Comments: 15

• Anthony Reilley from West VirginiaIronic that the State of Israel is now suffering the same existential crisis.
• Gaby from Argentina“Whichever I choose it amounts to the same, absolutely nothing…” The best lyrics (and music) for a great piece of literature as it is The Stranger by Camus. I remember I read the book when I was a teen, the same age when I first heard The Cure and became fan of the band. Yes, the title may sound controversial, it talks about killing a person, but it has nothing to do with racism. Words are given racism significance by people and their own subjectivity.
• Michael N from Phoenix, ArizonaI remember the song from back in the day, saw them in Detroit, and did always wonder what it meant, but def an excellent band that should have been bigger actually, can see them as the main 80s band along with DM.
• Chris from Germany Great song, groundbreaking and pioneering at that time. Of course the lyrics nowadays are not politically correct and misunderstood.
• Anne from Sanilac County, MiThat first singles compilation, covering the period from Three Imaginary Boys through The Head on the Door, had 2 different names, depending on the format that you bought. The CD, the only one of those formats that is still in wide use, and the collection of videos were titled Staring at the Sea, while the vinyl LP and cassette versions were called Standing on a Beach, also from this song. LP version was shortest, containing a few less songs than the CD, while the cassette contained the same songs as the LP plus all of the B-sides from the standard singles.
• Eli from Spring Lake, Ncactually shoshona, a jihad is not a holy war. Jihad simply means "struggle".
• Jeff from Atlanta, GaSnatch.. this song was out for SOOOO long before any of the resulting dumb incidents took place. It was always a good song.. its a commentary on the people receiving it rather than the artist who wrote it..
• Louise from Southport, EnglandSnatchworth you are basing that on today's atmosphere. In 1978 the attitude, particularly in England, was completely different and I don't think it was considered controversial at all.
• Shoshona from Tennant Creek, Australiaby the way a fatwah is not a holy war sir ignorant. a fatwa is actually an arabic law. a jihad is a holy war. you use these words in the wrong context. it's so called in alaska. And Killing An Arab was re-released. no one i know listening to 'kissing an arab'.
• Shoshona from Tennant Creek, Australiano no no. none of what you are saying matters. you miss the point. anyway killing an arab isn't excellent. it's stolen from camus. it's undeveloped and limp. you are all limp.
• Jacob from Brussels, BelgiumWhen friends of mine took an airport taxi after landing in Cairo in 1983 it was playing on the radio.
  
  Jake, Brussels
• Jenny from Hereford, EnglandUmm,the compilation is calling "StaRing At The Sea" ,not staRRing, one R.
• Roger from Los Angeles, CaThe Cure puts a disclaimer on their Starring At The Sea album claiming this is not a racist song and is sorry if it offends anyone.
• Vince from Florence, KyCovered by the Electric Hellfire Club on Cleopatra's Cure tribute record... significantly changing the implications of the song away from it's existentialist origins to an almost literal translation of the song title... complete with Jerky Boys' Tarbash voice samples.. "You do not treat my people like this!"
• Snatchworth from Seattle, WaMaybe I'm being cynical, but I think Robert Smith knew full well that this song would be controversial because of the title. Like the old saying goes, "any publicity is good publicity".

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