A-side The Hanging Garden Format 7" and 10" vinyl | B-side Killing an Arab Label Fiction | |
Released July 12, 1982 (1982-07-12) Producer(s) Chris Parry
Phil Thornalley
The Cure | ||
"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.
Contents
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". The video was directed by Chris Gabrin.
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. 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". BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel included the song at No. 25 in his Festive Fifty list for 1982. 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.
Cover versions
In 1998, American pop punk band AFI covered "The Hanging Garden", which was released on their A Fire Inside EP.
Track listing
- "The Hanging Garden"
- "Killing an Arab" (live)
- "The Hanging Garden"
- "One Hundred Years"
- "A Forest (Live)"
- "Killing an Arab (Live)"