Just like Heaven (The Cure song)

In order to develop material for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Smith forced himself to write music for 15 days of each month. During this regimen, he developed the chords and melody which form the basis of "Just Like Heaven". Structurally, Smith found what he had written was similar to the Only Ones's 1979 hit "Another Girl, Another Planet". When he brought an instrumental demo of the song to the album recording sessions in Southern France, Cure drummer Boris Williams increased the tempo and added an opening drum fill which inspired Smith to introduce each instrument singularly and in sequence. When the French TV show Les Enfants du Rock asked the Cure to provide a theme song, Smith offered the instrumental version. As he explained, "It meant the music would be familiar to millions of Europeans even before it was released". He completed the lyrics when the group moved the sessions to Studio Miraval, located in Le Val, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The band completed the song quickly, and at the time Smith considered it to be the most obvious potential single from the songs the band had recorded during their two-week stay at Miraval. ==Composition and lyrics==

"Just Like Heaven" is written in the key of A major and consists of an A–E–Bm–D chord progression which repeats throughout the song, except during the chorus when the band plays an Fm–G–D progression. The song's central hook is formed from a descending guitar riff which appears between song verses and in parts of the bridge and the last verse. This guitar line contrasts with the "fuzzier mix" of the rhythm guitars. According to Smith, "The song is about hyperventilating—kissing and fainting to the floor." The lyrics were inspired by a trip with his then-girlfriend (and later wife) Mary Poole to Beachy Head in southern England. Smith said the opening line of the song ("Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick") refers to his childhood memories of mastering magic tricks, but added "on another [level], it's about a seduction trick, from much later in my life". ==Reception==

"Just Like Heaven" was the third single released from the band's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me album. Melody Makers review of the single was undecided; writer David Stubbs described it as "a colourful, fluttery, fussy thing" and "unimpeachable", but added, "[it] turns my face green, as if having consumed too many truffles." The song was the Cure's eleventh top 40 hit in the UK, and stayed on the charts there for five weeks during October and November 1987, peaking at number 29. In the United States, "Just Like Heaven" became the Cure's first top 40 hit when it reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in December 1987. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said "the stately 'Just Like Heaven' [...] is remarkable and helps make the album [Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me] one of the group's very best". Ned Raggett, also of AllMusic, wrote that the song was "instantly memorable, [and] sparkling with rough energy [...] it's a perfect showcase for Robert Smith's ear for wistful, romantic numbers. His main guitar line, a descending, gently chiming melody, contrasts perfectly against the fuzzier mix of the rhythm guitars, while Simon Gallup's bass and Boris Williams' strong, immediate drums make for a great introduction to the track." Although the later singles "Lovesong" and "Friday I'm in Love" reached higher chart positions, "Just Like Heaven" was the band's American breakthrough, and has been described as "in American terms, at least, the one Cure song everyone seems to know." In 2005, Entertainment Weekly ranked "Just Like Heaven" 25th on its list of "The 50 Greatest Love Songs", saying, "Turns out guys who wear black eyeliner can be happy." The following year the song placed at number 22 on VH1's poll "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s". In 2019, Billboard ranked the song number one on their list of the 40 greatest Cure songs, and in 2023, Mojo ranked the song number four on their list of the 30 greatest Cure songs. Robert Smith said he considers "Just Like Heaven" to be one of the band's strongest works, and called it "the best pop song the Cure have ever done". On 16 July 2006, "Just Like Heaven" was played as a wake-up call for the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery on their flight STS-121 at the request of astronaut Piers Sellers' family; Sellers told mission control center that the song reminded him of "the wild, happy, beer-drinking years of my youth." Brandon Flowers, frontman of American rock band The Killers, credits the song for kickstarting his love of British music in the 1980s, and influencing his early work. ==Music video==

(background) in the music video shot in studio to replicate the cliffs of Beachy Head in reference to the song's lyrics. The music video for "Just Like Heaven" was directed by Tim Pope, who had directed all of the band's previous videos since 1982's "Let's Go to Bed". The video was filmed in England's Pinewood Studios in October 1987. Set on a cliff overlooking a sea, the video recreates many of the memories detailed in the song's lyrics. When a fanzine asked Smith what the song was about, he said it was inspired by "something that happened to me a long time ago—see the video!" While Smith had claimed for years that the video was shot at the same place that inspired the song, he later admitted that the bulk of it was filmed in a studio, utilising footage of the water and cliffs of Beachy Head taken for the band's 1985 video for "Close to Me". ==Cover versions==

A number of cover versions of "Just Like Heaven" have been released, including recordings in Spanish, French, and German. Dinosaur Jr.'s cover reached No. 78 on the UK Singles Chart. Katie Melua recorded a cover for the 2005 film of the same name, Just Like Heaven, which also appeared on her 2005 album Piece by Piece. In the UK, the cover was released as a double A-side single with "I Cried for You" in late 2005, which became a minor adult contemporary radio hit in the US in 2006. Olivia Rodrigo performed a live version of the song with Smith during the 2025 edition of the Glastonbury Festival. The live version was later released as a double single along with Rodrigo's version of "Friday I'm in Love" with both songs included on the live album of her Glastonbury set. The single reached number one on the UK Physical Singles Chart. ==Track listing==

;7" – Fiction / Fics 27 (UK) • "Just Like Heaven" [edited remix] (3:17) • "Snow in Summer" (3:26) ;7" – Polydor / 887-104-7 (FR) • "Just Like Heaven" [Remix] (3:17) • "Snow in Summer" (3:26) ;7" – Elektra / 7 69443 (US) • "Just Like Heaven" [edited remix] (3:17) • "Breathe" (4:47) ;7" – Polydor / 887 104-7 (FR) • "Just Like Heaven" (3:17) • "Breathe" (4:47) ;12" – Fiction / Ficsx 27 (UK) • "Just Like Heaven" [remix] (3:29) • "Snow in Summer" (3:26) • "Sugar Girl" (3:14) • also released on CD Fixcd 27 ;12" – Elektra / 0 66793 (US) • "Just Like Heaven" [remix] (3:29) • "Breathe" (4:47) • "A Chain of Flowers" (4:55) ==Charts==