into English as The Stranger or The Outsider). This track courted controversy because of its theme (misinterpreted as racist, it was in fact, about the futility of killing any ethnicity), but it started to secure a small following, which grew following the release of debut album Three Imaginary Boys and non-LP single Boys Don't Cry in 1979, the latter of which would become one of The Cure's most famous songs. At that time, The Cure embarked on tour as the support for Siouxsie & the Banshees' Join Hands Tour. After the sudden departure of guitarist John McKay, Robert was recruited as guitarist for the Banshees as the band 'felt he was the only person capable of taking on the task.' As a result, Robert completed the tour playing two sets a night with The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Following this, The Cure moved from their punk leanings into the portentous post-punk territory, releasing three albums of doom-laden rock in three years, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography, the latter of which charted inside the UK top 10, though the band were repeatedly dogged by the "Second-class Joy Division" tag. Following their third set of line-up changes, the group released Japanese Whispers, a compilation of three singles and their b-sides. Through their desire to escape the Joy Division description, the singles were a poppier effort, featuring danceable tracks like Let's Go To Bed alongside pop songs like Love Cats. Following the commercial disappointment of follow-up album The Top in 1984, The Cure returned to form with 1985's The Head On The Door. Featuring the singles In Between Days and Close To Me, The Head on the Door was distant from the band's punk roots, having more in common with successful alternative bands like The Smiths and Echo & The Bunnymen than their gloomier roots.
Two years later, the eighth studio album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me was a more stadium-sized effort, though featuring audacious pop songs like Why Can't I Be You, it was seemingly caught between two styles. However, it was the band's ninth effort (following the departure of last surviving founder member other than Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst), Disintegration, that would be their greatest success, both critically and commercially. Disintegration spawned hit singles like Lullaby (no.5 in the UK), Love Song (an impressive no. 2 in the USA), Pictures of You, and Fascination Street. The album itself was a culmination of The Cure's directions through the eighties, featuring the poppier side combined with the more tender aspects, as well as the gloomier facets.
Following this, a remix compilation named Mixed Up was released in 1990, featuring one new track, Never Enough, and two years later tenth studio album Wish surfaced, which was a hit mainly from the momentum gained by Disintegration, though it also featured their most famous pop song, Friday I'm In Love (no.6 in the UK and no.18 in the US). During the years following this, the band became distracted and discouraged by the lawsuit launched by former member Lol Tolhurst, who felt he had been deprived of royalties. As a result, the 1996 album Wild Mood Swings felt unfocused, and was a critical and commercial failure, though the single Mint Car was a moderate hit.
In 1997, The Cure released the compilation Galore, featuring new song Wrong Number. Three years later, at the release of original album Bloodflowers, Robert Smith announced it would be the last album for the band, the album itself being a return to the gloomier rock of Pornography and Faith. Resultantly, another hits compilation was released in 2001. However, in 2004, the band surprised all by returning with a self-titled album, their twelfth studio album, which was a surprise hit, reaching the US Top 10, its lead single - The End of the World - becoming a modest hit on Modern Rock radio, and receiving a relatively warm reception from the press.
In May 2005, Smith fired Roger O'Donnell and Perry Bamonte from the band, along with Bamonte's brother Daryl, who had been The Cure's tour manager for many years. The remaining members of the band (Robert Smith, longtime bassist Simon Gallup and Jason Cooper) made a few appearances as a trio before it was announced that founding member Porl Thompson would be returning to The Cure.
In early 2007 the band toured Asia and Oceania, but a planned North American tour in Autumn 2007 was delayed until Spring 2008 so the band could continue recording their next album.
The band released their thirteenth album 4:13 Dream on 27 October 2008. Four singles and a remix EP called "Hypnagogic States" were releases on the 13th of each month preceding the album's release.
In 2009, Robert Smith won the Godlike Genius award at the NME Awards. On April 19, 2009, the band performed at the Coachella Festival in California.
During 2010, Robert Smith contributed songs to the soundtrack of the Tim Burton film "Alice in Wonderland" and provided guest vocals on the songs "Not in Love" by Crystal Castles and "Come to Me" by 65daysofstatic.
