The Love Cats

Album: Staring At The Sea: The Singles (1983)
Charted: 7
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Songfacts®:

  • This was initially written as a parody, and Robert Smith later distanced himself from the song. In Rock & Folk magazine, Smith said: "'The Love Cats' is far from being my favorite song: composed drunk, video filmed drunk, promotion made drunk. It was a joke."
  • The video, directed by Tim Pope, was shot in a mansion which had been "borrowed" from an estate agent who believed they wanted to buy it. In the morning they returned the keys.

    Lots of actual cats were used in the filming, and some band members wore giant cat costumes for the shoot. A few of the shots are of Lol Tolhurst roaming the streets outside while wearing one of the cat costumes.
  • This was the first UK Top 10 hit for The Cure.
  • According to the actress Molly Ringwald, the late director John Hughes worked on a script for a movie based on this song. She recalled in an interview with Vanity Fair that once Hughes had completed The Breakfast Club, "he gave me a mix tape of what the soundtrack was gonna be. Which was pretty much Dave Brubeck, with the last song by Bob Dylan."
  • The song was originally called "The Love Cats" (three separate words), as evidenced by the single cover and twelve-inch label. The singles compilation Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea (vinyl/CD) listed the song as "The Love Cats" on the tray card and CD, but "The Lovecats" on the booklet. In 2001, when the Greatest Hits album was released, the song was listed as "The Lovecats." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Thomas - Berwick, ON
  • Lol Tolhurst, who started as the band's drummer and later moved to keyboards, played a different instrument on this track: vibraphone.

Comments: 22

  • Lilithinlove from WashingtonOK some facts: to the person who mentioned "cagey tigers" and equating the words to imprisonment... that's not what it means. Cagey does Not mean being in a cage, regardless of how it sounds. Cagey literally means 'clever, wary of being deceived (no, not weary, as so many people say now, which doesn't mean watchful. It means tired!) And " marked by cleverness." To the person talking about the line, "we should have each other with cream," this is Not referring to cream as the sexual kind. It's a comical analogy of cats having a drink together and it's dairy cream like people gave cats in older times, (before they realized it wasn't healthy for cats) just like people having a drink together and most likely end up having each other for the night. I also read an article years ago in Star Hits magazine...(yes I was around back then and a true Goth. I'm still a Goth and living proof it's not a phase. Holla if black is your happy color!!!) And Robert Smith said that the song was written drunk (as cited on this page) and he'd been hearing cats yowling while fighting and/or mating, and the words just came to him. It was not intended to have deep meaning or profound psychological underpinnings. It was basically a silly song that Robert and the boys made edgy, catchy, cool and artsy. Everyone is welcome to stop overthinking the Lovecats now if they like.
  • Sik from New ZealandInteresting debate about suicide. One thing to know was that Robert Smith was coming out of something of a mental breakdown at this time. The group had just written 3 of the most depressing albums of all time (17 Seconds/Faith/Pornography), where death and suicide were frequent themes. Around this time, Smith wrote ‘Let’s Go to Bed’ and said he wrote it as a song he would hate as a means to escape from himself. Some of you are making the point that the ‘into the sea’ links to the line ‘All the songs we know’ rather than ‘you and me’. That might be true the first time it occurs but throwing music into the sea seems like quite a suicidal action for a musician. The second time it comes up in the song the ‘into the sea’ is no longer linked to the songs but just seems to be about ‘you and me’. It’s as if he has thrown his spiritual essence into the sea and now is physically throwing himself into the sea. A second element which could, more tentatively and less probably, be linked to suicide is the line about having each other to tea (later dinner). ‘We should have each other with cream’- that could be interpreted as sexual or it could be a reference to cannibalism. In all likelihood that is taking things too far. But I think the sea reference is about suicide. Ultimately, the song is about being in a relationship which imprisons you (‘cagey tigers’), which is all consuming, which isolates the lovers from everyone else and which has a cult element to it: where the lovers would do absolutely anything the other asked of them (presumably including suicide). This is by no means a song about a sweet relation: the song describes it as a ‘treacherous thing’.
  • Macintonk from BridewellThe song doesn’t say “into the sea, you and me”.

