When we started, and were playing in pubs, I wasn’t the singer … I was the drunk rhythm guitarist who wrote all these weird songs. We went through about five different singers – they were fucking useless, basically. I always ended up thinking, ‘I could do better than this.’ … I mean, I hated my voice, but I didn’t hate it more than I hated everyone else’s voice … So I thought, ‘If I can get away with that, I can be the singer.’ I’ve worked on that basis ever since.
–Robert Smith, lead singer, The Cure
I lost interest in the Grammy Awards years ago. There was a time when I assiduously followed the Recording Academy’s recognition of outstanding achievements in music because I love it so much. Music is still my great passion, but I find modern compositions and instrumentation (or the bass-heavy electronic imitation thereof) truly abysmal.
In recent years, the Grammys have rewarded mediocrity and, to put it plainly, garbage music. Rick Beato, a respected multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and educator I follow, hosts a popular music channel on YouTube, and seems to think so, too. Early in January, he compared the 1984 Song of the Year nominees to those of the 2026 Grammys, which were held this past Sunday, in a segment titled The 2026 Grammys…Proof Music is Getting Worse.
The following table compares the titles nominated for Song of the Year in 1984 and 2026, with the winners listed first.
| Song of the Year 1984 | Song of the Year 2026 |
| Every Breath You Take (The Police) | Wildflower (Billie Eilish) |
| All Night Long (Lionel Richie) | DtMF (Bad Bunny) |
| Beat It (Michael Jackson) | Anxiety (Doechii) |
| Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) | Lady Gaga (Abracadbra) |
| Maniac from “Flashdance” (Michael Sembello & Dennis Matkosky) | APT (ROSÉ & Bruno Mars) |
| – | Golden from “KPop Demon Hunters” (HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI) |
| – | luther (Kendrick Lamar & SZA) |
| – | Manchild (Sabrina Carpenter) |
It’s a no-brainer. Modern popular music sucks! Even though Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga are accomplished artists, all these songs up for the “coveted” Grammy are utter tripe. I’m willing to bet that they won’t be remembered as fondly (or at all) as the songs from 1984. I won’t go into the possible reasons why, as it’s outside the scope of this article.
Those of you who read my blog will know that I try to post (boast?) about my music streaming habits as I receive the monthly report from my streaming service, Tidal. Since I no longer keep track of artists honoured by the music industry with awards, I had no idea that The Cure were nominated in two categories this year. It was, therefore, a coincidence that they featured prominently on my Tidal Top Artist Report for January.
Just as I received the Tidal Report, I also learned that The Cure had won Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album for Songs of a Lost World and Best Alternative Music Performance for the song Alone. Formed in 1976 by Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst, this eventual recognition from the music industry comes exactly 50 years later. As a huge fan, I can categorically state that it’s well-deserved, too.
There are several songs by the Cure which feature on my list of favourites, but if I were pushed to list my top three, it would be in this order: Lullaby, Close To Me, and The Lovecats.
On candy stripe legs the spiderman comes
Softly through the shadow of the evening sun
Stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead
Looking for the victim shivering in bed
Searching out fear in the gathering gloom and
Suddenly a movement in the corner of the room
And there is nothing I can do
When I realize with fright
That the spiderman is having me for dinner tonight
Quietly he laughs and shaking his head
Creeps closer now
Closer to the foot of the bed
And softer than shadow and quicker than flies
His arms are all around me and his tongue in my eyes
Be still be calm be quiet now my precious boy
Don’t struggle like that or I will only love you more
For it’s much too late to get away or turn on the light
The spiderman is having you for dinner tonight
And I feel like I’m being eaten
By a thousand million shivering furry holes
And I know that in the morning I will wake up
In the shivering cold
And the spiderman is always hungry
lenny unencumbered 