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“Let's Go to Bed” by The Cure

Released 1982

“Let's Go to Bed” by The Cure appears on 53 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 1983 and 2021. It was first released in 1982. Its best result is #9 on the Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #23 alternative song of 1983, #138 alternative song of all time and #40 of the '80s.

53countdowns

13stations

#9best position

0#1 finishes

2top 10 finishes

1983–2021years charted

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The Cure - Let's Go To Bed

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After the black gloom of Pornography, Robert Smith came back from a month-long detox in the Lake District and wrote "Let's Go to Bed", a deliberate about-face from everything the Cure seemed to stand for. Fiction Records put it out in November 1982 as a single on its own, with no album attached, and it later turned up on the compilation Japanese Whispers.

It's a skinny, twitchy slice of synth-flecked new wave, a pop song written by a man half daring himself to write a pop song. Smith sings lead and plays guitar, keyboards and bass, Lol Tolhurst adds keyboards, and Steve Goulding plays drums. Steve Nye, Chris Parry and Phil Thornalley produced it, with Parry mixing.

At home it stalled at No. 44 in the UK, but it caught on further away, reaching the Australian top 20 in 1983 and No. 17 in New Zealand.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#1,388 of the '80s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1983	51	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1983	107
1983	13	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 1983	91
1984	38	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 1984	91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
–	49	WLIR / WDRE	WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s	200
1988	15	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)	496
1988	9	Live 105	Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988)	501
1988	34	WLIR / WDRE	WLIR Top 200 Songs of All-Time (1988)	200
1989	45	91X	91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989)	191
1989	33	WFNX	WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989)	101
1989	52	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989)	495
1989	9	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989)	500
1990	89	Live 105	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990)	299
1991	90	Live 105	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991)	302
1991	13	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991)	500
1991	249	CFNY 102.1 The Edge	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition)	1002
1992	109	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992)	500
1992	165	Live 105	Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992)	299
1994	201	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994)	497
1994	241	Live 105	Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994)	500
1994	109	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994)	500
1995	174	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995)	500
1995	154	Live 105	Live 105 Revolutionary 300 (July 1995)	300
1996	100	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996)	500
1996	139	Q101	Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996)	500
1996	105	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996)	498
1998	88	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998)	488
1999	167	91X	91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999)	500
1999	171	WLIR / WDRE	WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	300
1999	145	WFNX	WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999)	500
1999	833	107.7 The End	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	1077
1999	108	WOXY 97X	WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999)	500
1999	286	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
1999	711	CFNY 102.1 The Edge	CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999)	1002
2000	287	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	299	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	299	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	299	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	360	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	203	107.7 The End	The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004)	500
2004	299	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	300	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2005	405	99X	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)	1000
2006	196	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2006)	500
2007	195	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	480	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008)	500
2008	137	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	432	Live 105	Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009)	500
2009	137	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	142	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	142	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	147	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	150	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	878	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909

Also listed as: Let's Go To Bed.

Charting alongside it in 1983

Best songs of 1983 →

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