Real Gone teaser [315a]

Next week Song by Song pushes into Waits's 2004 release Real Gone, but before we kick off, Sam & Martin acknowledge the 2017 remaster, how the show will deal with these different versions, and handle any other business arising.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Top of the Hill, Real Gone (remastered), Tom Waits (2004/2017)

Neutrinowatch podcast, also available at neutrinowatch.org, Martin Zaltz Austwick & Lily Sloane (2021-present)

New York Art Rock: Talking Heads & They Might Be Giants, Over/Underrated Podcast, Fran James & Barbara Mendes-Jorge (2022)

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More Than Rain - Big Time (film) [169]

Lily Sloane returns to give a more nuanced and informed assessment of Waits's repression of feelings, as we revisit the heartbreak, loss and loneliness of this song. With some discussion of his singing technique as well as the lyrical changes, we head towards the final tracks of this extended season of Song by Song.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
More Than Rain, Big Time (film), Tom Waits (1988)

More Than Rain, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

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Way Down In The Hole - Big Time [150]

Episode 150! We made it! … if by "it", you mean a round number of episodes, and if by "we" you mean Sam, Martin and returning guest Lily Sloane. In this landmark episode we go back to talk about Way Down In The Hole for the 7th (8th?) and final time, discussing again question of the appropriation of black culture, the use of money in the language of Waits's preacher character, and Lily's random Tom Waits sightings.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Way Down In The Hole, Big Time, Tom Waits (1988)

Way Down In The Hole, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

Way Down In The Hole, Spirit Of The Century, Blind Boys Of Alabama (2002)

Way Down In The Hole, "...and all the pieces matter..." - The Music of The Wire, The Neville Brothers (2008)

Way Down In The Hole, "...and all the pieces matter..." - The Music of The Wire, DoMaJe (2008)

Way Down In The Hole, Washington Square Serenade, Steve Earle (2007)

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Way Down In The Hole - Franks Wild Years [136]

Lily Sloane returns for one more Franks Wild Years track, debating Waits’s attitude towards religion, how the track relates to the rest of the album, and the presence of joy in music. 

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Way Down In The Hole, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

Oh Happy Day, The Best of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, The Edwin Hawkins Singers (1967/2001)

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More Than Rain - Franks Wild Years [135]

Existential crises galore, or just a really bad hangover, as Lily, Sam and Martin attempt to catch the bouquet of Waits's mournful gallic ditty. Accordion tuning, a keyboard called Leslie and a slightly unfair comparison to one of the great Jazz numbers of the 20th Century all feature this week on Song by Song.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
More Than Rain, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

Alabama, Live At Birdland, John Coltrane (1964)

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Franks Theme - Franks Wild Years [134]

Song by Song reaches the halfway point of Franks Wild Years with Frank's Theme (apostrophe intact), as Martin and Sam are joined by the host of A Therapist Walks Into A Bar Lily Sloane for discussions of the fantasy and reality surrounding this track. Through some (slightly tangential) discussions of the nostalgia-tinged bleakness of Ivor Cutler, we debate the interactions of dreams and grey skies, the imaginative and the mundane, as well as the sale of root vegetables.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Franks Theme, Franks Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

Life In A Scotch Sittingroom #2 Episode 11, Jammy Smears, Ivor Cutler (1976)

Frank's Theme, Temptation, Holly Cole (1995)

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