As EE Cummings said… 'damn everything but the circus'… although Dominic, Martin and Sam question whether this Circus deserves praise or damnation itself. We compare to other sections of Waits's work, as well as other real and fictional songs, plus the value of talking to strangers on night-buses.
Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Circus, Real Gone (remastered), Tom Waits (2004/2017)
Circus, Real Gone (original), Tom Waits (2004)
Moon Over Dog Street, single, Sour Sweet Tooth / Keith Sanders (2012)
Moanin Low, single, Billie Holiday (1937)
Livery Stable Blues, single B-side, Original Dixieland Jass Band (1917)
Thousand Bing Bangs, Devout Catalyst, Ken Nordine & Tom Waits (1991)
Circus, Stories for Ways and Means, Ken Nordine (2017)
Log into the Spotify web player to hear these tracks.