The Love Cats (song) explained

The Lovecats
Cover:Thelovecats.jpg
Type:single
Artist:the Cure
Released:21 October 1983[1]
Recorded:August 1983
Genre:
Length:3:33
Label:Fiction
Producer:
Prev Title:The Walk
Prev Year:1983
Next Title:The Caterpillar
Next Year:1984

"The Love Cats" (sometimes rendered as "The Lovecats") is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as a stand-alone single in October 1983.

It was the band's first Top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 7. It also reached number 6 on the Australian chart in early 1984. The single later appeared on the compilation album Japanese Whispers, released in December 1983.

Inspiration and recording

At the time the song was written, Robert Smith was very interested in the work of Australian author Patrick White.[4] According to a number of his fans, Smith was inspired to write "The Love Cats" after reading White's novel The Vivisector (1970), although this claim is difficult to verify.[5] [6] In the novel, the protagonist, Hurtle, is appalled when his lover's husband drowns a sack of stray cats. White draws a parallel between the way in which the cats are discarded, and the treatment of certain characters in the book; by extension, the cats symbolise the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, and the casual cruelty with which they sometimes meet their fate.[7]

The recording session took place in Paris at Studio Des Dames after the band had played a one-off concert in the west of France, in Brittany, in the commune of Saint-Jacut-les-Pins in August 1983. The band recorded other songs there also in jazz rock style, "Speak My Language" and "Mr. Pink Eyes": both ended up on the b-side of the 12-inch vinyl. A fourth track ("A Hand Inside My Mouth (Des Dames Studio Demo 8/83)") also recorded in the same session, surfaced in 2006 on The Top deluxe CD reissue.

Music video

The music video features a number of cats and a large lampshade falling on the head of bassist Phil Thornalley. There are many shots of a mansion which the band told a vendor they were interested in buying. They returned the keys in the morning.[8] Real cats were supposed to be used but after proving to be troublesome, taxidermied ones were used instead.[9]

Smith said of the video: "'The Love Cats' is far from being my favourite song: composed drunk, video filmed drunk, promotion made drunk. It was a joke."[10] The video features an early rough mix of the song done in Paris which is different from the one released on vinyl (the latter was done in London).

Track listing

7"

  1. "The Love Cats" – 3:33
  2. "Speak My Language" – 2:39

UK & US 12"

  1. "The Love Cats" (extended version) – 4:37
  2. "Speak My Language" – 2:39
  3. "Mr. Pink Eyes" – 2:45

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1983–1984)!scope="col"
Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] 6
United Kingdom (CIN)[12] 7

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "The Love Cats"!Chart (1984)!Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] 73

Notes and References

  1. 15 October 1983. Cure for cats. Record Mirror. 7. 24 July 2022.
  2. Web site: Ramirez. A J. 13 December 2011. Why the Cure Deserves to Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 15 June 2016. PopMatters.
  3. Web site: Mason. Stewart. Why Can't I Be You? by The Cure - Track Info. 22 January 2013. AllMusic.
  4. The Stud Brothers: "Pictures of Youth (Pt. 1)", Melody Maker, 7 March 1992: 25–26.
  5. Web site: fortunecity.com . Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file for The Cure . 9 June 2010.
  6. Web site: victoriavirtual.iespana.es. The Cure-Inspiraciones . 9 June 2010.
  7. White, Patrick. The Vivisector. New York: Viking Press, 1970.
  8. Web site: Robert Smith's Critical Guide to Robert Smith . imaginaryboys.altervista.org . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071007101853/http://imaginaryboys.altervista.org/english/cure/articles/criticalguide.htm . 7 October 2007 . dead.
  9. Web site: Cure video - the Lovecats . www.impressionofsounds.com . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080402234455/http://www.impressionofsounds.com/videogr/LOVECATS.html . 2 April 2008 . dead.
  10. Web site: The Love Cats by the Cure. Songfacts.
  11. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 79. 0-646-11917-6.
  12. Web site: Official Charts > Cure. Official Charts Company. 12 January 2022.
  13. Web site: Kent Music Report No 548 – 31 December 1984 > National Top 100 Singles for 1984. Kent Music Report. Imgur.com. 12 January 2022.