"Why Can't I Be You?" is a song by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

, released as the lead single from their 1987 album ''

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'' is the seventh studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 26 May 1987 by Fiction Records. The album helped bring the Cure into the American mainstream, becoming the band's first album to reach the to ...

''.

History

"Why Can't I Be You?" was the first single released from the album ''Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me''—the band's seventh LP. On 14 April 1987, it peaked at number 21 on

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the United States that same year, the song reached number 54 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, while a remix of the track charted at numbers eight and 27 on the

Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, '' Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...

and the

Dance Music/Club Play Singles Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

charts, respectively. The video for "Why Can't I Be You?" was filmed in early 1987, in between rehearsals for The Cure's first South American tour. It was directed by

Tim Pope Timothy Michael Pope (born 12 February 1956) is a film director most known for his music videos, for having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career. Early life and career Pope grew up in the north London suburb of Enfield. Both his ...

, a past video collaborator of the group's. Filmed in a

Ardmore Studios Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, is Irelands's only four wall studio. It opened in 1958 under the management of Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman. Since then, it has evolved through many managements and owners. It has been the base for ...

Bray, County Wicklow Bray ( ) is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 32,600 making it the ninth largest urban area within Ireland (at the 2016 census). Bray is ...

, Ireland, the video featured the band members performing what biographer Jeff Apter referred to as "some of the most poorly choreographed dancing ever seen on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

". All five band members wore costumes: Robert Smith dressed as a bear and as school-girl in a pinafore dress,

Simon Gallup Simon Jonathon Gallup (born 1 June 1960) is an English musician and bassist with the alternative rock band The Cure. He is the second longest-serving member of the band after lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Smith. Early years Born in Duxhurst ...

was costume as both a crow and a

Morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

Porl Thompson Pearl Thompson (born 8 November 1957 as Paul Stephen ThompsonChris Gerrard (2021)The Cure FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Most Heartbreakingly Excellent Rock Band the World Has Ever Known. Backbeat, ISBN 9781493053988, p. 155) is an E ...

was a Scotsman as well as cross-dressed,

Boris Williams Boris Peter Bransby Williams (born 24 April 1957) is a French-born English drummer best known for his extensive work with the Cure (1984–1994). Biography Born in Versailles, France, he had previously worked with various artists, including T ...

was a schoolgirl & a vampire and

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew "Lol" Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is a founding member and the former drummer and keyboardist of English band The Cure - he left the Cure in 1989 and was later involved in the band Presence and his current project, Levinhurs ...

wore

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

and then a bumblebee costume. Pope referred to the clip as "the video I've always wanted to make".

Reception

In the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

s review of the single, writer Donald McRae singled out Smith's voice as the sole element of the song that "doesn't shout 'TEEN FUN'". Nonetheless, he praised the band, and concluded, "Shameless and cheap enough to steal

Wham Wham! was a British pop music duo. Wham may also refer to: Places * Wham, North Yorkshire, England, a hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales, United Kingdom * Wham, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States Stations * WHAM (AM), a talk radio ...

's ' Young Guns' riff, this ditty will soon be another ''Top of the Pops'' cracker". Stewart Mason of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the song as having "the remarkable ability to be simultaneously incredibly catchy and frankly rather annoying", noting it as an " antic, herky-jerky" successor to previous singles such as "Let's Go to Bed" and "The Lovecats".Mason, Stewart.
Why Can't I Be You?
Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 22 January 2013. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, also of Allmusic, called it "deceptively bouncy" and noted it as a high point of the album and helps make it "one of the group's very best".Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. ''Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me'' (review) Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 22 January 2013. In a 2019 interview, Tim Pope addressed to the use of blackface in the video: "I think ol Tolhurst's blackfacewas a very inappropriate choice. That is now a given. I guess that was probably, a reference to ''The Black And White Minstrel Show'' ote: a now extremely notorious 1958 to 1978 BBC light entertainment show Quite shocking in the more enlightened times we live in. And how insidiously bad was that idea? It's not a thing I feel great about retrospectively. On Lol's part, I think it probably came from a sort of more thoughtless place. I remember the band members were endlessly coming out in different costumes. I didn't specifically know what the costumes would be.. he said, rubbing the problem away from himself. And I just remember Lol appearing like that and we filmed it. We shouldn't have done it. That was inappropriate and wrong. It was not good.

Track listing

;7": Fiction / Fics 25 (UK) # "Why Can't I Be You?" (3:12) # "A Japanese Dream" (3:27) ;2x7": Fiction / Ficsg 25 (UK) # "Why Can't I Be You?" (3:13) # "A Japanese Dream" (3:30) # "Six Different Ways (Live)" (3:32) # "Push (Live)" (4:42) Live tracks taken from the concert film

The Cure in Orange ''The Cure in Orange'' is a concert film by British rock group The Cure. It was shot on 35mm film at the Théâtre antique d'Orange in the French countryside (Orange, Vaucluse), on 8, 9, and 10 August 1986. Band members Robert Smith (Vocals & g ...

;12": Fiction / Ficsx 25 (UK) # "Why Can't I Be You? (12" Remix)" (7:58) # "A Japanese Dream (12" Remix)" (5:42) Remixed by

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage an ...

and

Ron St. Germain Ron Saint Germain (alternate spellings Ron St. Germain, Ron Saint-Germaine and similar) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer born in post-war Frankfurt, Germany, into a career Air Force family. Prior to his career in music ...

;CD Video / 080 184-2 (UK) # "Why Can't I Be You? (12" Remix)" (8:10) # "A Japanese Dream (12" Remix)" (5:52) # "Hey You!!!" (2:23) # "Why Can't I Be You? (Video)" (3:31) Video directed by

Personnel

* Robert Smith - Vocals, Guitar *

- Guitar *

- Bass *

- Drums *François Kevorkian, Roy St. Germain - Remix

Cover versions

In June 2021 the female-fronted band Berlin Banter released a Trip Hop remake of "Why Can't I Be You?".

References

*Apter, Jeff. ''Never Enough: The Story of The Cure''. Omnibus Press, 2005. .

Notes

External links

{{Authority control 1987 singles The Cure songs Songs written by Robert Smith (musician) Music videos directed by Tim Pope 1987 songs Fiction Records singles Songs written by Boris Williams Songs written by Simon Gallup Songs written by Porl Thompson Songs written by Lol Tolhurst Song recordings produced by David M. Allen