City of Shame Releases Gigs Lyrics

Details

Author
Robyn Hitchcock
According to our records, Robyn has played this song 89 times, most recently at The Bowery Ballroom on December 28, 2024. He first performed it at Dingwalls on December 07, 1980, 44 years earlier.
Title Artist Label Type Year
Black Snake Diamond Role Robyn Hitchcock Armageddon Records Album 1981
Zinc Pear Robyn Hitchcock & The Soft Boys Armageddon Records Promo 1981
Give It To The Thoth Boys Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians Fan Club release 1993
Catalog Sampler Robyn Hitchcock (& the Egyptians) Rhino Records Promo 1994
Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock Sequel Records Album 1995
Uncorrected Personality Traits Robyn Hitchcock Rhino Records Album 1997
Inflatable Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock [none listed] Bootleg 2000
Inflatable Hitchcock 2 Robyn Hitchcock [none listed] Bootleg 2000
I Wanna Go Backwards Robyn Hitchcock Yep Roc Records Album 2007
Selections From the I Wanna Go Backwards Box Set Robyn Hitchcock Yep Roc Records Promo 2007
Venue Billed As City State Country Date
Dingwalls The Soft Boys London England UK 12/07/1980
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 01/23/1981
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 01/30/1981
Golden Lion (last Soft Boys gig) The Soft Boys London England UK 02/08/1981
Onkel Pö Robyn Hitchcock Hamburg Germany 02/17/1985
Paradise Centre Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Reading England UK 06/02/1986
Norwich Arts Centre Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Norwich England UK 06/06/1986
Tower Records Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians New York New York US 10/30/1986
Ronnie Scott's Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 05/10/1987
Ronnie Scott's Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 06/05/1988
Maxwell's Robyn Hitchcock Hoboken New Jersey US 07/20/1988
Constitution Hall Robyn Hitchcock Washington DC US 07/21/1988
9:30 Club Robyn Hitchcock Washington DC US 07/24/1988
Great American Music Hall Robyn Hitchcock San Francisco California US 07/28/1988
Maxwell's (Late show) Robyn Hitchcock Hoboken New Jersey US 09/22/1989
McCabe's Robyn Hitchcock Santa Monica California US 05/25/1990
Club de Wash Robyn Hitchcock Madison Wisconsin US 07/25/1990
Lounge Ax Robyn Hitchcock Chicago Illinois US 07/27/1990
Tramps Robyn Hitchcock New York New York US 10/03/1990
Iron Horse Robyn Hitchcock Northampton Massachusetts US 10/11/1990
Jake's Robyn Hitchcock Bloomington Indiana US 10/19/1990
40 Watt Club Robyn Hitchcock Athens Georgia US 08/17/1991
Magasinet Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Gothenburg Sweden 11/15/1991
Park West Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Chicago Illinois US 06/17/1992
Powerhaus The Soft Boys London England UK 10/17/1992
The Ritz Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians New York New York US 05/19/1993
Keswick Theatre Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Glenside Pennsylvania US 05/21/1993
Fast Lane Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Asbury Park New Jersey US 05/22/1993
BBC Radio 1 - Mark Radcliffe Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians London England UK 11/15/1993
University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology (UMIST) Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians Manchester England UK 11/16/1993
Harpo's Robyn Hitchcock Victoria British Columbia Canada 09/30/1994
Spectrum Cabaret Robyn Hitchcock Winnipeg Manitoba Canada 10/09/1994
Lee's Palace Robyn Hitchcock Toronto Ontario Canada 10/12/1994
Dingwalls (Jongleurs) Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 03/02/1995
WYBC Robyn Hitchcock New Haven Connecticut US 04/05/1995
TT the Bear's Robyn Hitchcock Cambridge Massachusetts US 04/07/1995
Splash Club, Water Rat's Pub Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 10/17/1995
12 Bar Club Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 01/19/1996
12 Bar Club Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 08/06/1996
Knitting Factory Robyn Hitchcock New York New York US 03/12/1997
Cat's Cradle Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA Carrboro North Carolina US 10/26/1999
Fletcher's Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA Baltimore Maryland US 10/27/1999
Paradise Rock Club Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA Boston Massachusetts US 10/30/1999
Maxwell's Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA Hoboken New Jersey US 11/02/1999
First Avenue Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA Minneapolis Minnesota US 11/11/1999
Fletcher's The Soft Boys Baltimore Maryland US 03/19/2001
9:30 Club The Soft Boys Washington DC US 03/21/2001
Richard's on Richards The Soft Boys Vancouver British Columbia Canada 04/03/2001
Crocodile Café The Soft Boys Seattle Washington US 04/04/2001
