“When I was growing up, there was peer pressure on you to conform to be a certain way. And as an English boy at the time, you’re encouraged not to show your emotion”: How the young Robert Smith created one of The Cure’s definitive songs

Robert Smith of The Cure.

“The pop songs like Boys Don’t Cry are naive to the point of insanity,” said The Cure’s unfailingly sardonic singer/guitarist Robert Smith of the band’s early fan-favourite.

First released in the UK as a stand-alone single in 1979, this cult classic quickly became one of by The Cure’s most famous compositions. It would also serve as the title track for the American version of their debut album, renamed with a different track listing the following year.