Posted on Jun 5, 2025 in Lists and Bests

The Cure’s Top 100 Songs

From 100 to 1

My Favourite Tracks From The Cure

By Geoffrey Dickens

A few times a year, I spend some time thinking about a band or artist that has made an impact on me, and I put together a ranked list of my favourite songs of theirs over a few months. It’s fun (I do love lists), but going through an album or two a week in a contemplative fashion is therapeutic, and it’s also a great chance for me to revisit music that is important to me as well as catching up on some B-sides that may have slipped under my radar at the time.

The Cure were an obvious choice as they have always been around (thanks, Dad!), and they pop up a lot in my memory of childhood: toast on a weekend morning in front of the Staring at the Sea VHS, Disintegration (and Entreat) on cassette when I got my first tape player, Wish entering our home as an early CD purchase, and finally getting to see them live on the Bloodflowers tour.

To convey the importance and impact of their music to me I would need an essay, but I avoid it here mainly because they make music that evokes feelings – heartbreak, despair, and playful, kitten-like adoration in equal parts somehow – that can’t easily be put into words. Or at least I couldn’t manage any better that their lyrics already do. Instead, may the list itself do the talking!

I will add that I was surprised that so many singles made it to the pointy end, as I often shy away from songs that have been overplayed, but this is very much a ‘heart’ list and not a ‘head’ one, and if songs like “A Forest” and “Pictures of You” hit even harder now, 30 years after I first heard them, well they’ve earned their spots. Also, is it too obvious for half the top ten to be made up of songs from one particular album? Not if it’s the best album that anyone has ever made (should I be forced to pick one).

So here it is. I hope I do justice to both such a unique discography (an astounding one, really), and to your own personal preference.

100. A Few Hours After This (‘In Between Days’ B-side, 1985)

99. Cold (Pornography, 1982)

98. Plastic Passion (‘Boys Don’t Cry’ B-side, 1979)
97. Before Three (The Cure, 2004)
96. Where the Birds Always Sing (Bloodflowers, 2000)n

95. The Exploding Boy (‘In Between Days’ B-side, 1985)

94. A Strange Day (Pornography, 1982)

93. High (Wish, 1992)

92. Three Imaginary Boys (Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)
91. Charlotte Sometimes (single, 1981)
90. The Upstairs Room (‘The Walk’ B-side, 1983)

89. The Promise (The Cure, 2004)

88. The Last Day of Summer (Bloodflowers, 2000)

87. Fire in Cairo (Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)

86. All I Want (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)
85. Grinding Halt (Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)

84. Jupiter Crash (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)
83. Lost (The Cure, 2004)

82. Six Different Ways (The Head on the Door, 1985)
81. One More Time (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

80. Torture (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

79. Kyoto Song (The Head on the Door, 1985)
78. Perfect Girl (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

77. The Baby Screams (The Head on the Door, 1985)

76. How Beautiful You Are (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

75. Shake Dog Shake (The Top, 1984)
74. Last Dance (Disintegration, 1989)

73. Shiver and Shake (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

72. Let’s Go to Bed (single, 1982)

71. The Top (The Top, 1984)
70. The Love Cats (single, 1983)
69. Like Cockatoos (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

68. The Walk (single, 1983)

67. Homesick (Disintegration, 1989)

66. Burn (The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1994)

65. Killing an Arab (single, 1979)

64. Friday I’m in Love (Wish, 1992)

63. Push (The Head on the Door, 1985)

62. The Blood (The Head on the Door, 1985)

61. The Drowning Man (Faith, 1981)

60. The Holy Hour (Faith, 1981)

59. Out of This World (Bloodflowers, 2000)

58. Snakepit (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

57. A Thousand Hours (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

56. Bloodflowers (Bloodflowers, 2000)

55. Wailing Wall (The Top, 1984)

54. Watching Me Fall (Bloodflowers, 2000)

53. Hot Hot Hot!!! (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

52. Never Enough (single, 1990)
51. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

50. Sinking (The Head on the Door, 1985)

49. The 13^th (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)

48. Lullaby (Disintegration, 1989)

47. Mint Car (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)

46. The Hanging Garden (Pornography, 1982)

45. Underneath the Stars (4:13 Dream, 2008)

44. Prayers for Rain (Disintegration, 1989)
43. Why Can’t I Be You? (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

42. This is a Lie (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)

41. Catch (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

40. Endsong (Songs of a Lost World, 2024)

39. The Caterpillar (The Top, 1984)

38. La Ment (‘The Walk’ B-side, 1983)
37. Pornography (Pornography, 1982)

36. In Between Days (The Head on the Door, 1985)

35. To Wish Impossible Things (Wish, 1992)
34. One Hundred Years (Pornography, 1982)

33. Cut (Wish, 1992)

32. Fascination Street (Disintegration, 1989)

31. Faith (Faith, 1981)

30. The Figurehead (Pornography, 1982)

29. From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea (Wish, 1992)

28. The Funeral Party (Faith, 1981)

27. Apart (Wish, 1992)

26. Treasure (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)
25. End (Wish, 1992)

24. Other Voices (Faith, 1981)

23. Want (Wild Mood Swings, 1996)

22. Disintegration (Disintegration, 1989)

21. Alone (Songs of a Lost World, 2024)

20. Siamese Twins (Pornography, 1982)

19. And Nothing is Forever (Songs of a Lost World, 2024)

18. Just Like Heaven (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

17. Boys Don’t Cry (single, 1979)

16. 10:15 Saturday Night (Three Imaginary Boys, 1979)

15. The Same Deep Water as You (Disintegration, 1989)

14. The Kiss (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, 1987)

13. Close to Me (The Head on the Door, 1985)

12. A Night Like This (The Head on the Door, 1985)

11. Play for Today (Seventeen Seconds, 1980)

10. Lovesong (Disintegration, 1989)

9. Trust (Wish, 1992)

8. Untitled (Disintegration, 1989)

7. A Letter to Elise (Wish, 1992)

6. Closedown (Disintegration, 1989)

5. A Forest (Seventeen Seconds, 1980)

4. Plainsong (Disintegration, 1989)

3. Jumping Someone Else’s Train (single, 1979)

2. Pictures of You (Disintegration, 1989)

1. Primary (Faith, 1981)

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The Cure’s Top 100 Songs

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