Libération, France, early 1984

(Lol and Robert were interviewed separately in Trident studios where they were recording The Top album)

- Wailing Wall ?

Lol : A religious song. It talks about people who promise a lot of things and offer rewards for others to do what they push them to. It's very "modern" islamic music. There's lots of vocals. The mood is sad. It's a typical Cure song.

Robert : A song about Jerusalem and the promised land. It sounds like the old Cure, more than any other song on the album.

- Shake Dog Shake ?

Lol : A song about waking up and feeling uneasy. It's the heavy-metal Cure.

Robert : When you wake up really early in the morning and you hate yourself and don't feel good. It's about that. It's heavy metal. Lots of anger.

- Birdmad Girl ?

Lol : This song isn't finished yet. It was inspired by a Dylan Thomas book. It was written by Robert. It talks about a mad woman. It's funky. It was written during the Seventeen Seconds era.

Robert : It has no definitive lyrics for now, so I don't know what it talks about. At the beginning, I was inspired by Dylan Thomas but actually it won't be about this. It's songy.

- The Empty World ?

Lol : It's about the war. We wonder why people are so proud to go to war, when there's no reason for that. The military atmosphere on the song was deliberate.

Robert : A song that reminds me of Charlotte Sometimes. It talks about life in England. Nationalism, language...

- Bananafishbones ?

Lol : A surreal song. Bananafish comes from a tv show for kids Robert saw or something. It sounded great for a title and suited the music which is a bit hard. A little trashy, but not really. It's difficult to explain. The surreal element is dominating the song and that's what I like about it.

Robert : A Perfect Day For Bananafish, it's a book by J.D. Salinger, an American writer. In the novel, a man plays with a little girl on the beach... The song doesn't talk about that but I like this word, bananafish. There are three songs like this on the album : Birdmad Girl, Bananafishbones and Piggy In The Mirror which are just songs, nothing more...

- Throw Your Foot ?

Lol : It's a working title. That song isn't finished yet. We're working on it. It's funky. It needs to be worked on.

Robert : The title Throw Your Foot isn't definitive as well as the song itself. It's hard-funk.

- You don't seem to like it very much ?

Robert : No, not for now.

- Give Me It ?

Lol : Again, the lyrics are surreal, but this time they are clear. This song is really heavy metal. Very fast. Just an angry track. I think it will sound good on stage because it's violent.

Robert : Another angry song. But more punk than the others. Wild. It reminds me a bit of the Banshees.

- Piggy In The Mirror ?

Lol : It could relate to several people. Actually the lyrics aren't clear enough to know who they relate to. It talks about people who give up and don't get rid of things they don't need anymore. They are trapped by themselves. Musically it's very different from the rest of the album. Very different from what we did before as well. Very rock. One of my favorite songs.

Robert : It's about me. So it's horrible...

- The Top ?

Lol : Charming song. Reconforting and depressing. The Top is a record that ambitions getting to the summit of something. It talks about the pain and the agony while trying to be the best. It's how I see the album.

Robert : It's a song about not being able to do what you want to. It's a bit like Faith.

- Caterpillar ?

Lol : It's very Kafkaesque. He wrote a book called Metamorphosis. The story of a man who wakes up and had become an insect. Here, the insect is a girl and it's a caterpillar. It's both harsh and deep. Musically, it's joyful with lots of piano.

Robert : It's a happy song.

- Punch and Judy ?

Lol : The song is hard to describe because right now it's not done. It will be close to a song like The Lovecats, but won't be as pop. And actually it could turn very different in the end, by the time we finish it.

- Will both songs from the single be included on the album ?

Lol : Maybe... Maybe some songs we haven't finished yet won't be on it. One of those will be released as a b side. We have about 10 songs it's a lot for an album. We will certainly use 4 songs on each side. Deciding in the last minute, as usual.

Robert : The single won't be titled like this. The song will be called Where's The Baby ?

- Why did you choose The Top as an album title ?

Lol : For ourselves. It's the best time. We have reached the point where we are at the beginning again. We reached the end of an era. For us, this is the result of what we did during the last two years. And that was emotionally difficult to cope with. The album has nothing to do with our last three singles. It wasn't designed the same way. The singles weren't serious. This album is the new Cure. A rebirth, if you want, of the Cure as a real band. That's why we're going to go on tour again. We didn't want to do it before having new ideas, new feelings we could express. It would have been boring to play the same songs again and again and again... We went to the States this summer, they never saw us playing Pornography there. It was good because we had a "fresh" new audience. It was worth it.

Robert : It doesn't really mean anything. Or it means a lot of things... the Top.

- Lol, you're supposed to write a movie soundtrack ?

Lol : It's very abstract for now, because I have to see the movie before taking the decision. I think it'll be close to the Cure, because I can't escape from it. It's how I play, it's where all my ideas come from. I consider writing for a film as an exercise. To prove myself I can do it. It's how the Cure has always been, a path you can leave to do different things. I think it's depressing people ceasing to exist just because they think "that's all I am and that's all I can do". We're back at the idea of being born again. Sometimes in a group, there's nothing to do for weeks except waiting. I prefer to continue to learn things during this time...


(Interview : Barbarian - Photo : Pierre Terrasson - Translated from French)