Liars, liars, all their pants on fire, Sam, Martin and Jeffrey explore the fakery and tall-tale-telling of Waits's drunken persona, debating the truths and lies of the song's narrative and questioning whether we should disbelieve the stories... or believe that a man could really live such a life. Neo-futurist theatre, George Plimpton and the rise of the hobo all join us for another episode of Song by Song.
Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Jitterbug Boy, Small Change, Tom Waits (1976)
A Talk With George, JoCo Looks Back, Jonathan Coulton (2008)
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