Hiding the Tears in My Eyes

The Cure : Boys Don't Cry

[Purchase]

In June of 1979 The Cure released "Boys Don't Cry" b/w "Plastic Passion". The catchy non-album single did not chart in the U.K. though it peaked at #22 in New Zealand.  Re-released with a new voice and new mix in 1986, "Boys Don't Cry" finally got the attention it deserved, peaking at U.K.#22.

"The pop songs like “Boys Don’t Cry” are naive to the point of insanity," Robert Smith would tell Rolling Stone in 2017. "But considering the age I was and the fact that I had done nothing apart from go to school – no real life experience, everything was taken from books – some of them are pretty good."

 Apparently a favorite of Wham's Andrew Ridgeley, the song may seem upbeat until you realize the singer is despondent over his role in a break up: "I tried to laugh about it/ Cover it all up with lies/ I tried to laugh about it /Hiding the tears in my eyes".

The B side "Plastic Passion" is as good as anything on The Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary Boys.