Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From '' Fast And Furious ''
Label: Drink N Drive Records – DND080
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2025
Tracklist
01. (Didn't Get) High With Willie Nelson
02. Die In That Trailer
03. A Forest
04. Detroit Over Houston
05. Runs Dry
06. Further Down The Line
07. California
08. Hey Bartender
09. On the Rocks
10. Nicky Done Got A Secret
11. Slip Into Heaven
12. Polaroid
13. Down In The Dust
℗ 2025 Whiskey Daredevils
💿 [SONG INFO]
"A Forest" is a song by the English rock band the Cure.
Co-produced by Mike Hedges and the band's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album Seventeen Seconds on 8 April 1980. It was their debut entry on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 31. The accompanying music video was first shown on BBC's Top of the Pops programme on 24 April 1980.
Recorded and mixed over seven days, along with the rest of the songs from the album, "A Forest" is representative of The Cure's 1980s gothic rock phase. The song has featured on the band's set lists for many years. Several versions have appeared on concert albums, and it was re-recorded, then subsequently remixed and released as a single from Mixed Up in 1990.
Background and recording
Mike Hedges co-produced the album Seventeen Seconds as well as "A Forest" with The Cure's Robert Smith. Hedges had first worked with the band on the track "Killing an Arab." Interviewed in 2004, he did not recall any demos existing for Seventeen Seconds; the band generally played the track in the studio before laying down a backing track to which overdubs were added. At the time of the recording of the album, bass guitarist Simon Gallup and keyboardist Matthieu Hartley had been added to the band's lineup. Gallup had replaced Michael Dempsey, who had departed to join The Associates. Gallup and Hartley joined remaining Cure members Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums) in late 1979 during the group's Future Pastimes tour, on which "A Forest" was one of the new songs added to their set list.
Due to budgetary restraints, Seventeen Seconds was recorded and mixed in seven days on a budget of between £2,000 and £3,000, which resulted in the band working 16 or 17 hours a day to complete the album. Hedges and Robert Smith knew the song would take more work to complete than other songs on the album, and would require more overdubs. The song was one of the last tracks recorded; the backing tracks were recorded first, followed by touch-ups to the individual parts, then Smith's vocals.
Fiction Records owner Chris Parry told Smith that the song had the potential to be a hit if they made it sound "radio-friendly", but Smith refused, stating the way the track sounded was the sound he envisioned in his head. Work on mixing "A Forest" took up much of the final day of sessions for the album.
Release and promotion
"A Forest" was released as a single on 8 April 1980. Its B-side was "Another Journey by Train," an instrumental remake of The Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train." The single received a mixed critical reception, though commercially its sales were an improvement for the band.
Entering the chart on 12 April, it spent eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 31 on 17 May.
It was the highest they had placed on the chart by that point in their career.
In the United States, the song reached No. 47 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.
The version included on 1986 compilation Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea is neither the album version (which was also on the 12" single) nor the 7" single edit (which removes a few bars between verses and fades out part-way through the guitar solo ending).
Legacy
"A Forest" has become the song most performed by the Cure, with over 1,000 live appearances.
The song was featured in the 2006 Rockstar Games video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, which is set in 1984 and is a prequel to 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, set in 1986; in Vice City Stories, the song can be heard on the in-game new wave radio station "The Wave 103".
🔗 [LINKS]
Whiskey Daredevils' Official Page:
whiskeydaredevils.com/news
bandcamp:
whiskeydaredevils.bandcamp.com/music
and Facebook:
facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050469905436
Available on bandcamp:
whiskeydaredevils.bandcamp.com/album/fast-and-furious
#rockabilly
#rockabillycover
From '' Fast And Furious ''
Label: Drink N Drive Records – DND080
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 2025
Tracklist
01. (Didn't Get) High With Willie Nelson
02. Die In That Trailer
03. A Forest
04. Detroit Over Houston
05. Runs Dry
06. Further Down The Line
07. California
08. Hey Bartender
09. On the Rocks
10. Nicky Done Got A Secret
11. Slip Into Heaven
12. Polaroid
13. Down In The Dust
℗ 2025 Whiskey Daredevils
💿 [SONG INFO]
"A Forest" is a song by the English rock band the Cure.
Co-produced by Mike Hedges and the band's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album Seventeen Seconds on 8 April 1980. It was their debut entry on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 31. The accompanying music video was first shown on BBC's Top of the Pops programme on 24 April 1980.
Recorded and mixed over seven days, along with the rest of the songs from the album, "A Forest" is representative of The Cure's 1980s gothic rock phase. The song has featured on the band's set lists for many years. Several versions have appeared on concert albums, and it was re-recorded, then subsequently remixed and released as a single from Mixed Up in 1990.
Background and recording
Mike Hedges co-produced the album Seventeen Seconds as well as "A Forest" with The Cure's Robert Smith. Hedges had first worked with the band on the track "Killing an Arab." Interviewed in 2004, he did not recall any demos existing for Seventeen Seconds; the band generally played the track in the studio before laying down a backing track to which overdubs were added. At the time of the recording of the album, bass guitarist Simon Gallup and keyboardist Matthieu Hartley had been added to the band's lineup. Gallup had replaced Michael Dempsey, who had departed to join The Associates. Gallup and Hartley joined remaining Cure members Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums) in late 1979 during the group's Future Pastimes tour, on which "A Forest" was one of the new songs added to their set list.
Due to budgetary restraints, Seventeen Seconds was recorded and mixed in seven days on a budget of between £2,000 and £3,000, which resulted in the band working 16 or 17 hours a day to complete the album. Hedges and Robert Smith knew the song would take more work to complete than other songs on the album, and would require more overdubs. The song was one of the last tracks recorded; the backing tracks were recorded first, followed by touch-ups to the individual parts, then Smith's vocals.
Fiction Records owner Chris Parry told Smith that the song had the potential to be a hit if they made it sound "radio-friendly", but Smith refused, stating the way the track sounded was the sound he envisioned in his head. Work on mixing "A Forest" took up much of the final day of sessions for the album.
Release and promotion
"A Forest" was released as a single on 8 April 1980. Its B-side was "Another Journey by Train," an instrumental remake of The Cure's "Jumping Someone Else's Train." The single received a mixed critical reception, though commercially its sales were an improvement for the band.
Entering the chart on 12 April, it spent eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 31 on 17 May.
It was the highest they had placed on the chart by that point in their career.
In the United States, the song reached No. 47 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.
The version included on 1986 compilation Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea is neither the album version (which was also on the 12" single) nor the 7" single edit (which removes a few bars between verses and fades out part-way through the guitar solo ending).
Legacy
"A Forest" has become the song most performed by the Cure, with over 1,000 live appearances.
The song was featured in the 2006 Rockstar Games video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, which is set in 1984 and is a prequel to 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, set in 1986; in Vice City Stories, the song can be heard on the in-game new wave radio station "The Wave 103".
🔗 [LINKS]
Whiskey Daredevils' Official Page:
whiskeydaredevils.com/news
bandcamp:
whiskeydaredevils.bandcamp.com/music
and Facebook:
facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050469905436
Available on bandcamp:
whiskeydaredevils.bandcamp.com/album/fast-and-furious
#rockabilly
#rockabillycover
