Details

Author
Robyn Hitchcock
According to our records, Robyn has played this song 202 times, most recently at Robyn & Emma's house on May 06, 2026. He first performed it at The Charlotte on June 23, 2006, 19 years and 10 months earlier.

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Along with "Wreck of the Arthur Lee," this is Robyn's other tribute to a brilliant and somewhat tragic musician named Arthur. Kane was forced out of the band he helped create and died suddenly at age 55. From Wikipedia:
Arthur Harold Kane Jr. (February 3, 1949 – July 13, 2004) was an American musician best known as the bass guitarist for the pioneering glam rock band the New York Dolls. Kane was a founding member of the Dolls in 1971...

Lyrics

I never finished the book
There's always someone to be loved
Or to be forgotten
But if you take a long look
Well there's always someone
Young and fresh
Or cold and rotten

One in a million
People touch you
How do I explain?
Sincerely I remain,
Arthur Kane

I was a New York Doll
I was really something on the map
that never ends
I was the pulse of it all
But there's always poison to drink alone
Or to share with friends
One in a million
People hit you like a window pane
Sincerely I remain,
Arthur Kane

I found myself in the church
I needed something
Bigger than the world I knew
But in the library of your memory
People live in their books
till the pages close
Close on me like they're gonna
Close on you

One in a million
People matter
Then they go again
Sincerely I remain,
Arthur Kane
Arthur Kane