Town Without Pity (song)

"Town Without Pity" is a song written by composer Dimitri Tiomkin and lyricist Ned Washington. The track, produced by Aaron Schroeder[1], was originally recorded by Gene Pitney for the 1961 film of the same title. In the US, the Gene Pitney recording went to #13 on the Hot 100.[2]

This tragic song, in a minor key of B Minor, first ends the chorus in D Major, before going up a key to the refrain in the C Minor, where the Coda ends the song in the same minor key.

Awards

In 1962, the song received a Golden Globe Award for Best Song and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song (losing to "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's).

Other versions

Pitney also recorded versions in German (lyrics by Frank Zieboltz[3]), entitled "Bleibe bei mir" ("Stay With Me") and Italian, entitled "Città Spietata". Many artists and bands have recorded cover versions over the years since its release, including:

Year	Performer	Album
1966	Danny Williams	Only Love
1967	Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass	Sounds Like...
1978	Ronnie Montrose	Open Fire
1980	Paul Warren & Explorer	Takin' Her Back
1982	The Nylons	One Size Fits All
1987	Mathilde Santing	Out Of This Dream
1988	Thin White Rope	Red Sun
1989	The Dickies	Second Coming
1990	The Stray Cats	Let's Go Faster!
1992	Dave Vanian and the Phantom Chords	Town Without Pity (single)
1993	Neil Zaza	Thrills & Chills
1996	Eddi Reader	Candyfloss and Medicine
1996	The Brian Setzer Orchestra	Guitar Slinger
1999	Mandy Barnett	A Walk on the Moon (film soundtrack)
2001	Snakeman Show	Radio Snakeman Show, Vol. 1[4]
2001	The Quiets	Take a flight with The Quiets[5]
2003	Zen for Primates	Albatross[6]
2004	Los Straitjackets	Play Favorites
2006	Richie Cole & The Alto Madness Orchestra	Risë's Rose Garden[7]
2007	Vidar Busk & The Voo Doodz	Jookbox Charade

Use in other media

• In an early episode of Saturday Night Live (3/26/77), Laraine Newman played Indira Gandhi with John Belushi as her son Sanjay, who must vacate the premises after losing the election to Morarji Desai (Garrett Morris), but not before bursting into the song.[8]
• The song is heard in the 1988 film, Hairspray.
• The song was also sung by John Travolta to Kirstie Alley in the 1989 romantic comedy, Look Who's Talking.
• The lyrics are referenced by Foetus (James Thirwell) in the song, "Descent into the Inferno."
• The song was also performed by The Voice season 12 finalist Lilli Passero on the May 1, 2017 episode.[9]

References

1. Pitney, Gene, Gene Pitney:25 All-Time Greatest Hits, Varese Sarabande, 1999, liner notes
2. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 661.
4. "スネークマン・ショー「ラジオ・スネークマン・ショーVOL.01」｜ワーナーミュージック・ジャパン". Wmg.jp. Archived from the original on 2016-06-18. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
5. "The Quiets - Take A Flight With (CD, Album)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
6. "Albatross - Zen for Primates | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. 2003-05-19. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
7. "Risë's Rose Garden: Richie Cole & The Alto Madness Orchestra: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
8. "03.26.1977". SNL Archives. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
9. Gemmill, Allie (2017-05-01). "Lilli Passero Sang Her Heart Out On 'The Voice'". Bustle. Retrieved 2020-07-13.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics