"Sleep When I'm Dead" is a single by the British band

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

released on 13 July 2008 on

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

in the United Kingdom. It was pushed back to 15 July in the United States to comply with the tradition of releasing songs on a Tuesday. It has the distinction of including a keyboard part despite the fact that the band has not had a keyboardist in their lineup since 2005, although "The Only One" and "NY Trip" feature piano parts. Robert Smith told ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' the song was originally written during sessions for the band's 1985 album ''

The Head on the Door ''The Head on the Door'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band the Cure. It was released on 30 August 1985 by Fiction Records. Preceded by the single " In Between Days" which had reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, ''The Head on t ...

'' and had the working title of "Kat 8."

Reception

Anthony Strutt of ''Penny Black Music'' "It has a weird ‘The Top’-like essence to it, and an almost prayer style vocal from Robert Smith. The guitar is quite soft, but is wah-wah flavoured, giving it that mid 80’s Cure feel, which is a good thing." and said that the B-side "Down Under" "is more laid back and reflective in tone, but also has that classic Cure sound." ''

God Is in the TV ''God Is in the TV'' is an independent music and culture online magazine founded by editor Bill Cummings in Cardiff in 2003. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interviews, podcasts and media. The webzine's coverage varies from uns ...

'' dismissed the song saying it "isn’t fit to lick the Doctor Marten boots of even the most dreadful songs from 1987’s '' Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me'' album, despite being written around that time and bearing all the generic low grind guitar menace, agitated vocals, and middle eastern jangle."'' Uncut'' said the song had a "sky-scraping, obsolescence-defying chorus", feeling it was "excellent enough to join the classic Cure canon."

Track listing

#"Sleep When I'm Dead (Mix 13)" – 3:51 #"Down Under" – 3:05 ''Written by Cooper/Gallup/Smith/Thompson''

Charts

References

The Cure songs 2008 singles Songs written by Robert Smith (musician) Songs written by Simon Gallup Songs written by Jason Cooper Songs written by Porl Thompson 2008 songs Geffen Records singles Number-one singles in Spain {{2000s-rock-single-stub