Between 31 May 2011 and 1 June 2011, the band performed three concerts at the Sydney Opera House performing the entirety of one of their first three albums on each night. Porl Thompson did not perform with the band at any of the concerts, but Roger O'Donnell performed with the band for the "Seventeen Seconds" and "Faith" concerts, and co-founding member Lol Tulhurst performed with the band for the first time since 1988 for the "Faith" concert. As of 2011, O'Donnell has returned to the lineup officially. In 2012, the band added former Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabrels to the lineup.
In 2013 The Cure started The Great Circle Tour, headlining festivals in Japan, South Korea and North America. In 2014 Robert Smith announced the upcoming release of a new album, to be called 4:14 Scream, featuring 14 songs recorded during the 4:13 Dream sessions and also an accompanying double album 4:26 Dream containing all the tracks from those sessions.
The Cure official website: www.thecure.com
The Cure official Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thecure
The Cure on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/thecure?ref=ts
The Cure - Disintegration Microsite: http://www.thecuredisintegration.com/bin/thecure
Wrong Number
The Cure Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are the sickly sweet colors of the snakes I'm seeing
Lime green, lime green and tangerine
Are the sickly sweet colors of the devil in my dreams
Lime green, lime green, lime green and tangerine
Are the sickly sweet colors of the snakes I'm seeing
Lime green, lime green and tangerine
It gets to Friday and I give you a call
You know I'm getting kind of worried
She doesn't seem herself at all
Lime green and a sickly kind of orange
I've never seen her like this before
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
Red and blue soul with a snow white smile
Can you dig it, can you dig it, can you dig it
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
And now I dig it in the dirt
And I'm down here for a while
I'm down here for a while
You've got to make up your mind and make it soon
Is there room in your life
For one more trip to the moon?
Is there room in your life
For one more?
Burn red burn red and gold
Are the deep dark colors of the snakes I hold
Burn red burn, red and gold
The deep dark colors of the devil at home
She pulls me down just as I'm trying to hide
Grabs me by the hair and drags me outside
And starts digging in the dirt
For a not so early bird it's the only way
For her to get the worm
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
Red and blue soul with a snow white smile
Can you dig it, can you dig it, can you dig it
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
And now I dig it in the dirt
And I'll be down here for a while
I'm down here for a while
Hello?
Are you still there?
Hello? are you still there?
And much too late
Sorry, wrong number
Sorry, wrong number (yeah sorry you have the wrong number)
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Ah, oh, ah, oh
The lyrics to The Cure's Wrong Number are quite abstract and psychedelic, requiring a bit of imagination to piece together their meaning. The opening two lines introduce the sickly sweet colors of lime green and tangerine, which the singer associates with the snakes he is seeing, followed by the devil in his dreams. This alludes to the danger and evil lurking within his thoughts, represented by the vibrant colors mentioned. Later in the song, the singer reaches out to someone on Friday, claiming the person doesn't seem themselves anymore and alluding to a relationship perhaps falling apart.
The narraator has "the best laid plans" that start in church and end with Angelica, a reference to the drastic changes in his life. He has ambitions and starts off pure and hopeful, but his path takes a turn toward a darker place, where he must dig in the dirt to get ahead. The lyrics towards the end of the song describe the deeper and darker colors of "the devil at home," who pulls the singer out of hiding and forces him to confront her. The song ends with a disconnected phone call, implying that the singer's mental state has spiraled out of control.
Line by Line Meaning
Lime green, lime green, lime green and tangerine
Are the sickly sweet colors of the snakes I'm seeing
Lime green, lime green and tangerine
Are the sickly sweet colors of the devil in my dreams
The singer describes seeing snakes with repulsive colors, symbolizing the negativity they face in life. They identify the devil in their dreams as the root of their problems.
It gets to Friday and I give you a call
You know I'm getting kind of worried
She doesn't seem herself at all
Lime green and a sickly kind of orange
I've never seen her like this before
The singer is concerned about someone close to them and contacts them. They observe unusual, unusual colors as a metaphor for how the person is acting out of character.
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
Red and blue soul with a snow white smile
Can you dig it, can you dig it, can you dig it
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
And now I dig it in the dirt
And I'll be down here for a while
I'm down here for a while
The singer feels like they had bright plans at one point but is now experiencing a period of darkness. They use colors to represent the diversity of memories they have. They end up feeling buried and stuck in this difficult time.