    “Into the sea” is the end of one line.

    “You and me” is the start of the next.
  • Delibird from Out There SomewhereWhile it may not be the original intention, an alternate interpretation of the "Into the sea, you and me" could be a reference to Edward Lear's famous poem of "The Owl and the Pussycat." Those two clearly loved each other and "went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat."
  • Teeeeeeem from LondonAnd YES the cure have a quirky and mixed up 'sense of humour'. The whole song is ENTIRELY a song about being feeling unloved but beautiful and rejected like a bag of kittens thrown into the sea - to a pop-beat.
  • Teeeeeeem from LondonTo the numpties questioning why it would be about drowning / suicide - drowning a sack of unwanted kittens is a 'traditional' if horrific way of disposing of them. What do you think 'into the sea, you and me' means in a song about cats? Do cats play in the sea? do cats go paddling on beaches? They hate water. Use your brains.
  • Lestranges from Bugibba, MaltaI've always loved this song, it's so quirky and catchy.
  • Z from Somewhere Over The Rainbow, WaI like to listen to this song. Loud. A lot. I've had multiple people stare at me from time to time because I have my ipod on so loudly that they can actually hear it. It's very catchy. I really doubt that it's about suicide or drowning kittens. I've always felt this song was about not being afraid to let your wild, playful (even cat-like) side to the person you love.
    ~~Ta~~
  • Mitch from Columbia, Sc"I hate those meeces to pieces!" was a phrase used by Jinx the cat, a Hanna Barbera cartoon character. Jinx was referring to Dixie and Pixie, two cartoon mice who would usually confound and vex him. A clever turn of words on the part of Robert Smith.
  • Belle from New Orleans, Laanother great cure song i love is 'caterpillar girl'. i like to sing to both of these songs
  • Belle from New Orleans, Laalso, it's not about drowning kittens. no clue why you said that
  • Belle from New Orleans, Laum...i don't know where you guys got this suicide thing from...he's singing about two lovers, only he's saying the're cats
  • William from Cairns, AustraliaI read an interview with Robert Smith where he claimed that the song is about drowning unwanted kittens.
  • Ed from Phoenix, AzI always thought a verse in this song was "one flea, one flea, one flea one flea, pity" but apparently I am wrong
    On the web site kissthisguy.com they reference the verse as "so wonderfully, wonderfully,wonderfully, wonderfully pretty"
    Who knew?
  • Al from Mineral, VaSuicide??? If you read the previous phrase, you wil see that the complete line is "let's go and throw all the songs we know into the sea..." Just because it's followed by "you and me" doesn't mean that it's about suicide.
  • Pete from Gatwick, Englandjhon has a good point its also fairly simple because i have played it on my bass many times. i like the way at the begining where it goes up two on the third fret of the E string then down two from it because they also use that bit in the main verse part of the bass line while swithching key between the two sections of the bass line on the the verse the sencond lower then the first.
  • Colin from Bradford, EnglandThe word 'meeces' is a childish variant of the word 'mice'. So in this song it means mice.
  • Mjn Seifer from Not Listed For Personal Reason, EnglandPS: I don't get the line "Not broken in pieces
    Like hated little meeces
    How could we miss
    Someone as dumb as this" What the hell are "meeces" and what have they got to do with the song?
  • Mjn Seifer from Not Listed For Personal Reason, EnglandNo offense Tim, but if it's about suicide then where does the rest of the song fit in? And besides this song is just too happy sounding to be about suicide - So either the Cure have really sick senses of humor, or someones been lying to you.
  • John from Cape Coral, Flthat bass line is awesome
  • Tim from Hamme, Belgiumeverybody thinks this is a sweet song about cats.but its a song about a suicide pact(into the sea,you and me)between 2 lovers(the lovecats).when you know this fact its still a great song but with a bitter and cynic undertone.
  • Nicole from Nottellin, OrA sweet, funny song that was a big hit at the dance clubs in the 80s, even though it really doesn't have a dance-able beat.
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