The 2003 Song Robert Smith Co-Wrote With Blink-182 That Was Inspired by The Cure’s Classic “The Love Cats”

“I could sing you every single lyric from ‘Three Imaginary Boys’ up through ‘Bloodflowers’ word for word,” Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus allegiantly said in a 2025 interview. “It’s been a dream to grow up idolising The Cure.” During his high school years, Hoppus went from being a straight-A student to donning black eyeliner and smoking, whilst in his goth phase, and the Cure was a transitional band for him during this time, particularly bassist Simon Gallup, who inspired him to start playing bass.

“When I heard The Cure for the first time, it was ‘Just Like Heaven’ on ‘Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me’ and it changed my life,” Hoppus told NME in 2025. “Listening to The Cure made me want to play bass. Simon Gallup had these amazing bass lines, and he always looked so cool with his head down, his hair up, just rocking out: rock god.”

During the early 2000s, while Blink-182 were working on their fifth album, the band’s self-titled one, Hoppus’ dream moved into another dimension when they somehow pulled in the Cure’s Robert Smith for a collaboration.

Once ready, Hoppus sent the track to Smith, who recorded his vocals in England. At first, the band was questioning the response to the album based on their earlier material, when Smith offered up some advice.

“It was like a dream come true,” said Delonge. “We sent the music to him in England of what was on the record. I didn’t think he would be [interested in contributing], only because who knew what his perception was of our band in the past? But what he said was, ‘Nobody knows what kind of songs you are going to write in the future, and nobody knows the full potential of any band. I really like the music you sent me,’ and he wanted to do it. And it was just amazing.”

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[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know The Cure’s Robert Smith Wrote for Other Artists]

Co-written by Smith, who also sings on the track, and Hoppus, along with bandmates Travis Barker, and Tom DeLonge, and released on Blink-182 in 2003, “All of This” tells the story of the band’s late producer, “Huckle” Jerry Finn (Morrissey, Green Day), and the story of how he was once humiliated by a girl he was in love with as a young boy.

With all of thi,s I know now
Everything inside of my head
It all just goes to show how
Nothing I know changes me at all

Again, I waited for this to change instead
To tear the world in two
Another night with her
But I’m always wanting you

Use me, Holly, come on and use me
(We know where we go)
Use me, Holly, come on and use me
(We go where we know)

With all of this, I feel now
Everything inside of my heart
It all just seems to be how
Nothin’ I feel pulls me at all

“The Love Cats”

On Blink-182, the riff from “Easy Target” segues into “All of This,” into a darker, more gothic and jazzy side of the band. Musically, the song was inspired by The Cure’s 1983 hit, “The Love Cats,” and the band tried to capture that original sound using jazz brushes and an upright bass on the track. Producer Phil Thornalley played an upright on the Cure’s original recording, while Andy Anderson used brushes on the snare drum to create the percussion sound.

In September of 2004, Blink-182, who had also covered the Cure’s 1992 song “A Letter to Elise” live, performed “All of This” with Smith, along with the Cure’s 1979 single “Boys Don’t Cry” during an MTV event. Months later, Smith joined the band again during Blink-182’s Wembley Stadium show in December of that year. 

Reflecting on the experience, Hoppus added, “Having Robert Smith on one of our songs and then performing with him and having him know who our band was has been beyond compare.”

In 2023, Smith collaborated with Blink-182 again on “Fell in Love” from the band’s 2023 album One More Time, a loose homage to the Cure’s 1985 song “Close to Me.”

Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images for MTV