| "Lovesong" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Cure | ||||
| from the album Disintegration | ||||
| Released | 21 August 1989 | |||
| Format | 7", 12", CD | |||
| Genre | Darkwave, Gothic Rock | |||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Fiction Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Robert Smith, Simon Gallup | |||
| Producer | Robert Smith Dave Allen |
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| The Cure singles chronology | ||||
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"Lovesong" (sometimes listed as "Love Song") is a song originally recorded by the English alternative rock band The Cure, released as the third single from their eighth studio album Disintegration in 1989. The song saw considerable success in the United States, where it was the band's only top ten pop hit; in the United Kingdom, however, the single only charted in the top twenty.
Though the song has been covered by several artists, the most famous and successful cover is the 2004 version by American reggae rock band 311, recorded for the soundtrack for the film 50 First Dates and also released as a single. This version actually charted higher on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart (reaching #1) than the Cure original (which peaked at #2).
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Upon release as a single, the song received worldwide success, and first peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the group's most successful single in the US to date. The song also charted at #2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, #27 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart [1] and #18 on the UK Singles Chart. Robert Smith originally wrote the song for his long-time girlfriend and then fiancée, Mary, as a wedding present.
Similar to the title variations of the Cure song "In Between Days", there doesn't seem to be a universally agreed-upon spacing method of the title of Lovesong, as it varies between "Lovesong" and "Love Song" on many official Cure releases. The original 1989 artwork for the album Disintegration uses "Love Song" on the tracklisting and "Lovesong" on the lyrics sheet: the revised art for the 2010 remaster of the album consistently uses "Lovesong". When released as a single in 1989, the cover artwork displayed the title as "Lovesong", while the printing on the disc itself read "Love Song" all three times. Subsequent releases of Paris and Galore both use "Lovesong" exclusively, whilst 2001's Greatest Hits compilation uses "Lovesong" on the track listing and "Love Song" within the liner notes. 2004's Join the Dots also uses "Lovesong" within the booklet presentation.
Former Cure band member Lol Tolhurst does not appear in the music video or contribute to the song. He was a member of The Cure at the time it was recorded, but was fired shortly before the album was released.
| "Love Song" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by 311 | ||||
| from the album 50 First Dates Soundtrack and Greatest Hits '93–'03 | ||||
| Released | February 13, 2004 | |||
| Genre | Reggae rock | |||
| Length | 3:28 | |||
| Label | Volcano Records | |||
| 311 singles chronology | ||||
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Love Song was released as a single by the band 311 and is featured on the soundtrack of the 2004 film, 50 First Dates. It is also featured on 311's greatest hits album, Greatest Hits '93–'03.
The music video features the band playing the song inside a cave.
| Chart (2004) | Peak position [1] |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| US Billboard Adult Top 40 | 7 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 59 |
| US Billboard Radio Songs | 60 |
The track has been covered by JES in various trance and acoustic styles, as well as The Brunettes for the 2008 American Laundromat Records tribute album Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure. The song has also been covered by the bands 311 (who scored a #1 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart with their version, which outperformed the original #2 song on the same chart), A Perfect Circle (as a mashup with Diary of a Madman), Good Charlotte, The Deluxtone Rockets, Jack Off Jill, Snake River Conspiracy, Azam Ali/Niyaz, Ira Losco, Death Cab for Cutie, Anberlin, Seafood (who released their cover of the song as a download-only single in June 2007), Fordirelifesake and Voltaire.
Solo artists have performed covers as well, such as singer-songwriter Tori Amos during several live performances, most famously on the radio station KROQ-FM. Irish singer-songwriter Naimee Coleman included an interpretation of the song on her 2001 album Bring Down The Moon. Blake Lewis, the runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol, performed the song on March 27, 2007 on the show, though his rendition was modeled directly after the 311 cover rather than the original Cure version. In fact, some of the praise from the show's judges for the originality of Lewis' version suggest that they were perhaps unaware of the existence of the 311 version and believed Lewis to have come up with the new arrangement on his own (though Lewis himself never claimed this). A studio version of Blake Lewis' take on Lovesong was put up on the American Idol official website and was later included on his Blake Lewis - EP, as well as in the American Idol Season 6: The Collector's Edition, the compilation of the studio versions of song performed by the finalists of Idol. Voltaire released an acoustic cover that more fits his style of music on his album Then and Again.
It was recently covered by Captain during a BBC Radio 2 live session with Dermot O'Leary. The Big Pink provided a cover of "Lovesong" for The Cure tribute album Pictures of You: A Tribute to Godlike Geniuses The Cure, which was made available with the February 25, 2009 issue of NME.[2] Nina Sky covered this song on their 2010 EP The Other Side.
It was also covered by Maltese singer Ira Losco, found on her 2007 unplugged album Unmasked.
British singer Adele included a cover of the song on her second album, 21 in 2011, which peaked at #18 on Billboard Jazz Songs.
Japanese electronic singer-songwriter immi included a cover of the song on her debut album Switch.
| Preceded by "Last Train Home" by Lostprophets |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single (311 version) May 1, 2004 |
Succeeded by "Cold Hard Bitch" by Jet |
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