“Boys Don't Cry” by The Cure

"Boys Don't Cry" first went out as a stand-alone Cure single in the UK in 1979, then became the title track of Boys Don't Cry, the American stand-in for Three Imaginary Boys. In April 1986 the band gave it a new mix and a freshly sung vocal, and it returned to the UK chart that year, peaking at No. 22.

Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey and Lol Tolhurst wrote it, and Chris Parry produced. It's post-punk that forgot to scowl: clipped rhythm, chiming guitar, over almost before it starts. The words belong to Smith, and they tell of a man who has stopped chasing the love he lost and works hard to hide how wrecked he is. Smith told the NME that English boys of the time were taught to keep their feelings locked up, and that he'd always bristled at being told not to show them, so he made a point of it.

That's the trick of the thing: brisk and jangly on the surface, with a lump in its throat the tempo can't disguise.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.