Top of the Hill - Real Gone [316]

Season 21 launches into an opening track with surprising energy, as guest host Shani Erez joins Sam & Martin to climb the Real Gone mountain towards the top of that hill. The sonic qualities of this album, Waits's attitude to the stories he's telling, bawdy seafaring jokes about genitalia, and the utter delight of 1980s metal… it's a pretty standard episode really.

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

Top of the Hill, Real Gone (original), Tom Waits (2004)

Run To The Hills, The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden (1982)

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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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The Dead Don't Die (film, dir. Jarmusch, 2019) [F23]

Returning to wrap up our film mini-season, Leigh Singer helps Sam and Martin break down this zombie/comsumerism/meta mash-up. With some slight disappointment in this compared to other Jarmusch (and other zombie) films, we question the purpose of his story and his enthusiasm for the genre. And Tom Waits gets to be a weird hobo in the woods too.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
The Dead Don't Die Trailer, via YouTube (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 2019)

We're in Now Now, clip from Spaceballs via Youtube (dir. Mel Brooks, 1987)

Tom Waits - The Acting Years, video essay via Vimeo, Leigh Singer (2019)

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (film, dir. Gilliam, 2009) [F19]

Podcaster and theatre producer Bridie Donaghy joins Sam and Martin to consider some confusing plot and dense visuals from Heath Ledger and friends. CGI cobras, late-noughties-heart-throb recasting and the quasi-autobiographical themes of Gilliam's fairytale are all discussed, as well as Tom Waits in ear-hair prosthetics.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Trailer, via YouTube (dir. Terry Gilliam, 2009)

Coffee and Cigarettes (film, dir. Jarmusch, 1993/2003) [F17]

Song by Song is delighted to welcome film journalist Leigh Singer, as we dive into another Jim Jarmusch anthology film. We consider the relationship of Waits to Iggy Pop, his position as a film actor in 1993, as well as taking a look at the successes and failures of the other chapters (and the film as a whole).

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Coffee & Cigarettes Trailer, via YouTube (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 2003)

Coffee & Cigarettes - Somewhere In California, via YouTube (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 1993/2003)

I Don't Wanna Grow Up (music video, dir. Jim Jarmusch), Bone Machine, Tom Waits (1993)

The Garage Tapes, clips of Tom Waits shot by Jim Jarmusch, via YouTube (1992)

Coffee & Cigarettes - Strange To Meet You (featuring Saw Sage from The Gatmo Sessions), via YouTube (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 1986/2003)

Saw Sage, Moanin' Parade, Gatmo/Waits et al (2000)

Taylor Mead's Ass, via Vimeo (dir. Andy Warhol, 1964)

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Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale (film, dir. Guedes & Guedes, 1989) [F10]

Returning for another film mini-season, we reconvene for a sizeable Tom Waits role in a film of… debatable quality? Mostly forgotten by modern audiences, Sam and Martin find a few interesting elements to pick at, but mostly struggle to recommend this curio from the middle of Waits's acting career.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Extract from Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale - Punch and Judy scene, via YouTube (dir. Ann & Eduardo Guedes, 1989)

Swazzle technique, Robert Peston learns how to do the voice of Mr Punch, BBC via YouTube (2013)

Mailbag Episode #5

Before we move on into more films and Real Gone, Sam & Martin dig into the letters, tweets and pigeon-post sent in by listeners over the last year or so, accepting corrections, embracing re-interpretations and talking about disappointing lakes.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
On The Nickel, Heartattack And Vine, Tom Waits (1980)

16 Shells From A 30.6, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

Pony, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999)

Picture In A Frame, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999)

I'm Still Here, Alice, Tom Waits (2002)

Filipino Box Spring Hog, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999)

He's Gonna Make It, Nathaniel Metcalfe, via Vimeo (2011)

Take It With Me, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999)

Come On Up To The House, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999)

Ray Padgett's alphabetical Tom Waits substack 'Every Tom Waits Song'
Babbachichuija, Orbitones Spoon Harps & Bellowphones, Bart Hopkins / Tom Waits (1998)

Everything You Can Think, Alice, Tom Waits (2002)

Misery Is The River Of The World, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Paul Robeson episode of 'You're Dead To Me' podcast, BBC/Greg Jenner/Desiree Burch/Prof Shana L. Redmond (2021)

All The World is Green, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Allt är som förut, Mitt dumma jag - Svensk jazz, Bo Sundström (2018)

Hoist That Rag, Real Gone (original release), Tom Waits (2004)

Hoist That Rag, Real Gone (remastered), Tom Waits (2004)

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Songs from Woyzeck - Blood Money [315]

Rounding off our 20th season, Martin and Sam focus in on a few of the songs that appeared in Woyzeck but didn't make it to the album release, and then look back on Blood Money as the third Waits/Wilson-based collaboration (with a brief tangent onto superhero comics).

