Oh, Elise, it doesn't matter what you say
I just can't stay here every yesterday
Like keep on acting out the same
The way we act out
Every way to smile, forget
And make-believe we never needed
Any more than this
Any more than this

Oh, Elise, it doesn't matter what you do
I know I'll never really get inside of you
To make your eyes catch fire
The way they should
The way the blue could pull me in
If they only would, if they only would
At least I'd lose this sense of sensing
Something else that hides away
From me and you, they're worlds to part
With aching looks and breaking hearts
And all the prayers your hands can make
Oh, I just take as much as you can throw
And then throw it all away
Oh, I throw it all away
Like throwing faces at the sky
Like throwing arms 'round yesterday
I stood and stared
Wide-eyed in front of you
And the face I saw looked back the way I wanted to
But I just can't hold my tears away the way you do
Elise, believe I never wanted this
I thought this time I'd keep all of my promises
I thought you were the girl I always dreamed about
But I let the dream go
And the promises broke and make-believe ran out

So, Elise, it doesn't matter what you say
I just can't stay here every yesterday
Like keep on acting out the same
The way we act out
Every way to smile, forget
And make-believe we never needed
Any more than this
Any more than this

And every time I try to pick it up
Like falling sand
As fast as I pick it up
It runs away through my clutching hands
But there's nothing else I can really do
There's nothing else I can really do
There's nothing else I can really do
At all

Edit Lyrics

Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by Mellow_Harsher

A Letter to Elise Lyrics as written by Porl Thompson Robert James Smith

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

A Letter to Elise song meanings

Add Your Thoughts

77 Comments

+7
General Comment
this is the true beauty of cure songs, and robert's writing.. most of his inspiration comes from literature.. he takes it in, reforms it and spills it out in a form that makes the listener feel like the song was written for nobody else but them, that's why people always write their own personal stories and situations to cure songs.. he makes great works personal not only for himself but for the listener as well

this as stated is indeed written from a Kafka inspiration, 'Letters To Felice', whom despite what was written here was not his mistress but actually his later to be fiance. He had met her, and they wrote letters to each other long distance. I think a hint of this song comes from the fact that many people believe that Kafka having distance and only letters created an image of Felice, that in reality Felice could not live up to, and he also exaggerated his feelings for her to prove to his father that he too could love and start a family, he later fell in love with what was thought to be her close friend.

but putting it in a more personal aspect, as is so easy with robert's writing, no matter what the source. this song gives you a sense of wanting to try and trying but not being able to achieve the real goal of love and happiness with each other. he's writing to 'elise' to tell her that despite their best efforts, they both need something more.. they'll never really get inside of each other, and they're both fooling themselves. He wanted to believe but the reality of the whole situation was clear.

this is the true beauty of cure songs, and robert's writing.. most of his inspiration comes from literature.. he takes it in, reforms it and spills it out in a form that makes the listener feel like the song was written for nobody else but them, that's why people always write their own personal stories and situations to cure songs.. he makes great works personal not only for himself but for the listener as well this as stated is indeed written from a Kafka inspiration, 'Letters To Felice', whom despite what was written here was not his mistress but actually his later to be fiance. He had met her, and they wrote letters to each other long distance. I think a hint of this song comes from the fact that many people believe that Kafka having distance and only letters created an image of Felice, that in reality Felice could not live up to, and he also exaggerated his feelings for her to prove to his father that he too could love and start a family, he later fell in love with what was thought to be her close friend. but putting it in a more personal aspect, as is so easy with robert's writing, no matter what the source. this song gives you a sense of wanting to try and trying but not being able to achieve the real goal of love and happiness with each other. he's writing to 'elise' to tell her that despite their best efforts, they both need something more.. they'll never really get inside of each other, and they're both fooling themselves. He wanted to believe but the reality of the whole situation was clear.

Reason:

xpsychicheartsxon June 02, 2005 Link
- 2 Replies Log in to reply
There was an error.

@xpsychicheartsx

oh elise it doesn't matter what you do<br /> i know i'll never really get inside of you<br /> to make your eyes catch fire<br /> the way they should...

cora518796on September 08, 2014

@xpsychicheartsx In the late '80s when I first started getting into The Cure, I found myself thinking RS's favourite subject in school must've been French Lit ("Killing an Arab" and "How Beautiful You Are" were among the songs that convinced me of this in particular). I was pretty shocked when I found out he hadn't even gone to university, because so much of his work has a real intellectual underpinning and/or inspiration.

GwiberWyrddon April 28, 2019