Homesick

Listen to the juxtaposition of the song itself.

Listen to the piano

Listen to the guitar.

Listen to the drums. The cello. the other guitar. The base. Then the synthesizer.

The stress of the piano in the end and how it s drown out by do do do dododo.

This song is about satisfaction.

and dissatisfaction.

Selfishness and Selflessness.

Listening to the purity of right and Wiley of wrong and then drowning the right with enough of the wrong.

There is great conflict in this song.

There is agreement in the beginning, between the piano and guitar. The piano leads and the guitar and the guitar is mirroring the piano in agreement. Then conflict arises, with the introduction of the drums. Then the guitar descends to a different octave... Then it reaches to a higher octave. The piano becomes more adamant yet not insistent. If I were to put labels on the instruments I would say that the piano is the wife. The guitar is the man. The cello is the mother of the wife. or possibly the conscience. The drum is the will of the man. All the other instruments are pawns that draw the man out to his XXXX what ever. Eventually the piano and cello are drowned out.

Do we need words?

The song is told before the lyrics even starts.

Listen to the regret and vulnerability in the last words he sings.

To never to home. then the feeble attempt to be flippant afterwards da da dodod.

The song strips back down in the end.

Everything fades back down to the man his will and his wife.

this says...I have to go home. I have to face what I have done.

This song is complex and gives intimate understanding about the addiction cycle. I think RS grew up in it. His music is retaliatory. This music is retrospective and intelligent. .

I agree with all of you, this song is so unappreciated! To me it's about a relationship fading out, turning from"sweet...wild" into arguments and abuse. He pleads to her to give him a reason to stick around "inspire in me the desire in me..." This song definately deserves more recognition!

"Pretty self explanatory as well. That's sort of about being away doing things you don't really want to do, becoming obsessed with being fixated which is what we tend to be more and more with the time I think." (Music Box TV -1989)

"About the attraction of forbidden fruits." (Oor Magazine -1989)

With the perspective Robert shed on the track, thematically I think it really syncs up with Disintegration and same Deep Water before it. All 3 songs express this fear of commitment as the central idea, with Disintegration and Homesick watching everything slip away (or throwing it away because of that fear in the case of the track 'Disintegration') because self-control is so secondary to desire.

He's says he's homesick, but continues to give in to all these fleeting, impermanent things. Confronted by the idea of 'home' (which could even be a metaphor for commitment), somewhere stable, a place to plant your roots, he stays away. Lyrically he says he'll walk away from it all, but romanticizes the situation itself (bursting hearts... sweet, wild... trembled... stuck in honey, cling to me...) to the point where obviously he's not ready or wanting to. Like any addict, alcohol, serial cheater, whatever... you always give yourself that one out before you confront the issue, so you actually never have to. Like, I'll stop after this or, I'll walk away after this. Every time. Notice how he repeats "Just one more and I'll walk away" again at the end of the song. He's using the same excuse, repeating the same patterns and keeping himself in this longing kind of self-bondage.

You can really get down to some Freudian psycho-analyzing bullshit if you keep going from here, about how he was so young when the band broke... and now he's turning 30 and being confronted by the idea of age.. he's at this huge impasse and is unable to make the transition to the person he feels he should be at that age with responsibility and whatever. Hell, it's probably even why he looks so goddamn awful these days at 50, refusing to let go of his youth.

Anyway, that's my interpretation!

This song made me buy Disintegration. Why should there be one meaning? Maybe it's just a pulse to create the story yourself. And maybe there's something about drugs or sex, but hey, THERE IS MORE THAN DRUGS AND SEX! I don't want to affend someone specific, just to express my frustration about people who find in any song a link to (one of) these subjects. Imagine, only love, sex and drugs as possible themes in music... It would be a sad, sad planet.

when i first heard this song it reminded me of my bf- "you inspire in me the desire in me to never go home". but after thinking about it i think it is about addiction to something- "just one more and i'll walk away".

and also the line "i trembled, stuck in honey honey cling to me"- once you are addicted, you're stuck (as if in honey, impossible to get out of)

I agree with you ladyboygrrl - I could be about addiction - but just as much about love. Because when you've really fallen in love - it's just as hard to get out, just like a addiction.

It could be a song that has double meanings.

i love the line(s) "my eyes are bursting hearts in a blood stained sky" its just so pretty

This is one of those wonderful understated songs by the Cure - a few lines which say so much and spark off the imagination. You can almost imagine the scene - a dusk filled with foreboding, the sunset streaking the sky with red as clouds roll in, and the tormented soul pacing the streets trying to work out what he should do...sometimes you just don't want to go home...things there are too uncomfortable; maybe it feels like a prison, maybe it tempts you into self-destructive behaviour, maybe you just need the courage not to go back there again...you are sick of home (hence "the homesick")

i feel this song is about being lost, lost on the road, and the addiction, sex, and sin all goes with it. he left home and doesnt want to return because he is stuck in this other world that he has imagined before he entered it (such as fame and stardom) A world of mystery, a world where he is paid attention to, and adored. Though he is a star, he reckognizes that its meaningless in the end. He is somewhat trapped living in excess and is ashamed to return home, even though home is haunting is dreams and he is longing for it more than anything. Hence the name homesick.