"The 13th" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the first single from the band's 10th studio album, Wild Mood Swings (1996), on 22 April 1996. The song reached the top 20 in several territories, including Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Wallonia. It charted the highest in Hungary, where it reached number two, and in Italy, where it peaked at number five.

Background

Bassist Simon Gallup discussed the creation of the track in a contemporary interview, "That was one of Robert's songs, initially called The 2 Chords Corp. because it was just two chords strummed on a guitar. It was one of the songs we had recorded; we kept adding bits of percussion and then we'd put it away and then add more to it." he also viewed the song as "tacky" and "tongue-in-cheek".

Release

The song reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and number 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was played very few times during the Swing Tour and never again since the tour.

Reception

Writing for AllMusic, Ned Raggett rated the single four stars out of five and noted the unexpected tone of the song: "There's no question that 'The 13th' was probably one of the Cure's most unexpected singles -- though horns had appeared on the single mix of 'Close to Me' back in 1985, the distinctly Latin percussion and brass on the song here was something else entirely!" Clash magazine said that, alongside "Gone!", "The 13th" has become known for dividing fans, describing them as "love/hate affairs", but noted they "still [show] a band happy to experiment and play with conventions." Peter Parrish described "The 13th" as "a pseudo-latin number with a not-especially-hidden message about giving in to your lust."

Music video

The music video of the song shows Robert Smith, dressed in ripped velvet dress, lying on his bed and watching a TV broadcast where he performs with the Cure. Comedian Sean Hughes also appears in the video.

Track listings

All tracks were written by Smith, Gallup, Bamonte, Cooper, and O'Donnell. UK CD1 and Australian CD single UK CD2 European CD and cassette single US CD1 and cassette single US CD2 and Canadian CD single Japanese CD single

Personnel

Charts

Release history