Robert Smith
Robert Smith
Singer-songwriter and guitarist for the goth and new wave British band The Cure who sang "Friday I'm in Love," "Just Like Heaven," and "Lovecats."
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth21 April 1959
CityBlackpool, England
class musician passports
I honestly don't class myself as a songwriter. I've got 'musician' written on my passport. That's even funnier.
ideas pay fool
If I put a value on my music, and no one's prepared to pay that, then more fool me, but the idea that the value is created by the consumer is an idiot plan; it can't work.
umpires two never-trust
Cardinal rule for all hitters with two strikes on them: Never trust the umpire.
ideas machines becoming
My whole life I've played music for my own personal enjoyment and the idea of it becoming a machine or a business is just horrible.
want awful legacy
I don't want The Cure to fizzle out doing 45-minute shows of greatest hits. That would be awful for our legacy.
thinking people looks
Nobody notices me. Nobody thinks I'm me. But then I look less like me than most of the people coming to our concerts.
thinking play together
When you're in a young band for the first time, geographically you're in the same place and you tend to go out and socialize. You play more shows, you spend more time together. You're a unit. As you grow older, inevitably you develop a life outside the band. I think it would be tragic if you didn't.
years done performing
Performing doesn't come that naturally to me, even though I've done it for years.
demise pushing-it accepted
Everything I do has the tinge of the finite, of my own demise. At some point you either accept death or you just keep pushing it back as you get older and older. I've accepted it.
eight ballet flight
You can't drink on an eight hour flight, pass out, and then go onstage... well you can, but then you're Spandau Ballet.
beach memories children
My earliest memories are sitting on the beach at Blackpool, and I know that if I went back, it would be horrible. I know what Blackpool's like - it's nothing like I imagined it was as a child.
jobs thinking who-i-am
Apart from the fact that I've got a strange job, I do lead a fairly normal life. I do my own shopping. I don't feel constrained by who I am because of what I do; I often feel disappointed by my lack of ability. I get frustrated at myself, but I think everyone does.
thinking people band
It's only people that aren't goths that think the Cure are a goth band.
jobs play people
I really enjoy what I do, and who I'm with and where I am. Having said that, I'm not really a person of habit, because what I do in my job is travel around the world and play concerts to people, and occasionally do very weird things.