Human Music Releases Gigs Lyrics Comments

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Author
Robyn Hitchcock
According to our records, Robyn has played this song 73 times, most recently at Robyn & Emma's house on May 08, 2025. He first performed it at Hope & Anchor on May 06, 1978, 47 years earlier.
Title Artist Label Type Year
A Can of Bees The Soft Boys Two Crabs Music Album 1979
Live At The Portland Arms The Soft Boys Midnight Music Album 1983
The Day They Ate Brick The Soft Boys Polarad Electronics Corporation Bootleg 1987
Maxwell's, New York, 1980 The Soft Boys Handmade Productions Bootleg 1998
Patreon 2021 Robyn Hitchcock Internet 2021
Venue Billed As City State Country Date
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 05/06/1978
Marquee The Soft Boys London England UK 05/25/1978
Nags Head The Soft Boys High Wycombe England UK 05/27/1978
Rafters The Soft Boys Manchester England UK 06/09/1978
Marquee The Soft Boys London England UK 06/18/1978
Nashville Rooms The Soft Boys London England UK 07/02/1978
Hope & Anchor Leppo & the Jooves London England UK 08/26/1978
Alma The Soft Boys Cambridge England UK 08/28/1978
Nashville Rooms The Soft Boys London England UK 09/15/1978
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 10/06/1978
Nashville Rooms The Soft Boys London England UK 10/14/1978
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 10/20/1978
The Portland Arms The Soft Boys Cambridge England UK 11/01/1978
Nashville Rooms The Soft Boys London England UK 11/16/1978
Lady Mitchell Hall The Soft Boys Cambridge England UK 11/27/1978
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 12/08/1978
North East London Polytechnic The Soft Boys London England UK 01/11/1979
Rock Garden The Soft Boys London England UK 03/10/1979
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 03/24/1979
Brillig Arts Centre The Soft Boys Bath England UK 04/21/1979
Canterbury College of Art The Soft Boys Canterbury England UK 05/01/1979
Huddersfield Polytechnic The Soft Boys Huddersfield England UK 05/08/1979
Warwick University The Soft Boys Coventry England UK 05/12/1979
Norbreck Castle Hotel The Soft Boys Blackpool England UK 05/23/1979
Nashville Rooms The Soft Boys London England UK 06/02/1979
Hope & Anchor The Soft Boys London England UK 03/28/1980
The Africa Centre The Soft Boys London England UK 05/22/1980
Maxwell's The Soft Boys Hoboken New Jersey US 09/06/1980
McCabe's Robyn Hitchcock Santa Monica California US 07/29/1988
Great American Music Hall Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians San Francisco California US 07/15/1992
Knitting Factory Robyn Hitchcock New York New York US 03/15/1997
The Three Kings The Soft Boys London England UK 03/11/2001
Austin Music Hall The Soft Boys Austin Texas US 03/17/2001
Fletcher's The Soft Boys Baltimore Maryland US 03/19/2001
9:30 Club The Soft Boys Washington DC US 03/21/2001
Maxwell's The Soft Boys Hoboken New Jersey US 03/23/2001
Irving Plaza The Soft Boys New York New York US 03/24/2001
Paradise Rock Club The Soft Boys Boston Massachusetts US 03/26/2001
The Horseshoe Tavern The Soft Boys Toronto Ontario Canada 03/28/2001
St. Andrew's Hall The Soft Boys Detroit Michigan US 03/29/2001
Metro The Soft Boys Chicago Illinois US 03/30/2001
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
Pine Street Theatre The Soft Boys Portland Oregon US 04/05/2001
The Fillmore The Soft Boys San Francisco California US 04/07/2001
Knitting Factory The Soft Boys Los Angeles California US 04/10/2001
The Junction The Soft Boys Cambridge England UK 04/18/2001
Pavilion Theatre The Soft Boys Brighton England UK 04/20/2001
The Basement The Soft Boys Nottingham England UK 04/23/2001
Electric Ballroom The Soft Boys London England UK 04/26/2001
Wedgewood Rooms The Soft Boys Portsmouth England UK 04/29/2001
The Evershot Village Hall The Soft Boys Evershot England UK 09/15/2001
McCabe's Robyn Hitchcock Santa Monica California US 10/05/2012
McCabe's Robyn Hitchcock Santa Monica California US 06/20/2014
The Drake Hotel Robyn Hitchcock Toronto Ontario Canada 09/11/2014
City Winery Robyn Hitchcock New York New York US 11/19/2016
The Tote Robyn Hitchcock's New Melbournian Softest of the Soft Boys Melbourne Victoria Australia 12/20/2016
Union Chapel Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 10/29/2019
Robyn & Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift Nashville Tennessee US 09/02/2020
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift London England UK 12/02/2020
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift London England UK 04/09/2021
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 07/07/2021
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 08/04/2021
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 08/18/2021
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 02/16/2022
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 03/16/2022
Knuckleheads Robyn Hitchcock Kansas City Missouri US 04/14/2022
Pioneertown Motel Robyn Hitchcock Pioneertown California US 05/26/2022
[unknown venue] Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 06/09/2022
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 10/12/2022
Robyn and Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock London England UK 02/15/2023
Robyn & Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift Nashville Tennessee US 02/05/2025
Robyn & Emma's house Robyn Hitchcock Nashville Tennessee US 05/08/2025

Comments

In his intro to this song on Live at the Portland Arms (the first known live performance of the song, 01 November 1978), Robyn summed it up as "a song[...] of total disgust and alienation from humanity"

From video posted on Robyn's Facebook
Human Music - Live From London - June 9, 2022
I wrote Human Music in Cambridge on a dark windy Sunday evening in February 1978. In the Soft Boys we recorded it three times at least that year. It was my first truly dismal song, stepping away from the hyperactive mania that was our hallmark around that time. We were very loud at that period - Kimberley’s guitar and mine were locked in a Fender duel, which he always won as he was a louder and better player than I was.
The angels - what can you do about them? They’re pests of a kind - rats of the air, like seagulls. They can give you reassurance, but always at a price: surrender to a principle, surrender to a phantom, surrender to faith: jeez - do I have to? But, of course, the angels know best…

Lyrics

I've forgotten what it's like
If I ever knew at all
I have slept on broken glass
And drooped against a wall
I hung the phone up many times
On angels when they rang
Their melodies were sickly sweet
Like overripe meringues
I was born with something missing
But I know your lip was made for kissing

Oooh, baby when that human music plays I don't know why

The wind explodes and rips itself
To pieces everywhere
It itches in the chimney and
It suffocates the air
The angels try to anchor but
They never get the chance
Their limbs are numb and twisted so
They're going to have to dance
What scares you most will set you free
That's what the angel said to me

He said:
Oooh, baby when that human music plays you don't know why

I had a girl the shape of you
I loved her with my breath
But I wouldn't admit that romance
Likes to end in death
And darkness is the shore of light
The truth is framed with lies
And a girl can smile sweetly, though
Her mouth is stuffed with flies
When you're thin and damp and shoddy
Just remember that you're in a body

Oooh, baby when that human music plays I don't know why