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Other => Meta => New member? Introduce yourself here! => Topic started by: thedrowningman9904 on August 16, 2021, 15:39:23

Title: Greetings from rural NSW.
Post by: thedrowningman9904 on August 16, 2021, 15:39:23
Hi there.

This is the ninth time I've tried to write this introduction, hopefully this time I'll actually post it, and not just decide to delete it and slink off forever.

I only discovered this forum today, through Craig/Chain of Flowers on Twitter. I've been on other Cure forums in the past, and been in a few email groups, but the incessant arguments and gatekeeping over what a "real Cure fan" is, and that liking certain songs/albums makes you somehow less of a fan, and of course the ever-present "I like your old stuff better than your new stuff" comments - combined with a mental health-related general descent into isolation - means I haven't really interacted with any other fans for about 10 years, save for my wife.

But the threads I've seen on this forum today seem as far from that old experience as it's possible to be. You all seem lovely and respectful of each other, and there's actually mature, intelligent discussions about the music.

A little about me: I've been listening to The Cure since Christmas 1997, when I received Galore as a present. My step-mum recommended it, based on me liking Garbage. I wasn't really drawn in by Galore at first, except for one song which I would play on repeat for hours on end - A Letter to Elise. I think to try to escape the monotony of that, my step-mum then bought me Wish, which is when my love (obsession?) of The Cure really began. That album - From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Trust, A Letter to Elise, and To Wish Impossible Things in particular - hit me in a way that music had never done before.

From that point on, I would buy their earlier albums whenever I found them in record stores, and I still vividly recall rushing to the shopping centre immediately after school on the 15th February 2000 to buy Bloodflowers - the first "new" Cure album since I started listening to them.

Since then I've been fortunate to see them live on three occasions - in Brisbane and Sydney in 2008 during the 4 Tour, and then in 2011 at the Sydney Opera House for the second Reflections night. (which was also my first proper date with my now-wife.)

I'll try to arrange a tier-list, but honestly it really depends on my mood and the situation. I'm more likely to listen to a custom playlist with multiple songs from each album plus B-sides, remixes, non-album tracks, collaborations, live versions with alternative lyrics etc included, than I am to put on any single album, but here goes:

Wish

Disintegration / Wild Mood Swings / Bloodflowers / The Cure / Faith / Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me / Pornography

4:13 Dream / The Top / Seventeen Seconds

The Head on the Door / Three Imaginary Boys

[Note: For what it's worth, with Bloodflowers I go by the Australian release which included Coming Up, and with The Cure I go by the vinyl release which included Truth Goodness and Beauty, Fake, Going Nowhere, and This Morning]

Wish has a special place as it was my first proper Cure album, plus From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea is my wife and I's "song", and at our wedding, I walked down the aisle (long story...) to Trust.

Although THotD and 3IB are at the bottom of my list, I still love those albums. I genuinely enjoy each and every Cure song - even if certain ones like the live covers of You Really Got Me or Do You Wanna Touch Me are for rare occasions only and in some cases, can be rather hard listens. :P

My thanks and apologies if you got this far.
Title: Re: Greetings from rural NSW.
Post by: Ulrich on August 18, 2021, 09:30:16
Hello and welcome (again)! Thanks for your introduction.

Quote from: thedrowningman9904 on August 16, 2021, 15:39:23This is the ninth time I've tried to write this introduction, hopefully this time I'll actually post it

Can you tell what exactly went wrong? So it was not an "approval" problem?  :?
Title: Re: Greetings from rural NSW.
Post by: thedrowningman9904 on August 18, 2021, 09:46:43
Quote from: Ulrich on August 18, 2021, 09:30:16Can you tell what exactly went wrong? So it was not an "approval" problem?  :?

Oh, no, that was just me losing faith in everything I'd written and starting all over again. :P
Title: Re: Greetings from rural NSW.
Post by: Ulrich on August 18, 2021, 09:57:10
Oh, okay, gotta say the end result has become a good intro post!  :smth023
Title: Re: Greetings from rural NSW.
Post by: dsanchez on August 18, 2021, 12:51:05
Quote from: thedrowningman9904 on August 16, 2021, 15:39:23But the threads I've seen on this forum today seem as far from that old experience as it's possible to be. You all seem lovely and respectful of each other, and there's actually mature, intelligent discussions about the music.

happy to have you here @thedrowningman9904!

we try to keep this forum within the rules we set and this has worked for over 15 years now, and while many other forums closed we are glad that we are still there...
Title: Re: Greetings from rural NSW.
Post by: SueC on August 18, 2021, 15:46:16
Thanks for your lovely intro post!  :cool

There's never any need to apologise for writing your story, or for contributing to this forum. We're happy to have you. And you won't stick out like a sore thumb for writing paragraphs or whole pages, because I've been doing that for a number of years here and I think people have gotten over the shock. :beaming-face

Love this photo of your dog at your wedding! :)



The facial expression of that dog, and her whole demeanour, speaks wonders. That looks like such a friendly, warm, special dog!