"The Caterpillar" is the name of a 1984 single and song written by Robert Smith

Robert Smith (musician)

Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...

 and Lol Tolhurst. The song is performed by The Cure

The Cure

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...

 and is from their album The Top

The Top (album)

The Top is the fifth studio album by British band The Cure, released in 1984.-Overview:The Top was the studio album to follow Pornography. After Pornography, Robert Smith found himself without his friend Simon Gallup, who departed the band due to a fight.Smith then took a radical shift in his music...

. When played live, Robert Smith would jokingly introduce it as an old Japanese song.

The song reached #14 in the UK and #51 in Australia.

Personnel

• Robert Smith
  Robert Smith (musician)
  Robert James Smith is an English musician. He is the lead singer, guitar player and principal songwriter of the rock band The Cure, and its only constant member since its founding in 1976...
  
   - vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
   noises
• Andy Anderson - percussion
• Lol Tolhurst - keyboards

• Phil Thornalley
  Phil Thornalley
  Phil Thornalley is a songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing the song "Torn" which Natalie Imbruglia later covered to great success for her 1997 debut album, Left of the Middle...
  
   and Porl Thompson
  Porl Thompson
  Porl Thompson is an English musician best known for his work with The Cure.-Life and work:Thompson is the oldest of four children; he has two brothers and one sister...
  
   appear in the music video, but do not contribute to the song.

Music video

The song's music video was directed by Tim Pope

Tim Pope

Timothy Michael Pope is a film director most famous for his music videos, having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career.-Early life and career:...

. It was shot in the Great Conservatory in Syon Park

Syon House

Syon House, with its 200-acre park, is situated in west London, England. It belongs to the Duke of Northumberland and is now his family's London residence...

, London.