10 Songs With Meanings That Are Completely Misunderstood
5. The Cure's Killing An Arab Doesn't Promote Racism
wikimedia
It doesn't take a genius to work out how this song has been misappropriated over the years. Appearing on The Cure's first US album Boys Don't Cry in 1980, Killing An Arab has been seen as promoting violence against Arabs and inciting general racism.
But what's missing is the context. Killing An Arab is actually about the Albert Camus novel The Stranger, in which the narrator (just like in the song) does in fact kill an Arab on the beach, and is thereafter considered a stranger for refusing to lie about what happened. According to Robert Smith, he simply tried to detail his impressions of the novel's key scene through song.
Since its release the song has gone through several title changes including Kissing An Arab and Killing Another, but has since been performed as Killing An Arab again.