{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox song | name = 10:15 Saturday Night | cover = 10 15 saturday night cover.jpeg | alt = | caption = Cover of the French single | type = single | artist = [[the Cure]] | album = [[Three Imaginary Boys]] | A-side = [[Killing an Arab]] | released = June 1979 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = [[Pop-punk]]<ref name="Bradley 2014">{{cite book|title= The Alternative Jukebox|first=Larry|last=Bradley|date= November 4, 2014|chapter= The 1970s: The Cure – "10.15 Saturday Night|page= 111|publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]]|isbn=978-1-84403-789-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_phoAEACAAJ}}</ref> | length = 3:42 | label = [[Fiction Records|Fiction]] | writer = * [[Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]] * [[Michael Dempsey]] * [[Lol Tolhurst]] | producer = [[Chris Parry (producer)|Chris Parry]] | misc = {{External music video|header=Official audio|{{YouTube|9saQnQQApVM|"10:15 Saturday Night"}}}} }}
"'''10:15 Saturday Night'''" is a song by the English [[Rock music|rock]] band [[the Cure]]. It was the [[B-side]] to their December 1978 single "[[Killing an Arab]]" as well as the opening track of their debut album ''[[Three Imaginary Boys]]''. It was also released in France as a single, with the track "Accuracy" as the B-side. It has been performed live during most of their shows since its release, and was included on their 1984 album ''[[Concert: The Cure Live]]''.
A promotional video, directed by Piers Bedford, was the band's first [[music video]].<ref name="PostPunk">{{cite web |title=The Cure {{!}} Boys Don't Cry |url=https://www.post-punk.com/the-cure-boys-dont-cry/ |website=Post-Punk |date=5 February 2016 |accessdate=30 August 2019}}</ref>{{efn|Piers had directed a number of previous films and the following year would direct the video for [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]]' "[[Happy House]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba06c7124|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729211023/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba06c7124|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 July 2016|title = Piers Bedford}}</ref>}}
==Background== According to interviews in the booklet for the Deluxe Edition of ''Three Imaginary Boys'', the demo of the song is what caught [[Chris Parry (producer)|Chris Parry]]'s attention in 1978 and led him to sign the band to his newly founded record company, [[Fiction Records|Fiction]]. The track was written by Robert Smith at the age of 16 one evening while sitting at the kitchen table feeling "utterly morose" watching the tap dripping and drinking his dad's homemade beer. It was first performed as part of sets performed by [[Easy Cure]] at gigs around the band's local area of [[Crawley]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}
== Critical reception == In a retrospective review for [[AllMusic]], Bill Janovitz compared the song's sound to the bands [[The Gun Club|Gun Club]], [[Wire (band)|Wire]], and [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang of Four]], citing its "stark and edgy blasts of guitars, a country-blues drum beat, stark dynamics, and Robert Smith's vocal approach." He wrote that song's percussion mirrors the sound of a clock ticking, noting that its "music magnifies the narrator's dilemma from mere melancholy loneliness to a maddening desperation."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Janovitz |first=Bill |title=10:15 Saturday Night - The Cure |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/10-15-saturday-night-mt0011881810 |access-date=18 August 2025 |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
"10:15 Saturday Night" is widely regarded as one of the Cure's best songs. In 2019, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' ranked the song number ten on their list of the 40 greatest Cure songs,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/the-cure-best-songs-hits-list-8504417/|title=The Cure's 40 Best Songs: Critic's Picks|first=Andrew|last=Unterberger|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=March 29, 2019|accessdate=December 1, 2023}}</ref> and in 2023, ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' ranked the song number five on their list of the 30 greatest Cure songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/the-mojo-list/the-cures-30-greatest-songs/|title=The Cure's 30 Greatest Songs Ranked|website=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=November 14, 2023|accessdate=December 1, 2023}}</ref>
==Samples and cover versions== The song was sampled by [[Massive Attack]] on their cover of "[[Man Next Door]]" from their 1998 album ''[[Mezzanine (album)|Mezzanine]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://larecord.com/photos/2019/09/06/massive-attack-the-hollywood-palladium |title=Massive Attack @ the Hollywood Paladium |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=6 September 2019 |website=[[larecord.com]] |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref> It was also covered by [[the Living End]] on their [[Extended play|EP]] ''[[It's for Your Own Good (EP)|It's for Your Own Good]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Jonathan |title=It's for Your Own Good – The Living End |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-for-your-own-good-mw0000777988 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=20 December 2024}}</ref>
==References== ===Notes=== {{notelist}}
===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Other sources=== * Apter, Jeff. (2006). ''Never Enough: The Story of the Cure''. Omnibus Press. {{ISBN|1-84449-827-1}} p. 63
==External links== * {{Discogs master|341267|type=single}} * [https://www.45cat.com/record/small11 "Killing an Arab" / "10.15 Saturday Night"] at 45cat.com
{{The Cure}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:1978 songs]] [[Category:1979 singles]] [[Category:The Cure songs]] [[Category:British pop punk songs]] [[Category:Songs written by Robert Smith (musician)]] [[Category:Songs written by Michael Dempsey]] [[Category:Songs written by Lol Tolhurst]]