Charlotte Sometimes (song) - Misplaced Pages

"Charlotte Sometimes" is a song by English rock band the Cure, recorded at producer Mike Hedges' Playground Studios and released as a non-album single on 9 October 1981 by Polydor Records, following the band's third studio album Faith. The titles and lyrics to both sides were based on the book Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer.

The single reached No. 44 in the UK Singles Chart.

Content

The song "Charlotte Sometimes" was based on Charlotte Sometimes, a children's novel by English writer Penelope Farmer, published in 1969. According to Cure frontman Robert Smith: "There have been a lot of literary influences through the years; 'Charlotte Sometimes' was a very straight lift." Many lines in the song reflect lines directly from the book, such as "All the faces/All the voices blur/Change to one face/Change to one voice" from the song, compared to the first sentence of the book, "By bedtime all the faces, the voices, had blurred for Charlotte to one face, one voice". The song continues: "Prepare yourself for bed/The light seems bright/And glares on white walls", and the book continues, "She prepared herself for bed... The light seemed too bright for them, glaring on white walls". The title of the single's B-side, "Splintered in Her Head", was also taken from a line in the novel. The Cure later released another song based on the novel, "The Empty World", from their 1984 album The Top.

The mood of B-side "Splintered in Her Head" is overall more disquieting, with metallic, distorted vocals and heavy percussion, foreshadowing the sound and feel of the band's next studio album, Pornography. The 10-minute live version of "Faith" on the B-side of the 12" version of the single was recorded at the Sydney Capitol Theatre in August 1981 by the then-Australian Broadcasting Commission's youth radio station 2JJJ. This version was also included on the second disc of the deluxe reissue of the album Faith.

The cover of the single is a distorted picture of Mary Poole, Smith's then-girlfriend and later wife. The same picture was used again as the cover of the Cure's 1990 single "Pictures of You", but with the picture clear and undistorted.

Recording

The single was recorded over 16 and 17 July 1981 at Mike Hedges' Playground Studio, named by Robert Smith, in between European festival dates and an upcoming North American tour. Production was overseen by Hedges and the band themselves.

Music video

On advice by Fiction label owner Chris Parry, the music video for "Charlotte Sometimes" was filmed at Holloway Sanatorium. It features the character of Charlotte recreating scenes from the story in the presence of the band, while Smith mimes the words of the song.

Release

The song reached No. 44 in the UK Singles Chart. It was later included in the bonus disc of the deluxe edition of Faith, released in 2005.

Live takes were included on the Concert and Paris albums.

Reception

The book The Rough Guide to Cult Pop called the song "a goth masterpiece of doomed beauty and ruined elegance".

Track listing

7" vinyl

All tracks are written by The Cure (Robert Smith, Simon Gallup and Lol Tolhurst)

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Charlotte Sometimes"	4:15

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Splintered in Her Head"	5:15

12" vinyl

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Charlotte Sometimes"	4:14
2.	"Splintered in Her Head"	5:16

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Faith (Recorded Live)"	10:33

Personnel

Robert Smith – vocals, electric guitar and synthesizer, harmonica on "Splintered in Her Head"
Simon Gallup – bass guitar
Lol Tolhurst – electronic drums

References

"Cure | Artist | Official Charts". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
^ Charlotte Sometimes author Penelope Farmer in 2007 about "Charlotte Sometimes", part one and two (via Archive.org)
^ Apter, Jeff (2006). Never Enough: The Story of The Cure. Omnibus Press. ISBN 1844498271.
"Robert Smith Interview 2008 Part2 – YouTube". YouTube. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
Simpson, Paul (2003). The Rough Guide to Cult Pop. Rough Guides. p. 119. ISBN 9781843532293.

External links

Charlotte Sometimes at Discogs (list of releases)

v t e The Cure
Robert Smith Simon Gallup Roger O'Donnell Perry Bamonte Jason Cooper Reeves Gabrels Andy Anderson Michael Dempsey Matthieu Hartley Pearl Thompson Phil Thornalley Lol Tolhurst Boris Williams
Studio albums	Three Imaginary Boys Seventeen Seconds Faith Pornography The Top The Head on the Door Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me Disintegration Wish Wild Mood Swings Bloodflowers The Cure 4:13 Dream Songs of a Lost World
Live albums	Concert: The Cure Live Entreat Show Paris Bestival Live 2011
Compilations	Boys Don't Cry Japanese Whispers Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea Galore Greatest Hits Join the Dots
Remix albums	Mixed Up Torn Down
Extended plays	The Peel Sessions Festival 2005 Hypnagogic States EP
Singles	"Killing an Arab" "Boys Don't Cry" "Jumping Someone Else's Train" "A Forest" "Primary" "Charlotte Sometimes" "The Hanging Garden" "Let's Go to Bed" "The Walk" "The Love Cats" "The Caterpillar" "In Between Days" "Close to Me" "Why Can't I Be You?" "Catch" "Just Like Heaven" "Hot Hot Hot!!!" "Lullaby" "Fascination Street" "Lovesong" "Pictures of You" "Never Enough" "High" "Friday I'm in Love" "A Letter to Elise" "The 13th" "Mint Car" "Strange Attraction" "Gone!" "Wrong Number" "Cut Here" "The End of the World" "The Only One" "Freakshow" "Sleep When I'm Dead" "The Perfect Boy" "Alone"
Other songs	"10:15 Saturday Night"
Video albums	The Cure in Orange Trilogy Festival 2005
Tours	The Cure: 'Reflections' Shows of a Lost World
Related articles	Discography Band members "I'm a Cult Hero" Perfect as Cats: A Tribute to the Cure Babacar COGASM Fools Dance The Glove Levinhurst The Magazine Spies Presence Shelleyan Orphan Siouxsie and the Banshees Nocturne Hyæna
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