A compendium of Cure-related information

The Only One

Comments (0) By Chris Gray Wednesday, Jun 4 2008

The Scream: The most famous of the "Frieze of Life" series of paintings and one of the most iconic images in modern art, Edvard Munch's masterpiece also provided the title of Siouxsie & the Banshees' first album. Unsurprisingly, references to screaming and crying pop up throughout the Cure's catalog: "Burn," "Fascination Street," "The Holy Hour," "Doubt," "A Short Term Effect," "Hanging Garden," "Figurehead," "Kyoto Song," "The Baby Screams," "The Love Cats," "Boys Don't Cry," "Watching Me Fall," "Just Like Heaven," "The Only One."

The Stranger: 1942 novel by Albert Camus examining the ramifications of existentialist behavior, in this case the protagonist's seaside shooting of an Arab. The source of one of the Cure's earliest breakthrough singles, 1979's "Killing an Arab," and title of 1986 singles compilation Staring at the Sea. Smith has turned to literature for inspiration several other times: Seventeen Seconds' "The Drowning Man" is based on Mervyn Peake's gothic Gormenghast series, while The Top's "Bananafishbones" takes its title from the J.D. Salinger short story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish."