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

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

, released as the lead single on the 6 April 1987 from their album '' Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me''.

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. 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 The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling Dance music, dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles ...

and the Dance Music/Club Play Singles charts, respectively.

Music video

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, a past video collaborator of the group's. Filmed in a Ardmore Studios in Bray, County Wicklow, 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 (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

". All five band members wore costumes: Robert Smith dressed as a bear and as school-girl in a pinafore dress, Simon Gallup was costume as both a crow and a

Morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folklore, English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A ban ...

r, Porl Thompson was a Scotsman as well as cross-dressed,

Boris Williams Boris Peter Bransby Williams (born 24 April 1951) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Cure from 1984 until 1994, and for forming the band Babacar (band), Babacar in the late 1990s. Biography Williams was born in 1951 (som ...

was a schoolgirl & a vampire and

Lol Tolhurst Laurence Andrew Tolhurst (born 3 February 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, producer, and author. He was a founding member of the Cure, for which he first played drums before switching to keyboards. He stayed a member of the Cure until ...

wore

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

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, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

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'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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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 Love Cats".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. Michael Gallucci of ''

Diffuser Diffuser may refer to: Aerodynamics * Diffuser (automotive), a shaped section of a car's underbody which improves the car's aerodynamic properties * Part of a jet engine air intake, especially when operated at supersonic speeds * The channel bet ...

'' called the song "a whole lotta fun, dispelling the myth that the Cure are a bunch of moody sad sacks."

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 ;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 and Ron St. Germain ;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 Tim Pope

Personnel

* Robert Smith - Vocals, Guitar * Porl Thompson - Guitar * Simon Gallup - Bass *

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

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