Red Shoes - Big Time [145]

From her discussion with us back on Blue Valentine, we welcome back special correspondent Elizabeth Sankey to discuss the process of reinterpretation and translation of songs from studio-to-live settings. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Song by Song Towers, Martin and Sam talk about the textural shift in performances, more loss of meaning in the storytelling, as well as the brilliance of the Big Time band.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Red Shoes, Big Time, Tom Waits (1988)

Red Shoes by the Drugstore, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

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Rainbow Sleeves (Rickie Lee Jones Special) - Blue Valentine/Girl At Her Volcano [067]

Once more, with feeling… as a final coda to our sixth season, we switch focus from Waits directly and instead look at his then-partner Rickie Lee Jones. Kit departs from us with some observations of not only the music of Waits and Jones, but also some of the social implications of writing emotional and emotive material about another "public figure", while Sam talks about… minor thirds, or sevenths, or something? And Martin nails down our inaccuracies.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Rainbow Sleeves, Girl At Her Volcano, Rickie Lee Jones [w. Tom Waits] (1978/1983)

A Lucky Guy, Pirates, Rickie Lee Jones (1981)

Rainbow Sleeves, deleted scene from "Divine Madness", Bette Midler (1980)

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Annie’s Back In Town - Blue Valentine/Paradise Alley OST [066]

We're done with Blue Valentine, but season six continues for another couple of weeks as Kit, Martin and Sam take another trip to the movies with this track from the Paradise Alley soundtrack. Comparisons this week between this track and others from Waits's recent history, as well as the reinterpretation of a man singing as a woman vs a woman's own perspective. And one more episode to come before we move on…

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Annie’s Back In Town, Paradise Alley OST, Tom Waits (1978)

Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis, New Coat Of Paint, Neko Case/Tom Waits (2000)


and for extras: Kentucky Avenue (play this alongside the youtube "Annie's Back In Town" for musical comparison)

(Meet Me In) Paradise Alley, Paradise Alley OST, Tom Waits (1978)

Paradise Alley, dir. Sylvester Stallone (1978)

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Blue Valentines - Blue Valentine [065]

The plural track of the singular album brings our tour through Waits's sixth album to a close, as Martin, Sam and Kit discuss one of their favourite songs from Blue Valentine. With some discussion over traditional images of lovers, the power dynamic between the singer and the object of their song (and affection), and some theories about the album as a whole, we come to the end of… wait a minute, we're doing what next week?!?

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Blue Valentines, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

My Funny Valentine, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers and Hart Songbook, Ella Fitzgerald (1956)

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A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun - Blue Valentine [064]

As Blue Valentine heads towards its close, Kit Lovelace joins Martin and Sam to discuss some of the violent imagery buried in the dense storytelling of Waits. With the oppositions in the lyrics (as well as the title) and comparison between Waits and They Might Be Giants (anyone want to start a partner podcast? Anyone?!?), Song by Song once again discusses the big issues facing society: this week, ants vs picnics.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
A Sweet Little Bullet from a Pretty Blue Gun, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love, Flood, They Might Be Giants (1990)

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Kentucky Avenue - Blue Valentine [063]

As Jen and Dave make their final appearance for this season of Song by Song, the album turns to a very different style and tone of writing as Waits looks back on the details and memories from his own life to tell a story of childhood dreams. With comparisons to the work and life of Ian Dury, and the benefits and drawbacks of specific concrete imagery in lyric writing, we continue our journey through Blue Valentine.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Kentucky Avenue, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3), Single/Jukebox Dury, Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1979/1981)

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Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard - Blue Valentine [062]

This week on Song by Song we (finally) examine the influence of Tom Waits on the musical writing of Joss Whedon, as well as a perhaps inevitable comparison with The King of Rock and Roll. As Martin, Jen, Dave and Sam discuss more of the density and ambiguity of Waits's lyric writing, the question of how to represent danger and evil in songwriting arises, along with the extent of Elvis's influence on... everything?

