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"The Walk"
Single by The Cure
B-side	"The Dream" "The Upstairs Room" "Lament"
Released	June 1983
Genre	Synth-pop eurodisco
Length	3:33
Label	Fiction
Songwriter(s)	Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst
Producer(s)	Steve Nye
The Cure singles chronology
"Let's Go to Bed" (1982) "The Walk" (1983) "The Love Cats" (1983)

"The Walk" is a song by English rock band The Cure, released as a stand-alone single in June 1983. It later appeared on the compilation album Japanese Whispers. It was recorded when the band was briefly reduced to the two founder members Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst upon the departure of bassist Simon Gallup in mid-1982, following the end of the band's tour in support of the album Pornography. According to Tolhurst, they chose Steve Nye as producer at the time due to his work on the album Tin Drum by Japan. Tolhurst later commented: "It was the first time we had worked with a 'proper' producer, as opposed to doing production with an engineer that we really liked. He was able to make electronic instruments sound more natural, and that's what we wanted."

Content

One of the three B-sides of the single is "Lament", which is a re-recording of a promo single released in late 1982 for the Flexipop magazine. Unlike the earlier version which had been recorded with Siouxsie and the Banshees bassist Steven Severin, which was garbled and experimental, the lyrics are understandable and the music has a different composition.

Release

Released as a single in June 1983, "The Walk" was something of a commercial breakthrough for the group with regard to their singles output, peaking at number 12 and giving them their first entry into the UK top 20. It was also the first of their 17 consecutive top 20 hits on the Irish chart between 1983 and 1992.

The Cure recorded a completely new version of "The Walk" for their remix album Mixed Up, for the original master tapes could not be located. They later recorded an acoustic version for their Greatest Hits compilation.

Track listing

7"

1. "The Walk"
2. "The Dream"

12"

1. "The Upstairs Room”
2. "The Dream"
3. "The Walk"
4. "Lament"

US mini-LP

1. "The Upstairs Room"
2. "Just One Kiss"
3. "The Dream"
4. "The Walk"
5. "Lament"
6. "Let's Go to Bed (Extended Version)" (only available on some later European releases)

Personnel

• Robert Smith – vocals, guitar, OB-8
• Lol Tolhurst – Oberheim DMX, DSX, OB-8

References

1. "News". NME. 25 June 1983.
2. Ramirez, A J (13 December 2011). "Why the Cure Deserves to Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". PopMatters. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
3. Treble Staff (May 11, 2020). "A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Songs". Treble. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
4. Blender Staff (May 2003). "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die!". Blender. New York: Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
5. ^ Tolhurst, Laurence (2016). Cured – The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys. Da Capo Press (p. 311)
6. Graves, Wren (2 May 2019). "The Cure's 10 Best Deep Cuts". Consequence. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
7. "Cure | Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 15 May 2016.

External links

• "The Walk" at Discogs (list of releases)

• The Cure songs
• 1983 singles
• Songs written by Robert Smith (musician)
• 1983 songs
• Fiction Records singles
• Songs written by Lol Tolhurst