LowDown / You Can Never Hold Back Spring / Children's Story - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards [335/336/337]

There's both delights and disappointments this week, as Martin, Sam and Jeu Jeu la Foille find a disappointingly straightforward Brawler with LowDown, a delightful and layered Bawler in You Can Never Hold Back Spring, and a creepy story guaranteed to disturb the little Bastards in your life.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
LowDown, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

You Can Never Hold Back Spring, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Extract from 'La Tigre e la Neve', dir. Roberto Benigni (2005)

Waters of March, Breakaway, Art Garfunkel, as used in The Worst Person In The World, dir. Joachim Trier (1975/2021)

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

Rodney la Foille performs 'Children's Story' by Tom Waits, courtesy of Victoria Hancock (2006/2016)

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Lie To Me / Bend Down The Branches / What Keeps Mankind Alive - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards [332/333/334]

Aaaaand… we're off! Guest host Jeu Jeu La Foille rejoins Martin and Sam to tackle the first tracks from our monumental Orphans season, digging into the first tracks of Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. We examine the Elvis influence in another hot-and-bothered song for Kathleen, a children's song for an elderly bunny, and a very faithful cover from the Threepenny Opera.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Lie To Me, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Bend Down The Branches, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Bunny, dir. Chris Wedge, Blue Sky Animation (1998)

What Keeps Mankind Alive, Orphans: Brawlers Bawlers & Bastards, Tom Waits (2006)

Opening of Die 3 Groschenoper, dir. G.W. Pabst, play by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt Weill (1931)

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November - The Black Rider [206]

As we try to unpick some of the interplay between the album The Black Rider and the play of the same name, Jeu Jeu la Foille, Martin & Sam reflect (pun intended) on the fatalistic imagery in the song, the foreshadowing of endings and beginnings, and the benefits of bonfire-building in awkward social situations.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
November, The Black Rider, Tom Waits (1993)

April Showers, Judy, Judy Garland (1956)

November at 21m27sfrom The Black Rider: The Casting of the 12 Magic Bullets (filmed at the Weiner Festwochen, via YouTube), Wilson/Burroughs/Waits (1990)

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The Black Rider - The Black Rider [205]

Guest host Jeu Jeu La Foille returns for a second week looking at the opening tracks from The Black Rider, discussing with Martin and Sam the presence and absence of Wilhelm and Käthchen in the play and the music, the mirror the play provides to Burroughs' own history, and how "beauty" and "ugliness" represent themselves through music and performance.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
The Black Rider, The Black Rider, Tom Waits (1993)

Pirate Jenny (English-language TV performance, via YouTube), The Threepenny Opera, Lotte Lenya/Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill (1928/1966)

Seeräuber Jenny (German-language film performance, via YouTube), Die Dreigroschenoper, Lotte Lenya/Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill (1928/1931)

The Black Rider at 4m24s from The Black Rider: The Casting of the 12 Magic Bullets (filmed at the Weiner Festwochen, via YouTube), Wilson/Burroughs/Waits (1990)

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Lucky Day (Overture) - The Black Rider [204]

Song by Song returns for its 15th season, digging into one of the densest and most involved albums in the whole project, The Black Rider. Guest host Jeu Jeu La Foille joins Sam and Martin to add her experience in use of Waits in theatrical performance as well as her own memories of the stage production, as we discuss the function of overtures & introductions, the interactions between ablism & empowerment, and how to properly discipline wayward children.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Lucky Day (Overture), The Black Rider, Tom Waits (1993)

The Struwwelpeter Overture, Shockheaded Peter, The Tiger Lillies (1999)

Lucky Day (Overture) at 0m7s from The Black Rider: The Casting of the 12 Magic Bullets (filmed at the Weiner Festwochen, via YouTube), Wilson/Burroughs/Waits (1990)

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