12/06/2019: “Fire In Cairo” by The Cure

The driving creative force behind The Cure was the frontman, Robert Smith, who was one of the inspirations for the original goth movement.

The first album by The Cure was Three Imaginary Boys, which was well received at the time of its release in 1979 and has since become a post-punk classic.

“Fire In Cairo” uses the riots in Cairo surrounding Black Saturday in 1952 to highlight emotional distress and the passion of love, which is admittedly quite a strong metaphor.

Smith himself says the song is about the shameless nature of pop music and the corporate music world, so perhaps the tension in this dark lyric is used to highlight this. The tracklist of the album was decided by the record company, so it’s clear there was some bad blood.

The song is a very catchy one, in particular due to the airy and light guitar riff. The singing is quite melancholy, and in characteristic punk fashion, slightly breathless without losing too much energy. The bassline is simple but adds a great deal of verve, and overall it’s a great listen!

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