A Letter to Elise explained

A Letter to Elise
Cover:	A Letter to Elise (The Cure album - cover art).jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	the Cure
Album:	Wish
B-Side:	"The Big Hand" "A Foolish Arrangement"
Length:	5:12
Label:	Fiction
Producer:	Robert Smith David Allen
Prev Title:	Friday I'm in Love
Prev Year:	1992
Next Title:	The 13th
Next Year:	1996

"A Letter to Elise" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the third and final single from the album Wish on 5 October 1992. In 2010, Pitchfork Media ranked it at number 184 in their list of "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s".^[1]

Background

"A Letter to Elise" was made public for the first time on MTV's Cure-"Unplugged" show in 1991 and had very different lyrics from the later version to be released as a 7". Letters to Felice by Kafka was a huge influence when Robert Smith wrote the lyrics of the track.^[2]

The B-side "The Big Hand" was planned as an A-side single early in 1993 but the idea was scrapped, largely due to Boris Williams not wanting the track to appear on the album but having no qualms about it appearing as a B-side (from KROQ radio interview with the band in 1992). "The Big Hand" is one of the few B-sides to be played live, although very rarely. It was first played in 1991, performed a few times during the Wish Tour in 1992, then revived at the Ultra Music Festival in 2007, and was occasionally played during the band's 4Tour World Tour 2007–08.

A promo version of the song features yet another longer unreleased mix, with phaser on Robert Smith's voice. An instrumental version on cassette is also known to exist.

"A Letter to Elise" itself was revived by the band's new Smith/Gallup/Thompson/Cooper lineup in 2005 after being played sparingly, if ever, during the Smith/Gallup/Bamonte/Cooper/O'Donnell era.

Impact

"A Letter to Elise" has been covered by Aaron Sprinkle, for his Really Something EP; Blink-182, for the 2004 MTV Icon show for the Cure; and Sense Field, for their 2003 album Living Outside.

Personnel

• Robert Smith – guitar, keyboard, vocals, 6 string bass
• Perry Bamonte – 6 string bass, guitar, keyboard
• Simon Gallup – bass
• Porl Thompson – guitar
• Boris Williams – percussion, drums
• Bryan 'Chuck' New

Charts

Chart (1992)!scope="col"

Peak position
Australia (ARIA)^[3]	103

Release history

Region!scope="col"

Date	Format(s)	Label(s)
United Kingdom	5 October 1992		Fiction	^[4]
Japan	5 December 1992	CD		^[5]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 200-151 – Page 2 Pitchfork . Pitchfork . 28 October 2016.
2. Web site: Robert Smith's Reading List. Radical Reads. 27 March 2024.
3. Web site: Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015 . 2 August 2015 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150716153430/http://i.imgur.com/oyPN1pW.jpg . 16 July 2015.
4. New Releases: Singles . . 19 . 3 October 1992.
5. Web site: レター・トゥ・エリーズ Cure . Letter to Elise Cure . . ja . 6 February 2024.