The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry” just joined the Spotify Billions Club. The track was released in the UK as a standalone single in 1979 and was included as the title track on 1980’s Boys Don’t Cry, the American equivalent to the English alternative rock band’s debut Three Imaginary Boys. This is the band’s first song to achieve the milestone.
In 2019, The Cure’s frontman Robert Smith spoke to Rolling Stone about the song: “And as an English boy at the time, you’re encouraged not to show your emotion to any degree. And I couldn’t help but show my emotions when I was younger. I never found it awkward showing my emotions. I couldn’t really continue without showing my emotions; you’d have to be a pretty boring singer to do that. So I kind of made a big thing about it. I thought, ‘Well, it’s part of my nature to rail against being told not to do something.”
Smith has also called “pop songs” like “Boys Don’t Cry” “naive to the point of insanity.”
The song was re-released in 1986, and peaked at No. 22 on the U.K. singles chart. “Boys Don’t Cry” has been popular on TikTok in recent months, with users responding to the song’s chorus: “So I try to laugh about it/Cover it all up with lies/I try to laugh about it/Hiding the tears in my eyes/‘Cause boys don’t cry/Boys don’t cry.”
“Boys Don’t Cry” has been regarded as one of the Cure’s best songs. Billboard ranked the song number four on their list of the 40 greatest Cure songs in 2019, while in 2023, Mojo ranked the song number three on their list of the 30 greatest Cure songs.
Late last year, Perry Bamonte tragically passed away. In addition to playing guitar and keyboard in the band, Bamonte originally worked as a roadie and guitar tech for the gothic and glittery post-punk band throughout the 1980s. He became a full time member in 1990, replacing Roger O’Donnell.