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Just The Way We Are Boys, unreleased Woyzeck song, Tom Waits (2000)

It's Over, Liberty Heights OST, Tom Waits (1999)

It's Over, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Scene featuring 'It's Over' from Liberty Heights (dir. Levinson), via YouTube (1999)

Shiny Things, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Diamond In Your Mind (bonus track), Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards Vinyl, Tom Waits (2006)

Diamond In Your Mind, A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, Tom Waits/The Kronos Quartet (2007)

Children's Story, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Woyzeck promo film, unknown origin, via YouTube (2000)

Full text for Woyzeck, as printed in the Woyzeck 2002 program, via The Tom Waits Library (2002)
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A Good Man Is Hard to Find - Blood Money [314]

The final song from Blood Money sees Martin and Sam come together to discuss optimism and bleakness, some of the repeating themes of the album and the play, and a possible lineage for this track reaching back through the 20th century.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

A Good Man Is Hard To Find, single, Marion Harris/Eddie Green (1919)

Text of 'A Good Man Is Hard To Find' by Flannery O'Connor, via The Web Archive (1953)
Flannery O'Connor Reads 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' at Vanderbilt University, via YouTube (1959)

A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Seven Swans, Sufjan Stevens (2004)

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Calliope - Blood Money [313]

Pete Fraser is back with Martin and Sam, breaking down this unusual chunk of instrumental music from Waits's back yard. We discuss the use and origin of this track, and have an extended conversation on the work of saxophonist Colin Stetson, as Blood Money heads into its final turns.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Calliope, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Won't Be A Thing To Become, Never Where the Way She Was, Colin Stetson/Sarah Neufeld (2015)

Oh! Mr Song Writer, I Will Cure You, Vic Reeves feat. Evan Parker (1991)

A dream of water, New History Of Warfare vol 2: Judges, Colin Stetson via YouTube (2011/2021)

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Woe - Blood Money [312]

We consider the three roles of this song - in the play, on the album, and as a piece of music in isolation - as Pete, Martin & Sam dig into the value of variation in music, the wash of emotion in Woe, and the restrained delivery of Kitty White.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Woe, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Plain Gold Ring, single, Kitty White (1956)

Plain Gold Ring, Little Girl Blue, Nina Simone (1958)

Plain Gold Ring, Live Seeds, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (1993)

Plain Gold Ring, Vows, Kimbra (2011)

Plain Gold Ring, If You Knew Her, Zara McFarlane (2013)

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The Part You Throw Away - Blood Money [311]

We welcome saxophonist and composer Pete Fraser to the show, joining Sam and Martin to listen to the Tom Waits version of a song written for Ute Lemper. We discuss the performative and presentational aspects of the track, Waits as an artist, and our lives in general. 

The Part You Throw Away, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

The Part You Throw Away, Punishing Kiss, Ute Lemper (2000)

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Starving in the Belly of a Whale - Blood Money [310]

Album fatigue begins to set in this week, with mixed feelings from Sam and Martin about the third or fourth song from Blood Money dealing with the despair humanity is endlessly surrounded by. There’s some technical sonic analysis, as well as some thought about 90s images of whale-based music. 

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Starving in the Belly of a Whale, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Gepetto, Star, Belly (1993)

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Lullaby - Blood Money [309]

There’s some disappointment in Waits’s bedtime song this week, as Martin & Sam consider the purpose of the lullaby in Woyzeck and beyond, and think about the perspectives we bring to the specificities of a song. 

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Lullaby, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Rockabye, 100 Not Out, Kit & The Widow (2011)

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Knife Chase - Blood Money [308]

Theatrical music to underscore incidental events, or aggressive reenforcement of violent imagery? Martin & Sam find themselves poised between interpretations for this instrumental, along with their thoughts on other cutlery-based songs. 

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Knife Chase (instrumental), Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Spoonful, single, Howlin' Wolf (1960)

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Another Man's Vine - Blood Money [307]

Repetitions of phrase and imagery dominate this song of lust, violence and betrayal, as Miss Yankey completes her journey with Martin & Sam through Blood Money. We discover more abandonment and bitterness, as well as considering images of infidelity from various different perspectives. 

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Another Man's Vine, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

The Other Woman, Ultraviolence, Lana Del Ray (2014)

The Other Woman, Wonderful Sarah, Sarah Vaughan (1957)

The Other Woman, Nina Simone at Town Hall, Nina Simone (1959)

The Other Woman (studio outtake), Grace (Legacy Edition), Jeff Buckley (1994)

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God's Away on Business - Blood Money [306]

It's still lyrics-first, sound-second, with Miss Yankey sharing her approach to music analysis with Sam & Martin. Waits gets straight back into the religious material with this 'masterpiece of bitterness', bridging spiritual, earthly, and cookie concerns.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
God's Away on Business, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

God Bless The Child, single, Billie Holiday (1941)

Tom Waits/Cookie Monster mashup - God's Away On Business, cookiewaits, via YouTube (2011)

Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, Leonard Cohen (1988)

No Children, Tallahassee, The Mountain Goats (2003)

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All the World Is Green - Blood Money [305]

Performance poet and writer Miss Yankey joins Martin and Sam to take a literary approach to Waits's lyrics in this song of love, lifeguarding and colour theory.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
All the World Is Green, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Eden, Last Year Was Weird vol 3, Tkay Maidza (2021)

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Coney Island Baby - Blood Money [304]

As Waits returns to sentimentality and Americana, Babs and Fran are less struck by the qualities of the song and more curious as to the reality of the woman he's singing about. There's discussion of music vs lyrics in the appreciation of the Manic Street Preachers, whether Waits is Over/Underrated, and how classic Jim Henson characters might interpret his work.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Coney Island Baby, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002)

Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier, Everything Must Go, Manic Street Preachers (1996)

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