The Cure Secrets (1980)
The British Empire considered many wars more important than the war on uncleanliness; after all, it was well pre-germ-theory since we’re talking about the 19th century. But around exactly that time, enter James Barry: The military surgeon was stationed in various British colonies throughout his career, where he helped to improve sanitation systems, increased hygiene standards during medical procedures, and successfully performed the first Cesarean in the British colonies that both mother and baby survived. Barry, known to be brilliant at his job but incredibly short-tempered, might have had an affair with a British governor, definitely had a feud with Florence Nightingale, and only upon his death had his best-kept secret revealed when his body was prepared for burial:
Barry had been born as Margaret Anne Bulkley and throughout childhood lived as a girl. The bright daughter of an Irish family then used the name of her recently deceased brother to enroll in medical school in Edinburgh—and lived as James Barry from there on out. It remains unclear whether Barry was what we today call trans or if this was a choice made purely because women could not hold medical degrees at the time, and perhaps the reason for the change in lived identity eludes us altogether.
What is clear, however, is that once you look closely at something you think is familiar—the story of a British military surgeon, for example, or the discography of a popular band—you might find that there’s more than meets the eye. The secret you discover might, in case of the surgeon, spark discussions lasting for several centuries, but this one here hopefully is merely the source of some uncomplicated delight: “Secrets”, off The Cure’s 1980s album Seventeen Seconds, is in its bass-based build definitely a Cure-song, but in its searching, murmuring sound reveals a glimpse of something much more quiet than their usual feel.
Happy listening!
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