Just Like Heaven by The Cure

Album: Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)

Charted: 29 40

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Songfacts®:

This song is about a dreamy day near the seashore with a loved one. Lead singer Robert Smith was brought up in the town of Crawley in Southeast England, which is about 40 miles from Beachy Head (a cliff and notorious suicide hotspot).

It's a very romantic song that reads like a screenplay, opening with some dialog from the leading lady:

Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream

There's a kiss on the dizzy edge, the glow of love, and then our hero wakes up alone. This being a Cure song, it's an ambiguous ending: We're not sure if it was all a dream, or just seems like one because it's too good to be true, as if he's in heaven. >>
Suggestion credit:
Wim - Brussels, Belgium
According to Rolling Stone magazine, this was cut at a vineyard in the South of France, and is Robert Smith's favorite Cure song. The band's girlfriends hung out at the sessions, which influenced the music: "The girls would sit on the sofa in the back of the control room and give the songs marks out often," Smith said. "So there was a really big female input."
Robert Smith was in the throes of love when he wrote this song. His girlfriend, Mary Poole, he met when he was 14; in 1988, a year after "Just Like Heaven" was released, they got married, and it stuck.
According to Robert Smith, when he wrote this song, he told his bandmates, "I'll never write something this good again."

One of his favorite moments during a Cure live show is when the piano section comes in and he can scan the crowd to see the reactions.
The video was directed by Tim Pope and shot at the English cliffs that inspired the song. Smith's girlfriend, Mary Poole, is the apparition who dances with him at the cliffside.
In the November 2003 issue of Blender magazine, Robert Smith said: "In 1987, my wife, Mary, and I lived in a small two-bedroom flat in North London. The other room was my music room. Just about the only discipline I had in my life was self-imposed. I set myself a regimen of writing 15 days a month; otherwise I'd have just got up in mid-afternoon and watched TV until the pubs opened, then gone out drinking. I knew as soon as I'd written it that it was a good pop song.

Although I didn't realize it at the time, the structure is very similar to 'Another Girl, Another Planet,' by The Only Ones, which I can still vividly remember hearing on the radio late at night in the mid-'70s. The main difference is that as the song progressed, I introduced some different chord changes, which give it that slightly melancholic feeling. The song is about hyperventilating - kissing and fainting to the floor. Mary dances with me in the video because she was the girl, so it had to be her. The idea is that one night like that is worth 1,000 hours of drudgery."
The original demo of this song was titled "Shivers."
The version released as a single was remixed by Bob Clearmountain. He has worked with The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, among others.
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the band's seventh album, broke The Cure in America, where it reached the Top 40 on the albums chart and sold a million copies.
This was the album's third single and gave the band their highest entry on the Hot 100 (#40) until "Lovesong" peaked at #2 in 1989.
The 2005 romantic comedy Just Like Heaven, starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, borrows its name from this song. Katie Melua recorded a cover version for the soundtrack, and The Cure's rendition plays over the end credits.
This was also used in these movies:

The Beach Bum (2019)
Gringo (2018)
Café de Flore (2011)
Going The Distance (2010)
Stay Cool (2009)
Adventureland (2009)
The Man Who Loved Yngve (2008)
Judas Kiss (1998)
The Evening Star (1996)

And these TV shows:

The Goldbergs ("You're Not Invited" - 2014)
New Tricks ("The Queen's Speech" - 2014)
Eastwick ("Pilot" - 2009)
Fringe ("Bound" - 2009)
True Blood ("Burning House Of Love" - 2008)
The L World ("Lifecycle" - 2008)
Cold Case ("Who's Your Daddy" - 2004)