You've got to make up your mind and make it soon
Is there room in your life
For one more trip to the moon?
Is there room in your life
For one more?
The artist advises someone to make a decision quickly if they want to make room for something unexpected in their life. They use an imaginative example of taking a trip to the moon to represent any opportunity that might come their way.
Burn red burn red and gold
Are the deep dark colors of the snakes I hold
Burn red burn, red and gold
The deep dark colors of the devil at home
She pulls me down just as I'm trying to hide
Grabs me by the hair and drags me outside
And starts digging in the dirt
For a not so early bird it's the only way
For her to get the worm
The artist describes being in the grasp of their problems, represented by snakes with intense colors, and the devil at home. They express trying to avoid the problems but feeling caught by them. They use an expression about digging in the dirt to denote resilience in trying to overcome their difficulties.
Hello?
Are you still there?
Hello? are you still there?
And much too late
Sorry, wrong number
Sorry, wrong number (yeah sorry you have the wrong number)
The singer somewhat abruptly ends the song with a phone call, revealing that their prior musings may have just been a connection they made in their own head. They first double-check with the person on the other line before realizing the mistake has been made, represented in the line 'sorry, wrong number.'
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Robert James Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Otis Notibrus
Lime green lime green and tangerine
The sickly sweet colours of the snakes I'm seeing
Lime green and tangerine
The sickly sweet colours of the devil in my dreams
Lime green lime green and tangerine
The sickly sweet colours of the snakes I'm seeing
Lime green and tangerine
The sickly sweet colours of the devil in my dreams
It gets to Friday and I give you a call
"You know I'm getting kind of worried
She doesn't seem herself at all...
Lime green, a sickly kind of orange
I've never seen her like this before..."
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
Red and blue soul with a snow white smile
"Can you dig it?" (Can you dig it?)
"Can you dig it?"
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
And now I dig it in the dirt
And I'm down here for a while...
Down here for a while...
You've got to make up your mind and make it soon
Is there room in your life
For one more trip to the moon?
Is there room in your life
For one more?
Burn red,red and gold
The deep dark colours of the snakes I hold
Burn red,red and gold
The deep dark colours of the devil at home
"She pulls me down just as I'm trying to hide
Grabs me by the hair and drags me outside
And starts digging in the dirt...
For a not so early bird it's the only way
For her to get the worm..."
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
Red and blue soul with a snow white smile
"Can you dig it?" (Can you dig it?)
"Can you dig it?"
I had the best laid plans this side of America
Started out in church and finished with Angelica
And now I dig it in the dirt
And I'm down here for a while...
I'm down here for a while...
Doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo
[Spoken]
"Hello? Are you still there?"
"Hello? Hello? Are you still there?"
And much too late
[Spoken]
Sorry... wrong number (I'm sorry, you have the wrong number)
Yeah. Sorry... wrong number
[Outro]
Doo doo doodoo doodoo
Dudoo doo doo doo doodoo doodoo
Dudoo doo doo doodoo doodoo
Dudoo doo doo doo doodoo doodoo
Metro Wireless
Man this is awesome. This a great great song.
The Cure are now GOATS in the Rock n Roll Hall. Of Fame.
And I like this song.
Arteriola Antípoda
Esta fue la primera canción que escuché de The Cure 😊
Whereabouts Unknown
Not a big Cure fan, but this song is a total banger. This one and Close To Me.
Michael Kottler
Agreed. "Wrong Number" made me a The Cure fan.
Lauri Saarinen
Man i completely forgot how awesome this song is! Late 90s Cure... They didn't make much stuff similar to this electro-rock tune. It has 90s U2 type of vibe.
Michael Kottler
Dope AF electrifying and epoch-making monster track. While recognizing Mr. Smith and The Cure's intelligence, sophistication and salient influence and digging a few songs, I wasn't "into" them until Galore dropped and with it "Wrong Number", prompting frenzied dancing and acknowledgement of The Cure as the superlative group they were all along. And the video! So f-ck yes!
omar rodrigo juarez sandoval
Temazooo, gracias por subirlo
Braxton Wages
This has got to be the craziest Cure video
Lauri Saarinen
And that says a lot...! 😆
Braxton Wages
@Lauri Saarinen Indeed it does 😂