The Cure – Hello Goodbye Review

Frequently great and out-there covers can be found in The Cure’s backlog. Many of them are live versions, never released on streaming services or printed physically. They do not need to be. Like those Tiny Desk concerts everyone pretends to be fond of, the capturing of the cultural mood comes from stripped-back versions of familiar sounds. The Cure offers both in one with their cover of The Beatles’ Hello Goodbye. The Art of McCartney project featured some huge names. James McCartney collaborates with The Cure for what seems to be a very freeing and laid-back cover of a catchy classic. Not one of the Fab Four’s best but, considering just how many songs they released which could be considered their greatest, it pays to have a few which are light-hearted breaks from the heavier material. McCartney always had an ear for pop music and used it best during his time with The Beatles and Wings. 

On a thirty-four-song release, The Cure stands out amid the Bob Dylan and B.B. King covers. Hello Goodbye does not have to be anything more than a celebration of the song’s simplicity. What many forget is that The Cure has a wonderful, credible range of pop music to their name. New wave stylings and gothic successes were intermittently peppered with some occasionally brilliant, challenging pop music. Their cover of Hello Goodbye is nothing less than charming. Smith’s vocal work may surprise some, but to those who spent their afternoons listening to Wish and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, there’ll be little surprise. The Cure offers an excellent cover of what may be one of the simpler songs from The Beatles. The back-and-forth of binary opposites is a nice touch from McCartney, and it translates well no matter the artist. It would take a unique talent to mess this simplicity up.  

Crucial to the song, whatever the cover, is capturing that Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band psychedelia. That little magic which comes from the era. Few would manage it, but thanks to some echoes on Smith’s vocals and nice keyboard work from McCartney, that feeling comes through. The Cure are well-equipped for this cover of the McCartney classic, and it must be said, they’d be suited to many McCartney songs. Smith’s vocal range will never not be a surprise. The fact that it has been maintained so well, and for so long, is a delight. A real highlight of The Art of McCartney because The Cure finds that fine line between adapting the song and covering it. They change enough to make it their own, but not enough to lose the magic of one of The Beatles’ biggest singles.

Clear as anything is the fun The Cure and McCartney have in covering this song. A classic, one of the many The Beatles have, but with Smith’s focus on the vocal dissonance above all, there’s a new edge to the song. Truly thrilling, and even if the instrumental touches are a little lighter than anticipated, they offer a new look into an old classic. Any artist who can do that, who can keep beating a familiar drum with a new rhythm, should be hailed. The Cure has more than a few hits themselves, but their ease in adapting Hello Goodbye to that comfortable spot between their style and The Beatles’ is remarkable. Hello Goodbye is, like Dylan’s cover of Things We Said Today, a tremendously interesting version of a great piece of writing.