Comments: 25

Mike from Norman, OkI always thought that it was like the Edgar Alan Poe poem Anabelle Lee.
Jill from Baltimore, MarylandI love, love, love this song. I have heard it a thousand plus times and never tire of it. I have told my girls that if I ever die and they hear this song, I want them to think of me.
April from Houston, TxMagnus in Stockholm,Sweden is incorrect. It is about one night of pure love being worth the pain after wards. If you read their 2 official biographies *one where Robert & the band helped the author write the book like a diary with every member having their say. It covered the first 10 years of the cure's career all the way back to grade school. (The books title is "Ten Imaginary Years"-Robert wrote the book with the help of a friend & it was released in 1988-It is the Official biography. His name is on the cover as the author, another good source is another authorized biography of The Cure-Never Enough by Jeff Apter in 2005, another good book is "The Arm Chair Guide to The Cure" that notes who is on every song,vinyl/cassette/cd/dvd, the band explains what the songs meant or why they were written ext.)And the girl in the video is his girlfriend soon to be wife. He had been in a relationship Mary since age 14. He met her at a school dance and despite what Magnus writes, Robert & Mary did not lose their virginity together the first time they met. He wanted her at first b/c she was the prettiest and most popular girl at the all girls school next to the all boys school Robert attended. He wanted to prove he could get her because all the boys wanted her. But he fell in love.
Betto from Ciudad De México, MexicoEsta canción me recuerda a una novia que tuve que murió. El mar significa la muerte. La muerte se llevó a la única chica que amé y la ahogó tan dentro de mí. Lamento no haberme dado el tiempo para demostrarle cuánto la amé.
Lily from London, United KingdomMy favourite song in the World, has been since I was 14. We're having it as our first dance song at our wedding.
Marc from Liverpool, United KingdomRobert Smith is a very good footall ( soccer )player and could of turned professional after trails with Manchester united, he chose music, good choice.
Phoebe from Belchertown, MaSo beautiful...
Marcelo from San Jose, Otherexcellent song...reminds me of a girl I like a lot...I will show her the trick the makes her laugh...waiting for her to run away with me...
Danielle from New York, NyAnyway this is def. one of the most awesomest songs ever...I am getting married in December and I want this to be my wedding song, the lyrics are beautiful and the mood is fun....it really makes me think about what it was like when I first started dating my fiance..like the excitment of those beginning months in a relationship where u get the butterflies = ) Anyway any suggestions on the best wedding song version of this song. The original is perfect but we need to sllooowwww dance to it
Jazmin from San Bernardino, Cathis song is.. just... i dont know it just get me into it that song is so original, its about him and his girlfriend, its just sad when he notices shes gone i just cry in taht part, but i loved it , it rocks!
Greg from Christiansted, United StatesKatie Melua has done a cover of this song and it is fantastic. Her soft guitar work combined with her rich smoky voice make this a must hear.
Greg, st. croix virgin islands
Brian from Rochester, NyThe bands Taking Back Sunday and Gatsbys American Dream do fairly descent covers of this song, the Taking Back Sunday Version is pretty rare and an all acoustic version.
Scott from Philadelphia, Pa1- There is a new movie with the same name and a new slow version of the song. It's not too bad.
2- I have also heard Robert SMith himself admit to "altering the truth."
3- I seem to remember hearing something about this song being about a girlfriend commiting suicide and the boyfirend wishing he did, too; because he missed her so much.
We'll never know.
Helen from A Two Stroy Oxo CubeI love this song, 'cos it was feature don Donnie Darko one of my fave movies, love it love it love it love it and and love the band<3
Cameron from Mesquite, TxThe best cover of this song was done by Dinosaur Jr., without a doubt.
Amanda from Port-of-spain, OtherThis is the kind of song women wish their guys would write for them. He obviously doesn't have to be singer, just the thought of such a hopeless passion penned is enough to woo me out of my shoes.
Black from Toronto, CanadaThis song
is what got
me into The Cure!
Craig from Dunedin, New ZealandLots of metaphors in this one,sounds like a ficticious situation. Sounds like his girlfriend jumped....maybe after 17? years of marriage he secretly wishes she would jump!!!
Nick from San Francisco, CaAnother excellent cover of this song is done by a gal named Charlotte Martin. It's a piano solo and really captures the essence of the song.
Jerry from Palm Harbor, FlGoldfinger does a decent cover of this song.
Jon-michael from Augusta, Georgia, Gawell, i love the video and the song.!!
Zach from Norman, Oki once saw a cure tribute concert where AFI played an amazing cover of this song
Josh from Phoenix, Azthis is my favorite song
J from New Cumberland, PaRobert Smith is also a well known liar. The song is about his wife, then girlfriend.... he had been dating her since he was fifteen... and while he admits the song, and the video are based on real-life occurances, he DID make up the part about meeting Marry at beachy head...
Magnus from Stockholm, SwedenThe song is about the first time he met his wife - to be.. That time he met a mysterious girl and spent the night with her on a cliff watching the ocean. In the morning she was gone and Smith walked home alone and wrote the song. TEN - FIFTEEN years later (!) she pops up meeting him somewhere and later they marry.. This is a wellknown songfact and i actually recall hearing Smith mention the thing on an interview somewhere (:

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