Re-watching Last of Us and the merry go round brought me here again. My kids fell asleep to this album for years. Just Like Heaven was always one of my favorites
When writing the songs for THE cURE's ninth studio album "WISH," ROBERT SMITH was suffering from depression, and he stated that "A LETTER TO ELISE" is about "resignation." He was influenced by JEAN COCTEAU's novel "THE HOLY TERRORS" and DAVID BOWIE's song "A LETTER TO HERMIONE."
Roberts the ceo of forgetting or freestyling his own lyrics and I love him even more for it. This version just yanks tears outta my heart 🥹😭🖤💫 it reminds me of my first and only real love. 💔
Robert Smith doesn't really use backing vocals during live performances unless there's a guest vocalist on board. And yet you don't even notice unless you look at the stage setup and realize there's only 1 mic for vocals. His voice is just insanely amazing.
This is my favorite version. It was the first time they played it live, about 17 months before it was released on the album, Wish. The verse that starts at 2:34 is not used on the studio version and has never been used again. This verse is the one verse in the song that can put a tear in my eye.
"Take me away from here. Secretly we'll slip into all our promises. Away from it all under cover of the night again, and we'll watch the years fall ... "
Wow recien escucho el recital completo y prácticamente es el Orange en vivo, que suerte de los hermanos Argentinos que tuvieron esa dicha de escuchar en vivo y en directo uno de los mejores Conciertos de The Cure como es el Orange del 86, todo un lujo, una pena los incidentes posteriores, es una presentación histórica que no se compara en nada con las del 2013 ni 2023 con un The Cure al 100%...
I know this happened right around the time the song was released. Robert must have forgotten some of the lyrics because they don’t make sense in context and very different from the released version. Bless him. I love the imperfection.
I find it fascinating that the small lyrical changes between this and the final version that went into the album change the tone COMPLETELY, both are about unrequited love, but here, they sound like the person singing is still clinging to hope even when they know there's no point as they will never be loved back...and the album version is about resignation, the singer feels the same love, but there, they've given up and accepted it's not meant to be. A simple change from "Elise it doesn't matter what you say, you know I'll stay here every yesterday" to "it doesn't matter what you say, _I just can't stay here every yesterday_ "is a world of a difference, The part where it's most evident (and painful) is right before the musical solo, here, it begs for another chance, for an escape from reality (Elise believe me take me away from this, and secretly we'll slip into all our promises), and in the final version, there's resignation (Elise believe I never wanted this, I thought this time I'd keep all of my promises, I thought you were the girl I always dreamed about...But I let the dream go and the promises broke, the make-believe ran out) which is devastating to hear...but we've all been there, in both meanings of the song. It really helped me let go of my highschool crush that I held on to for so many years, I don't thinkl I would've moved on without this song.
Some might say The Cure or The Smiths are sad and depresing bands... they are not wrong, but great music can be chilling, happy, sad or wathever... The real deal is that can push thousands of people emotions, as long as the music generate something is a little miracle that conection. Ive heard the cure since i was a kid and the thing is: its still moving for me.
@@loveandlight4440 If it helps any, it hadn't been released yet so you're listening to a draft version: "Letters to Elise" came out on "Wish" a year later.
This must be one of the first live performances of the song. The album Wish was released only in 1992. The lyrics we’re not even finished, compared to the album version. Very nice performance and beautiful voice
