Pictures of You

Spurred by a house fire that nearly destroyed his personal belongings, Robert Smith wrote this sprawling epic after uncovering an old photograph of his wife, Mary Poole, in the ashes. The eight-minute album version features a two-minute instrumental buildup of chorused six-string bass and icy synths before Smith's vocals arrive. It serves as the emotional anchor of the critically lauded 'Disintegration', epitomizing the band's stadium-goth grandeur.