Robyn Hitchcock Song Catalogue

N.Y. Doll        Lyrics |  Tab |  Gigs |  New Search

Author: Robyn Hitchcock

Released on 4 records:

Olé! Tarantula, 2006  (CD)  Belmore Bel 016
Olé! Tarantula, 2006  (CD)  Proper
Olé! Tarantula, 2006  (CD)  Oak Tree DDCJ5007
Olé! Tarantula, 2006  (CD)  Yep Roc YEP 2129


Robyn Hitchcock Says: RH: ..There’s a few eulogies and laments on the record, I guess, because "N.Y.
Doll" is also about Arthur Kane. Have you seen that movie? [a
documentary on Kane’s life called "New York Doll"]

CK: No, I haven’t, but after I read about it and heard the song, I’m
going to have to now.

RH: It’s really good.

CK: It certainly wasn't a rock 'n' roll lifestyle that he was leading
for a while there - as a librarian for the Mormons.

RH: Yeah, he fell through a window and discovered Jesus, and lived out
the last 15 years of his life, or 20 years of his life, as a Mormon
librarian in LA. But I think the Dolls had always been a peak in his
life, which as it receded it seemed more unbelievable to him that he’d
actually been living like that, even though it was a lifestyle that he
couldn’t sustain, which eventually sort of poisoned him. But it was
obviously a really mythic time for him, and it was incredible for him to
come back to it right at the end. I don’t know if he knew how ill he
was, if he knew he was ill or not, but the fact that he died two weeks
afterward is pretty amazing. So, you should definitely go see that [movie].

CK: Oh, I will - definitely.


[September, 2006]

thanks to Chris Kocher, Gannett News Service for the interview excerpt


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


No guitar tab entered.


Known to have been played live at 10 gigs:

Robyn Hitchcock & Minus 3:
Cannon Hill Park, MAC Theatre (Birmingham, England UK), 6/24/2006 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Minus 3: Harewood House, Wireless Festival (Leeds, England UK), 6/25/2006 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Minus 3: Loppen (Copenhagen, Denmark), 7/4/2006 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3: The Cornbury Oxford Music Festival (Charlbury, England UK), 7/9/2006 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock w/ The Minus 5: BBC Radio 2 (London, England UK), 7/25/2006 (Radio)
Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3: FAB (Tokyo, Japan), 10/6/2006 w/ The Minus 5 & Morgan Fisher (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3: FAB (Tokyo, Japan), 10/7/2006 w/ The Minus 5 & Morgan Fisher (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3: FAB (Tokyo, Japan), 10/8/2006 w/ The Minus 5 & Morgan Fisher (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3: The Gov (Adelaide, Australia), 10/14/2006 w/ The Minus 5 (Concert)
Robyn Hitchcock & Venus 3: The Clarendon (Katoomba, Australia), 10/19/2006 w/ The Minus 5 (Concert)

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