The Cure – “A Strange Day”
February 11, 2019
The seventeenth Skipped on Shuffle episode will be focused on the song “A Strange Day” by The Cure off their 1982 album Pornography.
The Cure is one of the most popular bands in the alternative music scene, with legions of fans around the world who revere the group — and its leader, Robert Smith — as a kind of second coming. However, the band wasn’t always so popular and iconic.
In 1982, the band was making waves with its gloomy post-punk sound, but the release of its fourth album, Pornography, confounded critics. The slow, dark, and overall difficult album was heavy on mood but soft on songwriting and radio-friendly singles.
Despite the album’s critical dismissal, Pornography is very much the album The Cure intended to make at the time, with Smith citing the record as a way for him to channel his suicidal thoughts. Today, the album has been reappraised as a masterpiece and major influence on modern musicians.
“A Strange Day” is one of the few songs on the record with a potential pop hook, but is still a difficult listen. In the Skipped on Shuffle episode, Scott and Jason break down what makes The Cure so special and why this song and album are very much worth the work to fully appreciate.