“Play for Today” by The Cure

"Play for Today" was one of the songs that cost the Cure their bassist on the way to Seventeen Seconds, their second album, released on Fiction in 1980. Robert Smith had tried out early versions of it and "M" at a few concerts, but Michael Dempsey, who was talking to Smith less and less by the end of a 1979 UK tour opening for Siouxsie and the Banshees, didn't care for the new direction. He hated the demos, and Smith later said Dempsey wanted a second XTC while he was after a second Banshees, so Dempsey walked.

The record belongs to the new lineup: Simon Gallup on bass, Matthieu Hartley on keyboards, Lol Tolhurst on drums and Smith singing and playing guitar, all four credited with the music and Smith with the words. It was also Smith's first time co-producing with Mike Hedges.

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