Season's end for Blue Valentine

For those who prefer to binge-listen to their content, a final summing-up of our latest season of Song by Song on Tom Waits. With Caspar Salmon, Elizabeth Sankey, Jen Adamthwaite, Dave Pickering and Kit Lovelace in tow, Sam and Martin have ploughed their way through not just the 10 tracks from Blue Valentine, but also two contemporaneous(ish) Waits songs: Annie's Back In Town & Rainbow Sleeves.

We're at a turning point, arguably the first or second of Waits's career, but over the last couple of albums we've seen the writing on the wall. Waits is beginning to experiment more boldly with style, arrangement and theme, as well as in his own vocal performance. Many fans will anticipate the beginning of the 80s with Heartattack and Vine as being a major shift in his style and outlook, and we're looking forward to considering this in the coming episodes.

So, for those who want to prepare fully, find below a full playlist of all of our season six episodes, as well as Spotify and YouTube links to all the songs we're discussing. And, if you've missed out on any episodes or tracks from previous series, everything is ready and waiting to play at the bottom of the Closing Time, The Heart of Saturday Night, Nighthawks at the Diner, Small Change and Foreign Affairs pages at songbysongpodcast.com

Thanks for listening, we'll see you very soon for season seven.

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

Annie’s Back In Town, Paradise Alley OST, Tom Waits (1978)

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

Paradise Alley, dir. Sylvester Stallone (1978)

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)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.

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)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.

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)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.

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)

Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.