Violet GrohlViolet Grohl has taken to triple j studios to put her own spin on The Cure’s High, the lead single from their 1992 album, Wish.
The shoegaze, gothic rock tune, led by Robert Smith’s signature commanding vocals and electrifying guitar melodies, is renowned as one of The Cure’s most beautiful songs. So, covering it? No pressure.
Grohl’s version of High is stripped back, joined only by an acoustic guitar, leaving her singing at centre stage. She doesn’t try to mimic Smith’s vocals; instead, she showcases her melodic style. There’s nowhere to hide, making for an even more impressive effort.
In addition to her Like A Version, Grohl performed her song, 595, from her debut album, Be Sweet To Me – also an acoustic performance, very MTV Unplugged – and discussed covering The Cure.
“This is one of my favourite Cure songs, and I don’t really know exactly why,” Grohl began. Adding that it’s a song that she’s always loved and put on many playlists, she explained that she adores the instrumental arrangement of High, which she described as “so beautifully The Cure.”
She continued, “I think it’s a perfect example of their sound during the early ‘90s, and I love the childlike joy of the lyrics. I think it’s such a cute love song, and I love all the imagery in the lyricism. I think it’s, again, so sweet.”
Grohl also shared that she realised how “brilliant” The Cure are at age 12 or 13 after hearing Friday, I’m in Love and was “sucked in.” “Ever since then, I’ve just been a massive Cure fan. I love Robert Smith,” she said.
Check out Grohl’s version of High, her rendition of 595, and a discussion about her The Cure cover below.
“I’ve always loved just sitting down and going through Spotify or whatever streaming platform it might be and looking at playlists and finding albums that I’ve never listened to or looking at interviews of artists I love and seeing what their favourite albums are,” Grohl revealed in a recent cover story interview with The Music.
She added, “It’s been something that I’ve loved to do forever. In my spare time, I sit down, and I make playlists. It’s just the most beautiful and fun thing in the world to me; I love it. And it’s so connective.
“That’s another really beautiful thing about it: the way that people can bond over music or share stories about music and cry together, whatever it might be. It’s a really beautiful thing.”
Grohl then looked at tunes she selected for the month of May. “I like to do monthly playlists, because I like to go back and see what I was listening to during different times,” she shared.
The playlist contains Zero 7’s Destiny, as well as Australia’s own Sia, plus The Pretenders, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Kate Bush, Ride, Sinéad O’Connor, and Talk Talk’s classic, It’s My Life, which Grohl proclaimed is “a great song!”
Her debut album, Be Sweet To Me, is out now.
