Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of Warr… Read Full Bio ↴Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of Warrington, England) is an English actor, vocalist and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). He also had a later career as a rock musician. He studied Drama and English at Birmingham and then at Cambridge. His list of roles is extremely extensive, in both TV and movies, live-action and voice-acting for animated features, and it is notable that he almost always plays a villain of one kind or another. He currently resides in Los Angeles, though for the past year or so has been in Chicago and New York with the current Broadway hit Monty Python's Spamalot.

In 1978, A&M Records released Tim Curry's debut solo album. Entitled Read My Lips, the album featured an eclectic range of songs (mostly covers) performed in diverse genre. Highlights of the album are a reggae version of the Beatles song "I Will", a rendition of "Wake Nicodemus" with full bagpipe backing, and an original bar-room ballad, "Alan".

The following year, Curry's second and most successful album was released. Titled Fearless, the LP was more rock-oriented than Read My Lips and mostly featured original songs rather than cover versions. The record included Tim Curry's only US charting songs: "I Do the Rock" and "Paradise Garage".

Curry's third and final album, Simplicity, was released in 1981, again by A&M Records. This record did not sell as well as the previous offerings, due in part to a less appealing, more maudlin sound. This record combined both original songs and cover versions, and is commonly held to be the weakest of the three albums.

In 1989, A&M released The Best of Tim Curry on CD and cassette, featuring songs from his albums (including a live version of "Alan") and a previously-unreleased song, a live cover version of "Simple Twist of Fate".

Curry toured America with his band through the late 1970s and the first half of the 1980s.

Curry's first full-time role was as part of the original London cast of the musical Hair in 1968. Here he first met Richard O'Brien, who went on to create his next full-time and perhaps still most famous role, that of Frank N. Furter in the Rocky Horror Show.

Originally Curry rehearsed the character with a German accent and peroxide blonde hair, but the character evolved into the sly, very upper-class English (He says 'dine' instead of down, 'brine' instead of brown etc) drag-wearing mad scientist incarnation that carried over to the movie version and made Curry both a star and a cult figure. He continued to play the character in London, Los Angeles and New York until 1975.

For many years, Curry was reluctant to talk about Rocky Horror, feeling that it was a trend that had gone too far and had distracted attention away from his later roles. However, in recent years he has been much more open about discussing the show and now recognises it as a "rite of passage" for many young people.

Simplicity
Tim Curry Lyrics

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I try every way I know to tell you
I run down all my clever ways
Every smart forever phrase
How'm I going get a, heck of another love letter
But you deserve better babe

The hardest thing for me
Is true simplicity

But it's the only thing that's good enough for you

Every day I wake up later
I'm afraid to face the sun
I want to hide from everyone
Memory is bitter
Tell myself I'm no quitter
But the gold no longer glitters babe

The hardest thing for me
Is true simplicity
But it's the only thing that's good enough for you
Blood in a bucket
No rhyme, mainline, sunshine
And it's the nearest this boy's been to joy

And I do believe
I shall believe
I shall be free
On the day you say you need me
Need me
Need me
Yeah

I push the doorknob to the booze
I might try out for the blues

Aching and lonely
What does it take to telephone me
I'm much too close to breaking

But I do believe
I shall believe
I shall be free
On the day you say you need me
Need me
Need me
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah

The hardest thing for me
Is true simplicity
It's the only thing that's good enough for you
The hardest thing for me
Is true simplicity
It's the only thing that's good enough for you
Yeah, yeah

Overall Meaning

In this song, Tim Curry is struggling to express his feelings for someone he loves. He has tried every clever way he knows to tell her what he feels by putting together every smart phrase and every forever-after promise, but he feels like the words he wants to say just won't come out right. He knows that the person he loves deserves better, so he is determined to simplify his message and be honest about his feelings. In the second verse, Curry talks about how he wakes up every day filled with fear and wanting to hide, but he tells himself he won't quit until he can express his feelings in a simple, honest way. The song ends with Curry saying that he believes someday he will be free from his fears and able to express his feelings when the person he loves says she needs him.

Line by Line Meaning

I try every way I know to tell you
I exhaust all my methods to express my love

I run down all my clever ways
I use up all my ingenious ideas

Every smart forever phrase
Each and every poetic expression

How'm I going get a heck of another love letter
How am I going to come up with an impressive love letter again?

But you deserve better babe
Your worth demands more than that

The hardest thing for me
What I find most difficult

Is true simplicity
Is expressing my feelings in a clear and concise way

But it's the only thing that's good enough for you
But it is the only thing that meets your standards

Every day I wake up later
I wake up later every day

I'm afraid to face the sun
I am apprehensive about confronting daylight

I want to hide from everyone
I wish to disappear from society

Memory is bitter
Memories leave a bad taste in my mouth

Tell myself I'm no quitter
I persuade myself that I am not the kind to give up

But the gold no longer glitters babe
But the magic has faded away

Blood in a bucket
It's a distressing situation

No rhyme, mainline, sunshine
There's no poetry, no direct path, and no happiness

And it's the nearest this boy's been to joy
This is as close as I've been to feeling happy

And I do believe
And I have faith

I shall believe
I am determined to believe

I shall be free
I will become liberated

On the day you say you need me
When you express your need for me

Need me
Require me

Yeah
Yeah

I push the doorknob to the booze
I open the door to alcohol

I might try out for the blues
I may attempt to sing the blues

Aching and lonely
In pain and solitude

What does it take to telephone me
What does it require to have you call me

I'm much too close to breaking
I am on the verge of breaking down

The hardest thing for me
What I find most difficult

Is true simplicity
Is expressing my feelings in a clear and concise way

It's the only thing that's good enough for you
It is the only thing that meets your standards

Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, THE ROYALTY NETWORK INC., Royalty Network
Written by: PAUL CROSDALE, DONALD DENNIS, DALTON BROWNE, BOBBY DIXON, MIGUEL COLLINS, TIM CURRY, BOB BABBITT, CHARLES STUART COLLINS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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