2000 Great Songs #1405: Six Different Ways

Despite a lengthy list of great Cure singles to choose from, I'm partial to "Six Different Ways," from 1985's The Head On The Door, as a key example of an album track that should've been the hit single. (It did get its day as a b-side, backing up the flamenco-tinged "The Blood," released as a single in Spain.) It's a slinky little track, obviously far less immediate than the same album's "In Between Days" yet catchy in its own distinctive way, offbeat percussion and colorful keyboards flittering about beneath a hypnotic piano line. Though for me the song is probably most indelible due to its attention-grabbing deployment in 2002's The Rules Of Attraction, rolling out of the opening credits and paired with a similarly memorable needle-drop of Donovan's "Colours" before the movie sadly pivots into something largely unwatchable.

Lip-sync on French tv, 1986:

Live 1986:

The Rules of Attraction opening scene:

Reggae cover by King Django:

See the entire Top 2000 to date in a sortable database!