Elvis Costello
Oh God, What Have We Done? (Goodbye Cruel World Live)
(compilation of live versions of songs from the album GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD)
1. The Only Flame In Town: with the Attractions, New York 8/16/84
2. Home Truth: with Steve Nieve, Vancouver 3/7/04
3. Room With No Number: with the Attractions, Tokyo 6/6/84
4. Inch By Inch / Fever: with Steve Nieve, Berlin 5/10/99
5. Worthless Thing: solo, London 12/3/84
6. Love Field: with Steve Nieve, Minneapolis 8/18/96
7. I Wanna Be Loved: with the Imposters, Nashville 10/30/02
8. The Comedians: solo, Glastonbury 6/20/87
9. Joe Porterhouse: with the Attractions, London 10/15/84
10. Sour Milk-Cow Blues: with the Attractions & Gary Barnacle, Philadelphia 8/11/84
11. The Great Unknown: with Steve Nieve, London 6/26/01
12. Deportee: solo, Dublin 12/2/86
13. Peace In Our Time: with the Imposters, Emmylou Harris & Larry Campbell, Rochester Hills 7/26/05
14. The Comedians: solo, London 12/27/82
15. The Great Unknown: solo, Los Angeles 9/18/83
16. Peace In Our Time: solo, London 12/18/83
17. Home Truth: solo, Philadelphia 4/12/84
18. Inch By Inch: solo, New York 4/15/84
19. Love Field: solo, Boston 4/18/84
20. The Only Flame In Town: solo, Atlanta 4/20/87
21. Lifeboat: solo, London 12/22/83 (late show)
Total time: 78:04
Artwork is included.
Sound quality ranges from excellent to mediocre. These are mainly audience recordings, although tracks 3, 4, 6, and 10 are from soundboard or FM sources.
Elvis Costello has described GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD as his "worst album of good songs." The goal of OH GOD, WHAT HAVE WE DONE? (GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD LIVE) is to present these songs in a new light. For the most part these arrangements are significantly different from their album counterparts.
"Joe Porterhouse" is excerpted from an improvisation worked into a performance of "Clubland." (The listener may notice that the Attractions initially seem unaware of which song Costello is performing, but they catch on quickly.)
The final song, "Lifeboat," was written around the same time as the other GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD songs but did not appear on the album. Costello abandoned the song after a single performance, although he did reuse one line of its lyrics in "Worthless Thing."