Oh, I miss the kiss of treachery
The shameless kiss of vanity
The soft and the black and the velvety
Up tight against the side of me

And mouth and eyes and heart all bleed
And run in thickening streams of greed
As bit by bit it starts the need
To just let go my party piece

I miss the kiss of treachery
The aching kiss before I feed
The stench of a love for a younger meat
And the sound that it makes when it cuts in deep
The holding up on bended knees
The addiction of duplicities
As bit by bit, it starts the need
To just let go of my party piece

But I never said I would stay to the end
So I leave you with babies and hoping for frequency
Screaming like this in the hope of the secrecy
Screaming me over and over and over
I leave you with photographs, pictures of trickery
Stains on the carpet and stains on the scenery
Songs about happiness murmured in dreams
When both of us knew how the ending would be

So it's all come back 'round to breaking apart again
Breaking apart like I'm made up of glass again
Making it up behind my back again
Holding my breath for the fear of sleep again
Holding it up behind my head again
Cut in the deep to the heart of the bone again
'Round and 'round and 'round and it's coming apart again
Over and over and over

And now that I know that I'm breaking to pieces
I'll pull out my heart and I'll feed it to anyone
I'm crying for sympathy, crocodiles cry
For the love of the crowd
And the three cheers from everyone
Dropping through sky
Through the glass of the roof
Through the roof of your mouth
Through the mouth of your eye
Through the eye of the needle
It's easier for me to get closer to Heaven
Than ever feel whole again

But I never said I would stay to the end
I knew I would leave you with babies and everything
Screaming like this in the whole of sincerity
Screaming me over and over and over
I leave you with photographs, pictures of trickery
And stains on the carpet and stains on the memory of
Songs about happiness murmured in dreams
When we both of us knew how the end always is
How the end always is

How the end always is
How the end always is
How the end always is
How the end always is
Always
Always


Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by clouds1

Disintegration Lyrics as written by Laurence Andrew Tolhurst Boris Williams

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Disintegration song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

81 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +8
    My Interpretation

    I grew up listening to the Cure, and their unique sound along with their beautifully poetic and melancholy lyrics spoke to me deeply. I loved everything they did from early albums like the top and 17 seconds, to head on the door and kiss mex3, but disintegration (album) to me is their masterpiece. While the whole album is amazingly deep and wonderfully atmospheric, this song was special to me. I had the lyrics drawn on my bedroom mirror in sharpie (it wipes off glass); it just resonated with me on a very deep level as a treatise on the superficialities of life I suppose.

    Twenty years later, I see it as a prophetic vision of my life to come. I'm married now, to a sweet girl, but it's all come back round to breaking apart again. We married to create a home due to an unplanned pregnancy, and though I've tried my damnedest to 'make it work', I miss the kiss of treachery, the shameless kiss of vanity, up tight against the side of me. I hate myself for it, how hard can it be to sacrifice happiness on the altar of selflessness? But as things have begun to fall apart, this illusion is slowly being shattered, the addiction of duplicities, as bit by bit it starts the need to just let go my party piece.

    But I never said I would stay till the end, and I leave her with babies and hoping for frequency. Leave her with photographs, pictures of trickery, stains on the carpet and stains on the memories, songs about happiness murmured in dreams when the both of us knew how the ending would be.

    You can hate me, but I doubt you could possibly loathe me the way I do. And so it's all come back round to breaking apart, breaking apart like I'm made up of glass again, holding my breath for the fear of sleep again, it's coming apart again over and over and over.

    And now that I know that I'm breaking to pieces, I'll pull out my heart and feed it to anyone. I'm broken, and though tears come unbidden at my dramatic self destruction, crocodiles cry for the love of the crowd and three cheers from everyone. Dropping through sky through the glass of the roof through the roof of your mouth through the mouth of your eye through the eye of the needle, it's easier for me to get closer to heaven than ever feel whole again. Who really believes in fairy tales anyway?

    So I leave you with photographs, pictures of trickery, stains on the carpet, stains on the memory, songs about happiness murmured in dreams when we both of us knew how the end always is.

    How the end always is.

    swervelyon April 29, 2014   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.