'Alone': The Cure's first single in sixteen years

[dsanchez]

The first The Cure single in sixteen years, 'Alone', is now available on YouTube. Love the keyboards arrangements and the overall production of the song. A stunning track.

[dsanchez]

God...what a song.

[Rietan]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/26/the-cure-alone-review

[nerdiee]

this is a very good song, I don't argue... but at some point their work lost something important, I would say a piece of naturalness, life? yes, that's how old age sounds, the song just goes and goes along the rails, and does not flows intensely, like a river that has no banks, that's the thing... while everyone around exclaims what a beautiful song I think that yes, the song is beautiful because they already have the skill to write good songs, so the songs will no longer sound like an impulse,
what is missing here, what is really missing is a living melody, a melody that comes not from the skill to write music, but from the soul... I think it sounds like a more dense and monolithic song from Bloodflowers, but then again there was something on Bloodflowers that isn't on this song

[SusannaRS]

But it will be unforgivable as it always is.

Let's hope it won't be that bad.   

But I guess you meant to say "unforgettable". 

Thanks. Of course I did 🤦�♀️

[dsanchez]

ChatGPT 'Alone' lyrics analysis:

"Alone" by The Cure is a deeply introspective and melancholic song that explores themes of loss, change, and the passage of time. Here's an analysis of its key elements:

Themes and Imagery

Endings and Loss:

The song opens with "This is the end of every song that we sing," setting a tone of finality and closure. This theme is reinforced throughout the lyrics, suggesting the end of an era or a significant chapter in life.

Phrases like "The fire burned out to ash" and "The stars grown dim with tears" evoke a sense of things that once were vibrant and alive now fading away.

Nostalgia and Reflection:

The lyrics reflect on past experiences and emotions, with lines like "The ghosts of all that we've been" indicating a haunting remembrance of what once was.

The toast "with bitter dregs to our emptiness" suggests a recognition of the emptiness left behind by lost dreams and love.

Nature and Decay:

Imagery of "birds falling out of our skies" and "words falling out of our minds" symbolizes a breakdown in communication and a loss of inspiration or creativity.

The natural world mirrors the internal decay and loss the narrator feels.

Love and Its Absence:

The lines "And here is to love, to all the love falling out of our lives" poignantly acknowledge the fading of love, a central theme in the song. This loss of love is tied to a broader sense of disillusionment and sorrow.

Structure and Tone

The song's structure is cyclical, beginning and ending with the idea of endings ("This is the end of every song we sing"). This reinforces the theme of inescapable finality. The tone is somber and reflective, with a slow, almost dirge-like quality that underscores the weight of the lyrics.

Personal and Universal

While the song is deeply personal, reflecting Robert Smith's own struggles and reflections, it also touches on universal themes of change, loss, and the passage of time.

The repeated questioning "Where did it go?" captures a universal sense of bewilderment and sorrow at the impermanence of life and love.

Conclusion

"Alone" is a powerful meditation on the inevitability of change and the pain of loss. Its haunting lyrics and evocative imagery create a poignant reflection on the passage of time and the fading of once-vibrant emotions and experiences. The song invites listeners to reflect on their own lives and the transient nature of all things.

[Ulrich]

ChatGPT 'Alone' lyrics analysis:

Talk about "stating the obvious"... 
I prefer to listen to the song and make up my own mind.

[dsanchez]

I have been listening the song the whole day, on a loop. The more I listen to it, the more I think this song would have been a perfect closure if this was The Cure's last-album ever. If Robert would have said "this is it" after releasing SOALW I think it would have been a great, perhaps epic ending.

[Matti]

One word: epic.

[MeltingMan]

For the first three minutes I feel like I'm in Apollo 7 or 16 in the way the, let's say, object rotates. Until... yes, until out of nowhere (?) a human face appears. I'm impressed... well done guys. 

Oh man, I'm shaking... 

[pyota]

Love to have the old Cure vibe back. I'll be honest: I did not get the whole 4:13 dream era at all. Also glad they went with a classic deep cut rather than a pop song. I feel they are back on track after being a bit lost for a few years. Also: what a great track, bravo!

[pyota]

I have been listening the song the whole day, on a loop. The more I listen to it, the more I think this song would have been a perfect closure if this was The Cure's last-album ever. If Robert would have said "this is it" after releasing SOALW I think it would have been a great, perhaps epic ending.

I always thought the band put particular emphasis on the first and last songs on every album. If i don't like the first song on an album of any band, I'll just turn it off .. I figure if they can't even get the first song right  ...

[pyota]

Here's a stupid question: Can I buy the song? Or do I have to listen on YouTube until November?

[pyota]

Another review https://post-punk.com/the-cure-share-poignant-new-single-alone-new-album-songs-of-a-lost-world-officially-announced/

[dsanchez]

NME: The lyrics pay homage to "Dregs" by Ernest Christopher Dowson, a poem exploring themes like grief, death, and loneliness. "I had been struggling to find the right opening line for the right opening song for a while, working with the simple idea of 'being alone', always in the back of my mind this nagging feeling that I already knew what the opening line should be... as soon as we finished recording I remembered the poem 'Dregs' by the English poet Ernest Dowson... and that was the moment when I knew the song—and the album—were real."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-cure-alone-single-songs-of-a-lost-world-album/

Dregs

The fire is out, and spent the warmth thereof,
(This is the end of every song man sings!)
The golden wine is drunk, the dregs remain,
Bitter as wormwood and as salt as pain;
And health and hope have gone the way of love
Into the drear oblivion of lost things.
Ghosts go along with us until the end;
This was a mistress, this, perhaps, a friend.
With pale, indifferent eyes, we sit and wait
For the dropped curtain and the closing gate:
This is the end of all the songs man sings.