Subway Song

Album: Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
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Songfacts®:

  • According to Christian Gerard, author of The Cure FAQ, this eerie track from the band's debut album was inspired by a subway underpass in drummer Lol Tolhurst's hometown of Horley, England. Through hushed vocals, lead singer Robert Smith tells the story of a young woman and the danger that lurks behind her on a late-night journey home.
  • Clocking in at two minutes, this is the shortest song in The Cure's catalog.
  • That's also Robert Smith playing the harmonica throughout the track.
  • Three Imaginary Boys was produced by Chris Parry, who signed the band to his Fiction Records label after being taken by the "drip drip drip" of "10:15 Saturday Night," the album's opening track.
  • This is the only studio album by The Cure to feature Michael Dempsey on bass. After touring the UK in support of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1979, Smith fired Dempsey and replaced him with Simon Gallup.

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