“The first time I ever heard of The Cure was in 6th grade in 1987. My Aunt Mary, who I looked up to for musical guidance, had their band name written on her white canvas Keds shoes in blue ink. I was deaf then. I could hear SOME music with one hearing aid, but did not want any kids making fun of me for being deaf, and did my best to avoid ridicule. She picked ‘Japanese Whispers’ as my first cassette.
Back then, I relied heavily on reading lyrical content so I could connect with the songs. After seeing the “Love Song” music video in 8th grade, I finally got a visual of who The Cure were. Everything changed. I was obsessed. I was on a mission to learn everything I could. I enlisted my sister to write out all the lyrics of every song on my Japanese Whispers cassette. I saved up my allowances to buy ‘The Top’, and ‘Head on The Door’. I practiced hearing and reading their lyrics whilst listening as best as I could. Over and over. It was so hard! I was deaf! I would lie in bed at night with my Walkman rubber banded around my hearing aid, listening to the Kiss Me cassette over and over, while trying to read the lyrics from the tiny sleeve amid a night light in a room I shared with my sister. It drove her mad. My hearing aid amplified the music from my headphones. She couldn’t ever sleep!
Disintegration was one of the hardest albums for me to hear the lyrics to and was quite challenging. My hearing range was well below the threshold of the high frequencies. It was so hard to hear the lyrics amid the cacophony of unique musical arrangements. I managed to get ‘Pictures of You’ down pat. Key parts of ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Last Dance’, however, escaped me.
June 1994. Age 18. Everything changed again. I had hearing restoration surgery. Oh. My. God. I CAN HEAR! I can hear on the phone! It’s not perfect yet, but close enough! I have seen The Cure 8 times in the last 20 years. I’ve made international friends through Cure News and have shared shows with them. I was lucky enough to be in the front row in 2000, San Diego, and was able to hear them fantastically whilst being close enough to read Robert’s lips as he sang the songs. The best ever!! I still need the visual to follow his lyrics. Nonetheless, I am thrilled – beyond words – that I am able hear The Cure, and everything else, ten times better than I did long ago.”