"In Between Days" is a song by the English rock bandThe Cure, released in July 1985 as the first single from the band's sixth album The Head on the Door. The song was an international success, being their first hit song to come off an album rather than a stand-alone single. In the UK, it was the band's ninth chart single and their fourth consecutive Top 20 hit; while in the US it was their first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 99. It was a Top 20 hit in Australia and New Zealand and also charted in several European countries, increasing the popularity of the band.
Content
Music
The song is poppy and upbeat, featuring strummed acoustic guitars under a snappy synthesizer riff, although the song's lyrical themes of aging, loss and fear do not particularly reflect the upbeat tempo of the music. It features a distinctive drum intro by Boris Williams and a bass line reminiscent of "Dreams Never End" by New Order. The extended version, only released on the 12" single in North America, features a longer introduction to the song.
Title
The spacing and punctuation in the title of this song are widely disputed, as it varies between "In Between Days", "Inbetween Days", and "In-Between Days" on many official Cure releases. The single used "In Between Days", whereas the albumThe Head on the Door uses "In Between Days" on the back of the album cover and the record label, and "Inbetween Days" on the inner sleeve. However, the CD release of the album also uses "In Between Days" on the actual disc. The 1986 singles compilation Standing on a Beach uses both "In Between Days" and "In-Between Days", whereas the 1990 remix album Mixed Up, the 1993 live albumShow, the 2001 Greatest Hits collection and the 2004 B-sides compilation each use "Inbetween Days". The 2006 re-release of The Head on the Door uses "Inbetween Days" on the back of the box and the track listing in the booklet, but it uses "In Between Days" as the title in the lyrical portion of the book. A similar inconsistency is present with The Cure's "Lovesong", as it is listed as a single compound word in some instances and two separate words in others. In yet another instance, the 1983 single “The Love Cats”, has a similar situation where it's either listed as “The Love Cats”, or as “The Lovecats”.
Music video
The video was filmed on the 18th of June 1985 at Fulham Studios. The video simply depicts the band playing. However, many 360 degrees shots are used in the video in addition to drawn in, colorful, socks which appear throughout the video. Robert Smith had a camera, held by cables, which he could push away and hold at will and Porl Thompson had one as well, fixed on his guitar.