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Whistling’ Past the Graveyard, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

Trouble, King Creole, Elvis Presley (1958)

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Wrong Side of the Road - Blue Valentine [061]

With scant regard for conventions of highway safety, Tom Waits insists on heading into oncoming traffic in this sixth track from Blue Valentine. Jen and Dave return to discuss the application of Russian Formalist theories of literature to the songwriting, the singing techniques of Waits as compared with Nancy Sinatra, and the extremity of the character he's able to adopt.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Wrong Side of the Road, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, Boots, Nancy Sinatra (1966)

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$29.00 - Blue Valentine [060]

Sam and Martin are joined by our latest guest hosts Dave Pickering and Jen Adamthwaite for more debates around the authenticity and appropriation of musical styles, as well as the difficulty of speaking for and about people from different backgrounds.

Nb: the Tracy Chapman track we discuss is "Behind The Wall" from the album Tracy Chapman.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
$29.00, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

Shot Gun Blues, Briefcase Full Of Blues, The Blues Brothers/Donnie Walsh (1978)

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Romeo Is Bleeding - Blue Valentine [059]

For the final week of Elizabeth and Caspar's hosting of Song by Song, we hear Tom Waits describe the blood-soaked story of Romeo's death as well as Johnny Cash's  version of a cowboy's funeral march through the Streets of Laredo. As Blue Valentine reaches its mid-point, echoes and resonances start to make themselves known through the album, and the variety of musical styles becomes more and more evident. So... y'know, that's what we talk about.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Romeo Is Bleeding, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

The Streets Of Laredo, American IV: The Man Comes Around, Johnny Cash (2002)

St. James Hospital, Traditional, Benjamin Luxon (via YouTube)

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Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis - Blue Valentine [058]

This week in Song by Song, Martin, Sam, Elizabeth and Caspar take another trip down memory lane, hearing the life and times of a lady from Minneapolis laid out, difficulties and all. While there may be some debate over the efficacy of the twist at the end of the story, the discussion ranges from the elegance of the music, the need for structure in songwriting and the value of language as communication compared to texture.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

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Red Shoes by the Drugstore - Blue Valentine [057]

And the conversation started so well... this week on Song by Song, Martin, Sam, Caspar and Elizabeth begin by debating the new musical arrangement that arrives in Red Shoes By The Drugstore, the second track from Blue Valentine, before swiftly getting derailed by rants about David Bowie, the loss of religion, Harrison Ford's sexiest screen performances (in or out of a bathroom) and Elizabeth's sax addiction. I think we broke the format on this one guys...

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Red Shoes by the Drugstore, Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

Love Theme - from Blade Runner, Blade Runner, Vangelis (1982/1994)

Let’s Dance, Let’s Dance, David Bowie (1983)

The Ballet of the Red Shoes, from The Red Shoes (Powell and Pressburger, 1948)

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Somewhere (from West Side Story) - Blue Valentine [056]

We're back! Sam and Martin return for another album from the Tom Waits back-catalogue, this season listening to and discussing his sixth release Blue Valentine. Joining us for the first tracks are Elizabeth Sankey and Caspar Salmon from the Highbrow Lowbrow podcast, discussing the many different levels of the song Somewhere (from West Side Story), the performance styles of both Waits and the original productions, and... potatoes. Another classic metaphor for music, only available from Song by Song.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Somewhere (from West Side Story), Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)

Somewhere, West Side Story Motion Picture Soundtrack, Jim Bryant & Marni Nixon [w. Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim] (1961)

Somewhere (Ballet), West Side Story (Original Broadway Production), Max Goberman & West Side Story Ensemble [w. Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim] (1957)

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Season Six Teaser - Blue Valentine [055a]

Welcome back to Song by Song - we've had to take another couple of weeks between seasons to get some episodes in the can before Sam heads up to sunny Scotland for panto season (playing "Bewhiskered Victorian Gentleman #3" in Scrooge! at Pitlochry Festival Theatre; a mere 7 hours by train from London! Come one, come all...). But in the meantime, feast your ears on our upcoming guests. Season six on Blue Valentine will commence 16 November 2016. We'll see you there...