The Figurehead

the figurehead was a grotesque skull sculpture i discovered in the disused asylum we used in the "charlotte sometimes" video. i took it home to talk to - to confess to? and this song is about guilt.

R. Smith, from cure news Number 9, 1990

This song is about a deep depression and a man on the verge of suicide... "Sharp and open Leave me alone And sleeping less every night" -- Depressed people have trouble sleeping and feelings of needing to be alone. He also feels like he’s been cut open. "As the days become heavier and weighted Waiting In the cold light" -- Things are getting darker by the day and he's feeling cold inside and/or the world has a bleak glow (everything is grey, film noir-ish) as he's hoping for things to change. "A noise A scream tears my clothes as the figurines tighten With spiders inside them And dust on the lips of a vision of hell" -- He's getting more and more depressed and doesn't feel comfortable in his old skin and surroundings, he’s getting paranoid and scared and he feels it’s all pushing him in the wrong direction (Hell). "I laughed in the mirror for the first time in a year" -- To me this is a sign of panic when realizing you're probably not gonna make it.

"A hundred other words blind me with your purity Like an old painted doll in the throes of dance" -- He's thinking back to (probably) her kind words that used to cheer him up, and now the words or this happiness just scaling off like paint on and old wall (or an old doll). "I think about tomorrow Please let me sleep" -- He's thinking about his insomnia again and hoping he’ll get some sleep tonight so he'll get through the next day (and maybe even feel a little better). "As I slip down the window" -- He's hoping to float away and maybe someone will notice (tied to the imagined suicide/funeral further down). "Freshly squashed fly You mean nothing You mean nothing" -- He's either talking about the girl who left him, wanting her to be crushed like he is (like a bug) and mean nothing to him (or anybody, also like him), or realizing that he means nothing to anybody (or this girl in particular) and that he's like a squashed bug that gets thrown in the trash without the person killing/throwing them caring.

"I can lose myself in Chinese art and American girls" -- He's thinking that maybe he could dedicate his time on other things to get out of his depression or getting over this girl... "All the time Lose me in the dark" -- ..but he knows that in the end he'll still not feel better and still miss her. "Please do it right Run into the night I will lose myself tomorrow Crimson pain" -- He's contemplating suicide and building up his courage to do it. "Crimson pain" is possibly tied to the suicide depicted in 'Pornography': "I'll watch you drown in the shower", slitting his wrists and watching the blood flow into the drain. "My heart explodes My memory in a fire” -- He’s thinking about how he hope to feel when he goes through with the suicide… hoping that he’s life will flash before his eyes (memory in a fire) and that he’s probably best off dying. “And someone will listen At least for a short while..." -- This is him thinking about his funeral. He's wondering who'll be there and that, at least for a moment, someone will think about him and (maybe) how they treated him. He could possibly also be talking about wanting commit a “cry-for-help”-suicide, wanting to be found, so that someone will listen to him and hopefully ease his pain.

"I can never say no to anyone but you" -- This one is a bit tricky to fit into my interpretation. When I started listening to the song I thought this part was him thinking this about his lover - how he really wants her, but still, ironically, turns her down and treats her badly. It can, however, also fit with the depression/suicide theme in that he's actually telling himself to do it already and that he'll know it's for the best when he's gone.

"Too many secrets Too many lies Writhing with hatred Too many secrets Please make it good tonight..." -- He's thinking about all the secrets and lies in this relationship, and how he wrote/said things he didn't mean (maybe even as poetry/lyrics if you want this to be a bit Smith-autobiographical). He wants it all undone, but... "But the same image haunts me In sequence In despair of time" -- ...yet again he knows that with time he'll always come back to missing her and feeling this bad. A vicious circle, so to speak, he’ll always return to his personal purgatory or destiny.

