Additionally an electro techno project is called "The Glove".
It all started at the YMCA....
Robert Smith of The Cure first encountered Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees when they both pitched up at the bar of the YMCA in London's Tottenham Court Road during a Throbbing Gristle gig on August 3, 1979. "I was wearing sunglasses and a very distinctive green check suit" remembers Robert. "I thought I looked pretty hip and happening. Severin came over to me and whispered in my ear "Charlie Caroli I presume?" That made me laugh! We got to talking, and by the end of the night had agreed The Cure should play with the Banshees on their forthcoming UK tour" During the course of this tour, which included Robert's stint as emergency Banshee's guitarist, the pair discovered mutual interests in music, literature, cinema and more, and so began an enduring friendship that led in the spring of 1983 to work on their new infamous joint project The Glove. "We had first talked seriously about doing something together in late 1980 when Robert was working on Faith," Remembers Steven. At that time Robert was completely in The Cure and I was of course in The Banshees, so a collaboration couldn't really have worked, we had to wait....when it finally happened it seemed to the outside world like 'the other half' of The Banshees side project, even though we'd planned it all long before The Creatures stuff!" Named after the evil animated glove in the Beatles film Yellow Submarine, Robert and Steve's psychedelic project was originally conceived as a few weird singles to be aimed at the Japanese market with hopes of bigger things to follow. Having booked Britannia Row Studios in London, in part because of its historic connections with Pink Floyd. Steven and Robert suddenly had their rainbow-hued feathers ruffled by Chris Parry, head of The Cure's label Fiction Records, who reminded the pair that Fictions contract with Robert specifically precluded him from singing on anything except Cure records. Parry's concern was that Robert had been taking too much time out from The Cure. He had already toured twice as the Banshees guitarist and reasoned Parry, if he enjoyed doing The Glove, he might abandon The Cure altogether. Parry's fears were far from unfounded because Robert had been somewhat dissatisfied with The Cure ever since the acrimonious departure of bassist Simon Gallup nine months earlier. Robert and Chris Parry now locked horns. "It was a real struggle" explains Robert, "as I was insisting on my right to sing on something other than The Cure. The irony of it of course, was that I didn't have a clue as to what I was actually going to record as we didn't have any songs!" At the eleventh hour a deal was thrashed out green-lighting Robert to sing on two tracks of The Glove project, which had now assumed the dimensions of a full-blown album. "So now we needed a vocalist for the rest of the album" points out Robert, "and after a few very truppy auditions we decided on Jeanette Landray, girlfriend of The Banshees drummer Budgie." A member of ZOO. The top of the pops dance troupe Landray had never sung before. Severin remembers the sessions as, "pretty insane" There was an ongoing 'happening' in Britannia Row...Marc Almond of Soft Cell would be there, The Associats, John McGeoch,...it was like a mainline train station. We recorded from 6pm to 6am, then Robert would go back to my flat and watch video nasties!" but even after the video nasties, Bad Timing, Videorome, The Evil Dead, etc formed part of the Glove's master plan. The idea was that by drowning themselves in acid and junk culture the pair would produce the kind of mental disorientation essential to the creation of genuinely psychedelic music. Another technique involved the use of exotic instruments. "We thought that if we stuck to the instruments we had always played we would end up sounding like a cross The Cure and The Banshees." explains Steven. "instead we experimented and came up with new ways of working. Landray meanwhile was realizing that as The Glove was very much Robert And Steven's project, her contributions were going to be limited. "I had a strange role involved, but not with any say in the way things turned out..almost like a session musician really." Readily acknowledging that Jeanette had been thrust into an awkward position Robert admits that he found it disconcerting to hear somone else singing songs he had demo'd with himself in mind. "I remember Jeanette being a bit unsure as to how to sing certain songs...but she was very determined and very patient which she had to be as I'm pretty sure that my advice was at best cryptic!"
Members of "The Glove" ~~~
Robert Smith - guitar, vocals on original recording of "Mr. Alphabet Says", "Perfect Murder", and Disc 2 of Deluxe Edition
Steve Severin - bass
Martin McCarrick - keyboards, real strings (later joined Siouxsie and the Banshees)
Jeanette Landray - vocals on majority of tracks on original album
Andy Anderson - real drums (later joined The Cure)
Ginny Heyes - real strings
Anne Stephenson - real strings
Porl Thompson- Special Guest in The Glove's Videos (From The Cure)
Orgy
The Glove Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It stains me like a tattoo
Back on the rack
Aching with time
Your face is familiar
From another crime
My little fishes and me
Overgrown senses prickle and spark
The flesh is in the palm of my hand
Back on the rack
Love under will
Your face is familiar
From another kill
A tongue explodes into mouth
A taste of coma and tears
Back on the rack
My shape of rage
Your face is familiar
From another cage
And we could swim...
The Glove's song Orgy is a deeply metaphorical and layered piece that contains a number of themes and perspectives. The opening lyrics, "A disease is under my fingernails, it stains me like a tattoo", suggest a sense of unease or guilt that the singer is feeling, as if they have something inside of them that they cannot fully expunge. The idea of a "stain" that cannot be removed implies a sense of shame or remorse.
The repeated refrain of "Back on the rack" adds to this sense of being trapped or confined, as if the singer is caught in a cycle of self-destructive behavior or negative patterns. The imagery of a "face [that] is familiar from another crime/kill/cage" adds to this, suggesting a repetition of harmful behavior, or perhaps a sense of haunting or oppression by past actions.
The line "And we could swim, we could swim, my little fishes and me" can be read in a number of ways. On one hand, it could be seen as a fantasy or escape, a way of fleeing from the oppressive reality of the singer's life. On the other, it could be seen as a sinister or perverse act, with the "little fishes" standing in for victims or objects of desire. The subsequent lines about "overgrown senses prickle and spark" and "the flesh is in the palm of my hand" add to this sense of danger and transgression.
Overall, Orgy is a complex and layered song that resists easy interpretation. However, it is clear that it deals with themes of guilt, confinement, and desire, suggesting a world in which individuals are trapped by their own impulses and unable to escape.
Line by Line Meaning
A disease is under my fingernails
I feel like there's something festering inside of me that I can't quite shake
It stains me like a tattoo
This thing that's inside of me feels like a permanent mark that will never go away
Back on the rack
I feel like I'm being put away and forgotten
Aching with time
The time passing feels like a heavy burden that's weighing me down
Your face is familiar
I've seen you before, and I remember you
From another crime
You were there when something bad happened before, and I associate you with that memory
And we could swim, we could swim
Despite everything going on, there's still a sense of possibility and freedom
My little fishes and me
I feel like I'm responsible for those around me, and I want to protect them
Overgrown senses prickle and spark
I'm very sensitive to everything around me, and it feels overwhelming
The flesh is in the palm of my hand
I feel like I have control over something or someone, and it's a bit unnerving
Love under will
There's something almost ritualistic about what's happening between us
A tongue explodes into mouth
Something unexpected and intense is happening between us
A taste of coma and tears
This intense experience feels almost otherworldly and emotionally charged
My shape of rage
I'm feeling very angry, and it's hard to control
Your face is familiar
Youre someone I know, but it feels like you're a stranger
From another kill
I remember you from a time when violence happened, and it's affecting how I see you now
From another cage
This situation feels very restrictive and confining, and it's hard to escape from
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROBERT JAMES SMITH, STEVEN SEVERIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind