Wrong Number by The Cure

Album: Galore (1997)

Charted: 62

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Songfacts®:

This song is partly a narrative on fashion; the colors Robert Smith sings about - lime green and tangerine, red and gold - are combinations popular in '60s clothing that have long since gone out of style. Smith says that his sister wore clothes of these colors and thought she looked great.

Another inspiration for the song, which provided the title, was a phone call Smith received - a wrong number.
The only two members of the cure to actually play on this track were Robert Smith and Jason Cooper. Reeves Gabrels added guitars, but none of the other Cure members actually played on the track. >>
Suggestion credit:
Richard - Alva, OK
The album is a collection of singles that were released by The Cure. This is the only new song on it.
In a 1997 interview with Jam TV, Smith talked about the electronic and dance music influences on the track and the album. "It's very fluid. It doesn't have verse-chorus as much; the stuff we started off doing this summer with the band I've kind of since disregarded and I've put in a studio at home. I've been doing a lot of stuff on my own just using loops and samples and things. It's taken quite a change in direction over the last two months and become very kind of ethereal. And it was very kind of rock about two or three months ago."

He added: "I find a lot of dance music is cerebral in a funny way - just trying to use different combinations of sounds and loops and those kind of things. I got very into the hypnotic sound of seven or eight-minute dance tracks."

Comments: 15

William from ItalyI think it is basically a song about misunderstanding…Robert has fun using words that have got a double meaning especially American/British or by context. This song is a funny and trippy joke
Carlos from PortugalNothing strange about this song. He his obsessed by Angelica, one of the sex workers that is the reincarnation of the devil. She ends by not answering his calls.
Rr7 from Minneapolis, MnVery curious if this song was musically inspired by Pop Will Eat Itself. I did a double take when I heard it to make sure it was the Cure that were performing.
Connor from British ColumbiaPLEASE READ I know what this is song is definitely about! It's about a psychedelic snake trip. When you ingest certain doses of psychedelic plants it is common for people to meet entities and the most common entity people meet while tripping is a snake that speaks to you telepathically. And while this is happening (I'm speaking from personal experience) your head is absolutely slithering and you see hundreds of snakes that are like the big snakes children. And you see a lot of lime green and tangerine. This is the entity that satan is based on actually. Its the snake from Eden and psychedelic plants are the fruit of knowledge.
Daniel from Rio De Janeiro, Brazilthe video for this song is equally delirious and psychodelic, with Robert Smith running away with a bride, maggots and just a bunch of colorful things flying around.

anyway, I'm sticking with the drunk/drug phone call to a wrong number theory.
Chuck from Nanaimo, Bcits about leaving a crazy girl
he had the best plans with her but they wont work but the sex work....... but really its not gonna work in the long run hence the name wrong number?
Ali from Wine, Cawait. so after looking a bit more on this song...
1. hes calling a girl...because of the voice at the end.
2. Hes actually talking about some other girl.
3. There are certain parts in the song that have been put in quotes, thus, if im right about the saying what hes thinking after being drunk or something, he actually said THOSE parts to whoever was on the line.
which means...i still dont know really what this song could be about.

the quoted parts in the lyrics, put together are:
"you know im getting kind of worried
no she doesnt seem herself at all...
lime green and a sickly kind of orange
I've never seen her like this before..."
then
"can you dig it?" "she pulls me down just as I'm trying to hide
grabs me by the hair and drags me outside
and starts digging in the dirt...
for a not so early bird it's the only way
for her to get the worm..."
"can you dig it?" "can you dig it?"
then of course...
"hello? are you still there?"
"hello? are you still there?"
...and much too late...
"sorry, wrong number"

is anyone getting anything by chance???
Ali from Wine, Cawell. i think that this song (as ive told my friends before) is one of the most random songs ive ever heard. just trying to break it down is reaaally hard. i do love the song though.

i know that "started out in church and finished with Angelica" is probably referring to the fact that once, he was a good little boy who went to church, then...had a little affair thing going on with some girl. it doesnt really have anything to do with like...ebing in church...its just the changes that the narrator had in parts of life.

i think that might be the only really thing i understand. the digging-no idea. the colors with animals?-also no idea.
but when the whole talking on the phone thing comes in, obviously hes calling someone to see if theyre alright. but maybe...just maybe...it means that hes calling someone while drunk, or...he just woke up? or somehting totally weird like that, and started talking (or thinking and maybe talking out loud?) about those things, only to realize he was still on the phone, and asks if theyre still there, and the person he was trying to call, maybe WASNT the wrong person. she just thought he needed help and didnt want to talk so she told him he had the wrong number? kind of like what michelle said. i dont know...people can only guess about this song...
Ali from Wine, Calol ive had assumptions too. but before i write them down, i give major kudos to Justin.

AMAZING!
K from Victorville, CaWhat comes to mind when I hear this song: too many drugs...
Michelle from Sydney, Australiahmmm...I thought it was about a guy who'd done too many drugs who called a friend and was raving about his drug hell hallucinations, only to discover that he'd dialed the wrong number and told all this to a stranger.
Peter from Fort Worth, Txhaha, it seems funny when you put the lyrics together like that.
Robin from Wausau, WiI have no definite ideas, but I sense a strong religious connotation...snakes, church, etc...Maybe something to do with Americanization?
Justin from Jacksonville, FlI think it's pretty obvious.... it's about this crazy girl who keeps calling the wrong number..... so the guy... asks her to go to the... moon and she says no, so she digs for... worms and they... have snakes and a devil... and he had plans... and they're in church.
Ak from Reston, Vawhat the heck is this song about...? anyone know?

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