A Forest Video (MV)

"A Forest" is a song by the English rock band the Cure. Co-produced by Mike Hedges and the band's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album Seventeen Seconds on 28 March 1980. It was their debut entry on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 31. The accompanying music video was first shown on BBC's Top of the Pops programme on 24 April 1980.

Recorded and mixed over seven days, along with the rest of the songs from the album, "A Forest" is representative of The Cure's 1980s gothic rock phase. The song has featured on the band's set lists for many years. Several versions have appeared on concert albums, and it was re-recorded, then subsequently remixed and released as a single from Mixed Up in 1990.

"A Forest" and its parent album Seventeen Seconds are representative of The Cure's gothic rock phase in the late 1970s and 1980s. The song has also been described as a post-punk track. Cure biographer Jeff Apter refers to "A Forest" as "the definitive early Cure mood piece" and argues the song is the centrepiece of the album. Smith's intention with "A Forest" was to make a song that was "really atmospheric". He has stated it was a pivotal recording for the group, representing "the archetypal Cure sound".

Smith has given varying explanations of his lyric for "A Forest." He has said the lyric was based upon a dream he had as a child where he was lost in the woods unable to escape, but later denied it and stated, "It's just about a forest."