The Zodiac Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Oxford England UK 01/07/2007
BBC Radio 2 - Mark Lamarr Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 London England UK 01/10/2007
Carling Academy Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 London England UK 01/11/2007
Fleece and Firkin Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Bristol England UK 01/12/2007
Academy III Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Manchester England UK 01/13/2007
The Boardwalk Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Sheffield England UK 01/14/2007
40 Watt Club Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Athens Georgia US 03/21/2007
World Café Live Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Philadelphia Pennsylvania US 03/26/2007
Knitting Factory Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 New York New York US 03/28/2007
Debaser Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Stockholm Sweden 06/13/2007
Shank Hall Robyn Hitchcock Milwaukee Wisconsin US 11/02/2007
Triple Door Robyn Hitchcock Seattle Washington US 11/29/2007
Doug Fir Lounge Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Portland Oregon US 12/01/2007
Irving Plaza Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 New York New York US 04/11/2009
The Bell House Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 New York New York US 06/11/2009
Barby Club Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Tel Aviv Israel 03/24/2012
Old Town School of Folk Music Robyn Hitchcock Chicago Illinois US 10/13/2012
Neptune Theatre Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Seattle Washington US 06/04/2013
Caprichos de Apolo Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Barcelona Spain 06/19/2013
Sala El Sol Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Madrid Spain 06/22/2013
Egersund Turnhallen Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 Egersund Norway 07/05/2013
Egg Records Robyn Hitchcock Sydney New South Wales Australia 06/14/2014
Rough Trade Brooklyn Robyn Hitchcock & Yo La Tengo New York New York US 02/28/2017
The Bowery Ballroom Robyn Hitchcock & Yo La Tengo New York New York US 03/01/2017
The ArtsCenter Robyn Hitchcock Carrboro North Carolina US 05/14/2017
The Fillmore Robyn Hitchcock & Yo La Tengo San Francisco California US 09/29/2017
Regent Theatre Robyn Hitchcock & Yo La Tengo Los Angeles California US 10/01/2017
Grace Emily Hotel Robyn Hitchcock Adelaide South Australia Australia 12/06/2017
Underground Arts Robyn Hitchcock & The LA Squires Philadelphia Pennsylvania US 04/27/2018
Lincoln Theatre Robyn Hitchcock & The LA Squires Washington DC US 04/28/2018
Club Academy Robyn Hitchcock & The LA Squires Manchester England UK 05/11/2018
University London Union (ULU) Robyn Hitchcock & The LA Squires London England UK 05/12/2018
Randy Now's Man Cave Robyn Hitchcock Bordentown New Jersey US 04/12/2019
Huichica - Walla Walla Robyn Hitchcock Waitsburg Washington US 09/14/2019
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift London England UK 09/30/2020
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 09/01/2021
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 03/16/2022
Private House Robyn Hitchcock Minneapolis Minnesota US 03/27/2023
The Common Room Robyn Hitchcock Newcastle upon Tyne England UK 09/03/2024
The Bowery Ballroom Robyn Hitchcock, Morris Windsor, Kimberley Rew and Lee Cave-Berry New York New York US 12/28/2024

Lyrics

It was in the City of Shame
That I found I wasn't to blame
I was looking for a weird thing to do
I discovered that it had to be you

It was in the City of Fear
That I shouted 'Is there nobody here?'
Though the echo had the name on a ring
Still the echo wasn't called anything

La la la la-la-la-la
La la la la-la-la-la
La la la la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la la-la la

It was in the City of Love
All the flesh I et was never enough
Though I knew it wasn't good for my soul
My body hungered for the ultimate goal

It was in the City of Spies
That I spoke with nothing but lies
When they set a trap for all you could feel
It's important that your mind is concealed

La la la la-la-la-la
La la la la-la-la-la
La la la la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la la-la la-la

It was in the City of Shapes
That she made love to several apes
She felt weird for a couple of days
Pretty soon she got used to their ways

It was in the City of Fools
That she sold her beautiful jewels
Someone bought them and sold them again
Now they've been bought by several men

la la la la-la-la
la la la-la
la la la la-la-la
la la la-la
la la la la la-la-la
la la la-la
la la la la la-la-la
la la la-la

<Alternates>
She felt weird for a couple of hours               27a
She cheered up when they brought her some flowers  28a
In the City of Shame   34.1a
In the City of Shame   36.1a
In the City of Shame   38.1a