There's no hope of me becoming completely relaxed on stage. If I

"There's no hope of me becoming completely relaxed on stage. If I did, I'd sit down and doze off." Thus spoke Robert Smith, the enigmatic voice and spirit behind The Cure, a man whose art has forever walked the line between melancholy and ecstasy. His words, half jest and half revelation, speak of the restless heart of the artist, the eternal flame that burns too brightly ever to be still. Beneath the humor lies an ancient truth—that true creation is born not from ease, but from tension; not from comfort, but from the electric unease of being alive.

In this saying, Smith reveals the paradox of performance—the artist must live between peace and passion, stillness and storm. To be “completely relaxed” is, for him, to drift into slumber, to lose the pulse that gives art its life. Restlessness is his muse. Every note he sings, every chord he strums, is drawn from that sacred tension—the awareness of the fragile boundary between control and chaos. In this, his confession is not a complaint but a celebration: the stage is not a place of calm, but of awakening. To perform is to be fully present in the trembling moment, alert to every flicker of sound and emotion.

The ancients would have recognized this truth in their own heroes. Homer’s Odysseus, though weary from the sea, could never rest upon the shore. His mind, ever sharp, sought new voyages, new trials. It was not in relaxation that he found greatness, but in the restless pursuit of meaning. So it is with the artist: to create, one must live with the fire of tension burning within. When the fire dies, when comfort replaces purpose, the art sleeps—and with it, the soul that gives it voice.

Smith’s words also speak to the nature of passion itself. The stage is his battlefield, and his weapon is emotion. In the midst of lights, sound, and faces, he finds not peace but pulse—the heartbeat that binds him to his audience. His inability to relax is not weakness, but vitality. It means he still feels, still cares, still trembles before the beauty and terror of expression. For to perform without trembling is to lie; to create without vulnerability is to craft sound without soul. The artist’s anxiety, when transmuted by honesty, becomes art’s greatest power.

We see this same spirit in Ludwig van Beethoven, who, though deaf and tormented, poured his unrest into music that shook the heavens. He could not “relax,” for his soul demanded expression. His discomfort became his cathedral, his turmoil his triumph. Likewise, Robert Smith’s sleepless energy, his haunting melodies and trembling voice, carry the weight of human longing. Through his unease, he touches others—reminding us that the imperfection of feeling is the perfection of art.

Yet beyond the artist, his words offer a universal lesson. In every life, there is a stage—our work, our calling, our relationships. To live meaningfully is to embrace the tension between serenity and striving. Complete relaxation, in the deepest sense, is a kind of death, a surrender of purpose. It is right that we are stirred by our ambitions, that we tremble before our dreams. The discomfort of passion is the sign that we are alive, that we still burn with the energy of creation.

So let us take this wisdom to heart. Do not seek a life free of tension, for peace without passion is only slumber. Instead, seek balance—the harmony between calm and urgency, between quiet and fire. Let your rest be renewal, not retreat; let your struggle be sacred, not shameful. The heart that trembles is the heart that loves; the mind that stirs is the mind that grows. As Robert Smith teaches, it is better to stand upon the stage of life, uneasy yet awake, than to sit in comfort and drift into the gentle darkness of apathy.

Therefore, when you feel restless, when you stand trembling before your own calling, remember this: it is the tremor that keeps you alive. The spark of unease is not your enemy—it is your guide. Let it move you, shape you, and remind you that passion, not comfort, is the breath of the living soul.