The Cure
Shake Dog Shake (Live)

I think we’ve blasted past the 30th anniversary of Paris. The concert at the Zenith was in 1992 and the live album was released the following year. No matter – there’s an anniversary edition arriving next month and The Cure have added ‘Shake Dog Shake’ to the track listing.

I hardly need to introduce the song – it’s featured in their recent triumphant live performances. It’s got a slow wallowing (in a good way) beat, and a howling (in a good way) melody that sounds amazing in this live performance from Zenith in Paris.

The lineup at the time was Smith, Gallup, Thompson, Williams, and Bamonte, which is the version I’ve seen live the most (though not in Paris as my meagre salary in the 90s barely got me up to Wembley Arena and Earls Court).

The Cure’s live albums are all incredible. Concert, Show, and Paris transported you into the full atmosphere of their shows, and the performances were flawless.

This version of ‘Shake Dog Shake’ feels slower and darker than it sounds when they play it today, though maybe it’s just me being sentimental.

The 30th anniversary Wish vinyl sold out and I expect this will, too.

Shake Dog Shake Visualiser

Listen to The Cure – ‘Shake Dog Shake’.

Shake Dog Shake Lyrics

Ha ha ha!!!
Wake up in the dark
The aftertaste of anger in the back of my mouth
Spit it on the wall
And cough some more
And scrape my skin with razor blades
And make up in the new blood
And try to look so good
Follow me!
Make up in the new blood
And follow me to where the real fun is
Ha ha ha!!!

As stale and selfish as a sick dog
Spurning sex like an animal of god
I’ll tear your red hair by the roots
And hold you blazing
Hold you cherished in the dead electric light

Your face
I’ll never see you this way again
I captured it so perfectly
As if I knew you’d disappear away

Shake dog shake

You hit me again
You howl and hit me again
The same sharp pain
Wakes me in the dark
And cuts me from my throat to my pounding heart
My heart
My shaking heart

Shake dog shake

But we slept all night in the virgin’s bed
And dreamed of death
And breathed like sick dogs
We slept all night in the virgin’s bed
And breathed like death
And dreamed of sick dogs

Shake dog shake

Wake up wake up wake up!
Shake dog shake
Wake up wake up wake up!
Shake dog shake

Wake up in the new blood
Make up in the new blood
Shake up in the new blood
And follow me to where the real fun is…

Shake dog shake

Written by Fenton on 17th February 2024

Steve Fenton writes in our music, words, and culture categories. He was Editor in Chief for The Mag and covered live music for DV8 Magazine and Spill Magazine. He was often found in venues throughout the UK alongside ace-photographer, Mark Holloway. Steve is also a technical writer and programmer and writes gothic fiction. Steve studied Psychology at OSC, and Anarchy in the UK: A History of Punk from 1976-1978 at the University of Reading.

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