"I will never be clean again" -- He's thinking how the scars on his wrists will be visible forever if he doesn't make it. "I touched her eyes" -- She fancied him because he was good looking, and she fell for him. (Maybe a synonym for the "shining eyes"-thing from "There Is No If..."?). "Pressed my stained face" -- He's thinking about how he wasn't good enough for her or how he stained her just by being around. Probably connected with her "purity" (before they met) mentioned earlier. "I will never be clean again" -- This could, in addition to the scars, be about how he will never feel better again after HE (yes, he) was stained by her when she left him (she returned the favor). This is also IMHO connected to "Lovesong" with the line "You make me feel like I am clean again" and, as someone else mentioned under "Lovesong", this is clearly an intentional reference (in "Lovesong", that is).

The power of this song cannot be reached by simply reading the lyrics. But, again, it is incredible.

"Sharp and open Leave me alone And sleeping less every night As the days become heavier and weighted Waiting In the cold light A noise A scream tears my clothes as the figurines tighten With spiders inside them And dust on the lips of a vision of hell"

This first segment points to the sexual assaults that the broken boy had to experience in his bedroom at night; here described, just as in Lullaby, as spiders, 'spiders inside him' as he lies, sleepless with torn clothes, screaming. 'The Figuirehead' is perhaps really his father, or his grandfather. He feels stained, he wants to burn his memories; he wants it to be made better by the next night, and always, just as in 'Siamese Twins' he feels it driving a wedge between him and the girl in his life, who he can, unlike his father, say no to.

Legend has it that, while wandering the remains of the former insane asylum in which the Charlotte Sometimes video was being filmed, Robert came across some old drawings in a file cabinet that were done years before by a patient. His interpretation of what the person who did those drawings, combined with his consideration of a human skull (in much the same way that Hamlet considered that of 'poor Yorick's'), inspired many of the lyrics in this song.

However much those experiences may have contributed to the song, though, I think it likely that much of this song is autobiographical in an emotional, if not literal sense. To grasp its meaning, you'll need to give up on trying to find a simple narrative thread, and realize that it's very much impressionistic in style.

Robert went through a dark period here and was virtually paralyzed with drug use. Spiders crawling inside is one image commonly used to describe the effects of certain substances, and I think the next line about "dust on the lips of a vision of hell" is self-referential in this regard as well; seeing as how the next line speaks of him laughing in a mirror (which is strongly suggestive of cocaine, seeing as how it's often cut and inhaled on a mirror), I think there's an obvious bitterness at how little self-control he had left, and how numb he was becoming to the fact that he was such a mess. He's continually begging for things throughout the song (notice how many lines begin with "please"), as if he has no control of the situation and needs someone to help him.

The pivotal line of this song, regardless of your interpretation, has to be "I can never say no, to anyone but you". I believe this line is also a reference to his own inability to stop indulging his voices (the you being either the drugs, or possibly even himself, i.e. he can't resist his own impulses), which is further reinforced by the closing lines of "I will never be clean again". At the time, he couldn't see a way out of it, and in truth, Robert's reliance on drugs and alcohol actually increased over the next couple of years before he was able to rein it in.

I agree with frig neutorn. This song is about the guilt of a breakup, but particularly about the breakup of his first love. The lyrics indicate that it is written about a year after the breakup "...for the first time in a year".

"You mean nothing..." - the last fight

"I can lose myself in Chinese art or American girls" - Trying to distract himself from the depression/pain with other pleasures.

"The same image haunts me in sequence..." - The memory of this first relationship's beginning and it's eventual bitter end haunts him every time he feels he's becoming close to someone else.

"I will never be clean again" - He has lost the innocence he had with this first love. All other relationships are now tainted by the thought that they may also not be permanent, that they my also end. He will never have that innocence again.

The Paris Live version is my absolute favorite. I have now listened to that version over 400 times. I can really relate to HateSaiko's interpretation and feel it is me. Gob Bless The Cure and Robert Smith. Simply amazing!!

Once again Robert Smith has demonstrated superiority amongst every other lyricist.

I can't believe there's only one comment been made for this song? it's gotta be one of, if not my favourite Cure songs.

hmm... don't see any interpretations of the song meaning in these comments, so i offer mine:

this song reminds me of breaking a relationship with a person you feel, or once felt, like you can't live without. An ugly breakup, and one that neither person wants..

very powerful and deep song. Probably my fave Cure song.