"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. The Curiosity version was re-released on CD as a part of The Top Deluxe Edition. It is mostly found on bootleg concerts. No two versions of "Forever" are alike because Robert Smith tends to make up the lyrics and, occasionally, the chords of the song as it goes along. The progression, however, is usually the same as "Three". Some versions have been known to last for over 10 minutes. "Forever" was last played live in Mexico City on September 6th, 2004 following "A Forest".
All Mine and "The Cure are Dead"
One of the most famous versions is from the Paris concert on the 14 Explicit Moments Tour in 1982, referred to by fans as "All I Have to Do is Kill Her". In another version found on the Curiosity cassette (in fragmentary form) it is called "All Mine". Performances of "All Mine" are unlike most other versions of "Forever" due to its progression, chords, and structure, making performances of it rather distinctive entities. Later, during the final concert of the tour at L'Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, 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!". (Hence, the title given by fans to this version.) Smith got angry and threw his drumsticks at Biddles' head, and yelled "Fuck 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.[1]
