The Cure

"A Forest" is a song by British rock band The Cure. It was released as a single on April 8, 1980, and was the only single from their second album, Seventeen Seconds. It was also their first chart single in the UK, reaching #34. The lyrics tell a vague story about a man looking for a girl in a forest. He hears her calling for him, and as he chases her, he suddenly stops and realizes that he is lost and that the girl is not there. The song is fairly upbeat compared to the other material on the album, and Lol Tolhurst's machine-like steady beat together with Simon Gallup's minimalistic bassline gives this nervous chase more depth and keeps the song on the edge of a frantic groove until the end. Though not their biggest hit, it is regarded by many fans and critics as one of the best examples of The Cure's sound. The song is also notable for securing the band its first slot on BBC's "Top of the Pops". The track has been re-recorded a number of times by The Cure. In 1990 the track was re-recorded and remixed as the "Tree mix" on the band's "Mixed Up" album. It was redone for the second time on the Join the Dots box set this time remixed by Mark Plati and featuring Earl Slick on guitar. Robert Smith supplied vocals for a Blank & Jones cover version in 2003. The song has also been covered by Nouvelle Vague on their first album Nouvelle Vague and by Carpathian Forest on their debut album Black Shining Leather. The song "Dead Disco" by the Canadian rock group Metric borrows heavily from the song. Many have said this is in reference to the group and the genre.