I’m not sure if there’s a band that I can claim as my favorite of all time, because the reality is I have a different favorite every day. This process of choosing one favorite over all others seems futile. But, for me, The Cure, is about as close as it gets. For me, their music is irreplaceable. There are things that I feel when I put on a Cure record that I can’t experience with anything else. For the month of June, I hope to share some of this as a I cover a different Cure song each day – counting down from #30 to #1. And, in this case, I have no qualms stating my #1. #30DaysofTheCure
U.S. original release: Boys Don’t Cry (1980) - Track 6
Ranking: 29
For me, the golden years of The Cure occurred with the first three studio albums after the band became a quintet, starting with 1985’s The Head On The Door. But I find many of their recordings as a trio – and even the shortlived moments as a duo – to be fascinating in their own way. The quintet years allowed the instrumental layering to shine. But the trio years allowed each individual element to shine, not simply blend into the ether. One of the best examples of this are the individual performances of Smith, Tolhurst and Dempsey on the early single “Jumping Someone Else’s Train”.
“Jumping Someone Else’s Train” is a wry observation of the things people will do to steal the spotlight from each other. The trio seem to be almost competing against each other for the spotlight on this one. And it’s not a bad thing. It sounds almost as if they’re trying to jump each other’s train by outdoing one another instrumentally. Listen to it and you’ll realize that “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” is a three-way duel between Smith’s cutting and slashing guitar notes, Tolhurst’s drum chops that mimic the sound of a train steamrolling over tracks at the 2:20 mark, and Dempsey’s bass lines that snake around at the :15 mark and never, ever let up.
“Everyone's happy. They're finally all the same 'cause everyone's jumping everyone else's train.”