Boys Don't Cry (song)
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| "Boys Don't Cry" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by The Cure | ||
| from the album Boys Don't Cry | ||
| Released | August 1980 (UK) April 1986 (UK) |
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| Format | 7" 12" | |
| Recorded | 1979 | |
| Genre | Post-punk | |
| Length | 2:35 | |
| Label | Fiction Records | |
| Producer(s) | Chris Parry (1980/1986) Robert Smith (1986) Dave Allen (1986) |
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| The Cure singles chronology | ||
| "Killing an Arab" (1979) |
"Boys Don't Cry" (1980) |
"Jumping Someone Else's Train" (1980) |
| "Boys Don't Cry (New Voice · New Mix)" |
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| Continued chronology | ||
| "Half an Octopuss" / "Quadpus" (1986) |
"Boys Don't Cry" (1986) |
"Why Can't I Be You?" (1987) |
"Boys Don't Cry" was the second single to be released by The Cure, released in June 1979. It was released in the UK as an independent single but was included as the title track on Boys Don't Cry, the American equivalent to Three Imaginary Boys.
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[edit] History
In April 1986 it was re-released under the title "New Voice · New Mix", in which the original track had been remixed and the vocals re-recorded. The new version wasn't received very well. When "Boys Don't Cry" appears on any Cure release, it is always the original version. The updated version can however be heard in the music video for "Boys Don't Cry".
Written by Michael Dempsey, Robert Smith, and Laurence Tolhurst, the lyrics tell the story of a man who has given up trying to regain the love of a girl that he has lost, and tries to disguise his true emotional state by "laughing, hiding the tears in [his] eyes, 'cause boys don't cry".
[edit] Track listing
[edit] 1979 release
7" single
- "Boys Don't Cry"
- "Plastic Passion"
[edit] 1986 re-release
7" single
- "Boys Don't Cry (New Voice · New Mix)"
- "Pill Box Tales"
12" single
- "Boys Don't Cry (New Voice · Club Mix)" - extended remix
- "Pill Box Tales"
- "Do the Hansa"
[edit] Personnel
- Michael Dempsey – Bass
- Robert Smith – Guitar, Vocals
- Laurence Tolhurst – Drums
[edit] Use in film
A cover version of it, performed by Nathan Larson, was used as the title song of the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry for which Hilary Swank won the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film is based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender young man who was raped and murdered by his male friends, after they found out he was physically female. The song appears at the moment in the film when Swank's character is released from jail and rejoins his waiting girlfriend. They run down a set of stairs together as the song continues; it then plays in the background during a scene in a bar and half of the following love scene.
[edit] Cover versions
The band Reel Big Fish often perform a cover of this song in a live setting, and The Smashing Pumpkins have performed teases of the song live on multiple occasions. Oleander released a studio cover of the song on their album February Son, and as a single, complete with a video. Hell Is for Heroes recorded the song as a b-side for their single "Retreat", and lostprophets did the same for their single "Last Summer". Razorlight chose to perform the song at The Cure's "MTV Icon" ceremony in 2004.
The song was more recently covered by Grant Lee Phillips on his newest record "Nineteeneighties". This version of the song was also featured in the second season premiere of CBS show How I Met Your Mother
Australian Ska band Area-7 released a more upbeat cover of the song on their debut album Bitter & Twisted in 2000.
The Mexican electropop band Belanova covered "Boys Don't Cry" during the Dulce Beat Tour; the live version of the song was included in the band's Dulce Beat Live album.
Also, "Boys Don't Cry" is a frequently used in C. C. live setlists.
