Happy Anniversary: The Cure, “Pictures of You”

25 years ago this week, The Cure released the fourth and final single from Disintegration, a song which in most countries was the least successful of the album's four singles despite being arguably the best song of the bunch.

Why wasn't it more successful? Well, we can't say for certain, obviously, but we'd guess it has something to do with frightened radio stations requiring a single edit that trimmed away almost two and a half minutes of the track.

“Pictures of You” is a beautiful, atmospheric song which was reportedly inspired in the wake of a fire at the home of Cure frontman Robert Smith. Whilst sifting through the ashes, he found his wallet, and within the wallet, he found pictures of his wife. (You can see one of them on the cover of the single, in fact.) Unfortunately, one of the things that makes the song work so well is the way it builds and builds to an emotional climax before fluttering to a close, and when you remove part of that delicate structure, something can't help but be lost.

The song didn't do badly as a single, mind you: it hit #71 in the US, #24 in the UK, and it was actually a top-10 hit in Ireland. Still, you'd be hard pressed to find many Cure fans who'd look back and say, “Do you know when I really fell in love with 'Pictures of You'? When I heard the single edit.”