Forever (The Cure song)

"Forever" is an improvisational song from The Cure partially based on the song "Three" from Seventeen Seconds. The first version of Forever ever played was at a gig on their 1980 Seventeen Seconds Tour at Herford, Germany. It was supposed to be a dedication to Simon Gallup, The Cure's bassist, on his 20th birthday. The song has since been played at the end of Cure shows right after "Killing an Arab" is played in the encores. One version is featured on the Remastered deluxe edition of Faith, another is featured on the cassette tape version of Concert/Curiosity. It is mostly found on bootleg concerts. One of the most famous versions is from the Paris concert on the 14 Explicit Moments Tour in 1982, called "All I Have to do is Kill Her." Later during the final concert of the tour in Brussels, Belgium on September 6 again the band decided to play "Forever" but this time they changed instruments around. Gallup played guitar, Lol Tolhurst played bass, Robert Smith played the drums, and Gary Biddles - a part-time roadie and friend of Gallup's - did vocals. As soon as he got on stage, Biddles started singing, "Smith is a wanker, Tolhurst is a wanker, only Simon is worth anything in the band! The Cure is dead!" Smith got angry and threw his drumsticks at Biddles' head, and yelled "F--- off!". After that incident, Gallup left the band and started another with Biddles called Fools Dance. Gallup and Smith didn't see each other for about two years until the latter asked the former to return, which he did.

No two versions of "Forever" are alike because Robert Smith tends to make up the lyrics and chords of the song as it goes along. Some versions have been known to last for over 10 minutes. "Forever" was last played at a Curiosa show in Phoenix, Arizona in August 2004.