Robert Smith Honors His Late Brother for Inspiring Him to Pursue His Dreams and for His Lasting Influence on The Cure

Robert Smith’s Inspiration

Robert Smith attributed his late brother as the motivating force behind his decision to pursue The Cure full-time rather than continue his studies.

The frontman recently featured on Radio X for a deep dive into the band’s first album in 16 years, “Songs Of A Lost World,” which was released on November 1st.

• READ MORE: The Cure review ‘Songs Of A Lost World’: A masterful meditation on loss

The Emotional Impact of Music

Smith wrote the song “I Can Never Say Goodbye” in memory of his brother’s death and has remarked that it “helped (him) a lot.”

While speaking with Radio X’s John Kennedy about the song, Smith, who formed The Cure in 1976, shared: “My brother gave me the idea that I could do whatever I wanted.

“You know, my father was also very supportive, but in a more traditional sense. He wanted me to complete my education and then play in a band if I still desired to.”

Smith elaborated: “Initially, I tried to explain to him that life doesn’t work like that. One cannot graduate from university and just decide to join a band. It’s either you do it, or you don’t.”

He reminisced about how his brother “took (his) side,” suggesting that he might have convinced their father to support Smith’s passion, noting that “otherwise it would have been a problem because they let me stay at home until I got it out of my system.”

“But I never got it out of my system,” Smith admitted. “In hindsight, my father might have thought that the sooner I failed, the sooner he could steer me back to formal education.”

You can watch the complete conversation in the video above.

Discussing “I Can Never Say Goodbye” in a prior interview, Smith mentioned: “I crafted that song in various forms until I stumbled upon a simple narrative about the night he died. It became a vessel for my emotions, ultimately evolving into a rather dark vignette.

“(…) This song is incredibly challenging to perform. People often say “cathartic,” and that is precisely what it was; it allowed me to process my grief and helped me immensely.”

NME praised the poignant track as “the highlight of the album” in a glowing five-star review of “…Lost World,” describing the album overall as “a masterful meditation on loss.”

The review stated: “It captures everything (Smith) and the band have to offer, inhaling that deep, dull ache that lingers when you lose someone closest to you: Something evil comes here / To steal my brother’s life.”

Back in 2019, Smith noted that the passing of his mother, father, and brother deeply influenced the “darkness” found in The Cure’s latest album, which was then referred to as Live From The Moon.

Recently, he reflected: “When you’re young, you romanticize death without realizing it. Eventually, it begins to touch your loved ones, and suddenly, everything shifts.

“That’s been my lyrical struggle: how to convey those feelings in songs? I feel transformed from who I was the last time we recorded. I desired this evolution.”

Meanwhile, Smith shared that quitting smoking was the “most important” decision he made to preserve his vocal abilities. He also revealed that he “wrote a really catchy pop song” that might serve as a Christmas single.

Earlier this month, he discussed two additional Cure albums, one intended as a “companion” to “…Lost World,” and another that will explore a different direction.

Smith teased in his Radio X interview that he is “already finishing” the upcoming full-length album, hinting at a summer 2025 release. “In some regards, it’s not as dark,” he noted, “although, it likely contains the saddest song of all.”

“Songs Of A Lost World” achieved number six on the NME list of the 50 best albums of 2024, while the lead single “Alone” reached number 19 on the Top 50 Songs of the Year list.

Last week, The Cure released a live album from their only London performance at Troxy, where they played their latest album in full, along with fan favorites and greatest hits, while honoring their iconic second album, Seventeen Seconds.