The Asking Tree: A Robyn Hitchcock Catalog

The Face of Death Releases Gigs Lyrics Comments

Details

Author: Robyn Hitchcock

According to our records, Robyn has played this song 77 times, most recently at Storey's Field Centre on May 12, 2022. He first performed it at Alma on July 07, 1977, 44 years and 10 months earlier.

Releases

Title	Artist	Label	Type	Year
Give it to the Soft Boys	The Soft Boys	Raw Records	Single	1977
Wading Through a Ventilator	The Soft Boys	Delorean Record Company	Bootleg	1984
Gotta Let This Hen Out!	Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians	Midnight Music	Album	1985
Raw Cuts	The Soft Boys	Overground Records	EP	1989
The Face of Death	The Soft Boys	Overground Records	Single	1989
The Soft Boys 1976-1981	The Soft Boys	Rykodisc	Album	1993
Where Are The Prawns?	The Soft Boys		Fan Club release	1994
Maxwell's, New York, 1980	The Soft Boys	Handmade Productions	Bootleg	1998
12 x 7: All the Soft Boys Certify Insane	The Soft Boys		Bootleg	2008
Luminous Groove	Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians	Yep Roc Records	Album	2008

Showing 1 to 10 of 11 entries

Gigs

Venue	Billed As	City	State	Country	Date
Alma	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	07/07/1977
The Royal Hotel	The Soft Boys	Luton	England	UK	08/12/1977
Alma	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	09/02/1977
Icknields Hall	The Soft Boys	Letchworth	England	UK	09/09/1977
Corn Exchange	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	10/07/1977
Alma	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	10/22/1977
Alma	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	11/13/1977
Alex Wood Hall	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	11/15/1977
London School of Economics (LSE)	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	11/18/1977
Jesus College	The Soft Boys	Cambridge	England	UK	11/29/1977

Showing 1 to 10 of 77 entries

Comments

From Robyn on Patreon in 2025
Here are two more songs from the early Soft Boys repertoire fed through the meat grinder of 1978 and recorded for an unreleased Radar Records album.

1977 saw the UK colonised by punk: bell-bottom trousers were banished to the Welsh Borders and the furrows of Lincolnshire, while beards fell off young faces, mine included. But the following year saw the consolidation of the New Wave police: now a band could actually be penalized for using harmonies in their music, or attempting a proper guitar solo. The new rules were being nailed to the door by the fashionistas of the day, and woe betide those who didn’t comply.

We in the Soft Boys loved both harmonies and guitar solos. However, playing live we were so loud that we couldn’t hear ourselves harmonise, and the guitar solos became crazed sonic duels between Kimberley and myself. Being a far better guitarist than me he deserved to win, which he usually did.

These two tracks are retreads of songs on our 1977 EP Give It To The Soft Boys’infused with the manic angst of 1978. But at least we got the harmonies in tune…

Lyrics per those in 'Somewhere Apart - Selected Lyrics 1977-1997'. The book lists the title as simply "Face of Death" (without the definite article).

Lyrics

The face of death is my best friend
He lurks behind my favourite bend
And though we meet, we never speak
I've got a feeling he's unique

He looks so crushed, but he's alright
He eats his food, he sleeps at night
His leather jacket's quite like mine
I'm sure we two would get on fine

But some day I'll make him mine
I'll wear your face I'll come to tea
My place or yours? And then you'll see
It's like walking through a...

...mirror

He tried too hard, it never came
To anything - they burned his name
They threw him out 'cause he was wrong
And left him trapped inside this song

Face of death!