The Hanging Garden (song)

"The Hanging Garden"/"Killing an Arab"
Single by The Cure
from the album Pornography
A-side	The Hanging Garden
B-side	Killing an Arab
Released	July 12, 1982
Format	7" and 10" vinyl
Genre	Post-punk gothic rock
Label	Fiction
Producer(s)	Chris Parry Phil Thornalley The Cure
The Cure singles chronology
"Charlotte Sometimes" (1981) "A Single" (1982) "Let's Go to Bed" (1982)

"The Hanging Garden" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the sole single from their fourth studio album, Pornography. The release is sometimes referred to as "A Single". The single reached No. 34 in the UK Singles Chart.^[1]

Music video

The video shows the band playing in the York House Gardens in London, England. The band also wears masks, which is similar to the concept of the Pornography album. Robert Smith recalled: "For the 'Hanging Garden' video we got two people who did Madness videos but it was a really awful video. They wanted to make us look serious and we wanted them to make us look like Madness".^[2] The video was directed by Chris Gabrin.^[3][4]

Release

In addition to being released as a 7" single featuring "The Hanging Garden" and "Killing an Arab", "The Hanging Garden" was also released as A Single, a gatefold double pack of 7" singles with a total of four tracks.^[5] It was also released as a 10" record which contained all four songs from the double 7" pack.

Reception

NME writer Adrian Thrills was not impressed with the single, writing, "The Cure have drifted disappointingly and indulgently from the idyllic pop invention of their younger days".^[5] BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel included the song at No. 25 in his Festive Fifty list for 1982.^[6] In his review for AllMusic, Stewart Mason noted that Smith was splitting his time between the Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees at this time, and went on to note that the song was heavily influenced by the Banshees.^[7]

Cover versions

In 1998, American pop punk band AFI covered "The Hanging Garden", which was released on their A Fire Inside EP.^[8]

Track listing

1. "The Hanging Garden"
2. "Killing an Arab" (live)

Double pack

Side A

1. "The Hanging Garden"
2. "One Hundred Years"

Side B – recorded April 27, 1982 at the Manchester Apollo

1. "A Forest (Live)"
2. "Killing an Arab (Live)"

Personnel

• Simon Gallup – bass, keyboard
• Robert Smith – guitar, keyboard, vocals
• Lol Tolhurst – drums, keyboard

References

1. "Cure / Artist / Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
2. Apter, Jeff (March 1, 2006). Never Enough: The Story of The Cure. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1844498277.
3. "The Cure — Hanging Garden — video clip". Universal Music Group. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
4. "The Cure — Hanging Garden (1982)". IMVDb. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
5. Apter, Jeff (March 1, 2006). Never Enough: The Story of The Cure. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1844498277.
6. "BBC — Radio 1 - Keeping It Peel — Festive 50s - 1982". BBC. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
7. Mason, Stewart. The Hanging Garden at AllMusic. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
8. ASIN B00000AE8M, AFI  – A Fire Inside

External links

• The Hanging Garden single at The Cure official site
• The Hanging Garden video at The Cure official site
• type at Discogs (list of releases)