Fascination Street

Album: Disintegration (1989)
Charted: 46
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Songfacts®:

  • In an interview with Select magazine, Cure vocalist and primary songwriter Robert Smith said: "I was thinking of Bourbon Street in New Orleans when I wrote it - I was getting ready to go there and I thought: what the f--k do I think I'm going to find? It's about the incredulity that I could still be fooled into looking for a perfect moment."

    In the early 20th century, Bourbon street was famous for its popular restaurants and for being a major location of the emerging jazz scene. It is now widely known for its bars and strip clubs.
  • "Fascination Street" is a fan favorite, but it was released as a single only in the United States.
  • This was featured on the soundtrack to the 1989 movie Lost Angels. Adam Horovitz from the Beastie Boys was in the film. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Richard - Alva, OK
  • This is one of the most structurally peculiar of The Cure's songs, notable for long instrumental sections, broken up by a single verse and two choruses. The instrumental intro is 1:20; on an extended mix of the song the intro is 4 minutes long.

    While recording the Disintegration album, Robert Smith created a strange restriction: He wouldn't speak during the sessions. To communicate, he passed notes to his bandmates, sometimes when they were in the middle of playing. He was trying to foster a kind of nonverbal communication.
  • The track reached #1 on the Billboard's newly created Modern Rock Tracks chart.
  • Founding member Lol Tolhurst received a credit on this track (and the rest of the album) for playing "other instruments." He was suffering from severe alcohol problems during the recording session, and his bandmates have revealed that despite the credit he in fact did not play on the album at all. The band subsequently gave Smith an ultimatum to fire Tolhurst or they would quit. Tolhurst was fired in 1989, but rejoined the band in 2011.
  • The Seattle grunge band Temple Of The Dog performed this as part of an extended encore during their 25th anniversary concerts in 2016.
  • Although the music video's circulation on MTV helped boost interest in the single, Robert Smith thought it missed the mark. It was shot by The Cure's frequent director Tim Pope and features plenty of close-ups of the band performing on a dark street.

    Smith told Select Magazine the clip was "awful." He elaborated: "The original idea was a Doctor Who video, that's why there's a phone box and a clock, with rooms within rooms, done very tackily. But it was done on a low budget. Normally Elektra and Polydor both give us money, but this was only for America, so only Elektra did. The fantasy got lost."

Comments: 7

  • Johnboy from ScotlandI have loved this tune since its release in 89 and I was still a youngster lol. Listen on YouTube to a mix with Depache Mode Ft The Cure Its No Good On Facination Street. If your like me and both these band you will love this. Its not real but the editing is amazing.
  • Miras from Astana, KazakhstanI love this much too. I'm probably mistaken, I don't know why but to me fascination streets relates to a street with hookers. Does anybody know for sure what the song is about?
  • Stacey from Houston, TxBoy; this song brings back lots of memories. One of the best Cure songs by far.
  • Jeanette from Elkridge, MdThis is my favorite song by the Cure. It sounds absolutely fabulous live. It takes true talent to reproduce something made in the studio to make it sound that good when performed live. I especially like the version on their mixed up cd. There are no lyrics for the first 6 minutes of the song! Love it!!
  • Shaun from Thunder Bay, Canadaanother note: bloodletting was released only 1 year after this song
  • Shaun from Thunder Bay, CanadaThe sound effect at the beginning of this song sounds almost the same as the sound effect used at the beginning of Concrete Blonde's "Bloodletting" ... a song that references New Orleans ... *cues twilight zone music*
  • Spyderette from Springville, UtThis song was written about Robert's experiences on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
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