Song by Song

It's the end of the night, time to thank the band, stack up the chairs and bid farewell to our friends here at Raphael's Silver Cloud Lounge as Song by Song concludes its third season and heads off into the night. Rounding up discussions over authenticity and appropriation, as well as the value of the album as a whole, Sam Martin and Andrea bid you farewell, and prepare to rifle through their Smal...

Keep your cool, Waitsheads, Song by Song is still here and still committed, we're just starting with the original Red Sovine track before heading into Waits's cover of Big Joe's story. Strange goings-on on the road are dealt with by our ghostbusters Sam, Martin and Andrea, as Red and Tom in turn are picked up by the spirit of a kindly truck-driving spook, who teaches us not to be afraid of the aft...

More somethings from our somebodies Martin, Sam and Andrea, as Waits turns down the lights and the tempo with a simple yet soulful ballad of loss and longing. With some curiosity as to where his songwriting is and where it might be going, the masculine and feminine personas in his stories and discussion of where his immediate contemporaries are in this era, Song by Song rounds the corner and heads...

For the final tracks of Nighthawks, Sam and Martin are joined by Andrea Solomon, talking from the start about the jazz stylings of the album and its instrumentalists, the dual attitude of Waits towards relationships, as well as the relative temperatures of well-digger's posteriors, ticket-takers smiles and gut-shot bitch-dogs… not to mention frozen husky-urine. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwic...

Slowing into the final tracks, Catherine, Martin and Sam find Tom Waits in a calmer, more observational mood, as he swings through small-town America and describes some much more wholesome figures than we've encountered so far. And then… Martin picks a song about a serial-killer for contrast… and we get into tax returns and ignoring lyrics… hoo-boy! Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pa...

As Waits moves away from his standup stylings, Sam, Martin and Catherine discuss the contribution of some of the other performers on the album, the strengths (or lack thereof) in the songwriting as well as the details of the 1970s described in the lyrics. More conversations as well around drinking culture, and the decline of the American dream… all in less than 14 minutes! Song by Song is Martin Z...

All smooth phrases and cold analysis, Martin, Sam and Catherine head down Easy Street for some hard looks at Waits's attitude towards alcohol and the lifestyle that surrounds it. Thinking about place and location, and the contrast between the two performances Waits gives us of this number, we edge up to some tough questions over the poetic hobo ideology of the album as a whole. Song by Song is Mar...

Guest host Catherine Hirst joins Song by Song, and straight away gives us new perspective on the yearning qualities of Waits's peon to solitude. Whether the song is an honest rejection of marriage or just a cover for a sublimated desire to be told not to go fishing, we discuss the broader implications of mutual love vs. self-love and the fact that Sam isn't typical of 1975 Americana - shocks all a...

Stopping briefly to shovel down a quick breakfast, Martin and Sam talk through the different perspectives on (and from) diners in Waits's songwriting, the intellectual posturing of overly loquacious verbosity (big words), and the marvellously stripped back a-cappella stylings of Suzanne Vega. (ps go watch Network) Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and di...

Aimlessly askew, misinformed and misdirected, Sam and Martin return for the second track of Nighthawks, debating the value of an authentic vs affected identity, guitar technique, and revisit one of Waits's greatest vocal influences. (Please note; no voices were harmed in the clumsy imitation of performers during the making of this show.) Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two music...

Welcome to Raphael's Silver iCloud-based-storage! Season three of Song by Song opens with Martin and Sam expressing some differing opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of the album as a whole, live and studio recording techniques, and some thoughts on the late David Bowie. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track...

Beyond the final track, Martin, Sam and Isy round things off with a single from (but not on) The Heart of Saturday Night, teasing apart Waits's relationship with his band, his woman, and his own earlier version of this song. And so we bid farewell to Isy, Saturday Night and season two - thanks for joining us folks. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and d...

The final song of The Heart of Saturday Night takes on a contemplative air, with Isy, Sam and Martin looking at the structure of both this track as well as the album as a whole. The virtue of the "Best Of" compilation, the wonder of covering Frank Zappa, and Waits as a voyeur wrap up our discussion... but not our season. [Disclaimer: This episode was recorded before the death of the peerless David...

Back from the Christmas break, Isy Suttie rejoins Martin and Sam to examine some of the connective tissue between Waits and his influences and peers. Discussing the relationship between artist, music and listener in live and recorded settings, as well as some of his early experiences touring, 2016 starts with a bang as we... wind down season 2. That's the right tone to strike for the New Year, rig...

Martin and Sam are joined by Tom Waits's close personal friend Isy Suttie to discuss the final tracks of The Heart of Saturday Night. Metaphorical vs literal locations, the romance of working-class life vs the reality, and lying to taxi drivers all feature. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological ord...

Contradictions and oppositions abound this episode, as Alice makes her departure from Sam and Martin. Discussion centers on the politics of pet names, social compromise and... some more ridiculous stuff too. Who will our next guest host be? Have we jumped the shark on interval tracks? Where will Alice be drinking tonight?!? Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening...

We enter the hangover from the night before as Martin, Sam and Alice discuss issues of originality and authenticity, as well as some of the darker history of the performers appearing on the album. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: www.songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpo...

Sam, Martin and Alice arrive at the album's title track, and discover that the Heart of Saturday Night is perhaps something a little less grand than one might imagine. Stumbling through the surprises, the accidental encounters and the distant relatives dropping calling without warning all prove a heady night's entertainment. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listenin...

New guest-host Alice Sanders joins to talk through her feelings for both Tom Waits and Jack Kerouac as we venture into a Beat Poetry-influenced tale of the Southern Californian roads. Please note that, despite Sam's insistence, Diamonds On My Windshield does not appear on Nighthawks At The Diner - he's very sorry and will be more precise in future! Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay...

Martin waxes lyrical about a life on the open waves, and Sam and Anna view the whole endeavour a little more fatalistically. Perhaps that had an unpleasant experience on a ferry as small children? Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: www.songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpo...

Truckin' further through Saturday Night's heart, Sam, Martin and Anna enter a tale of broken relationships on the roads of America. As Waits begins to speak about characters other than himself, the beginnings of a broader style of writing starts to make its presence felt. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in ch...

The search for the Heart of Saturday Night continues as Martin, Anna and Sam discuss the universality (or lack thereof) of the love song in this somewhat simpler track. Is it indulgent or sparse? What is the deeper meaning of space and time? Has Sam ever actually listened to any music? Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Wai...

Song by Song returns, now with 50% more opinion! Martin and Sam are joined by guest host Anna Turrell, to discuss the first track on Tom Waits's second album "New Coat of Paint". Fear of change, the new sound and the totally unacceptable presence of neckties all feature in the discussion. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom...

In this final instrumental track on Closing Time, Sam and Martin sum up their feelings about the album as well as the interesting discoveries they've made in beginning the Song by Song project. They discuss arrangements, collaborators, lack of biography and sleeping in the back of a Buick. It's a Buick Sam, a Buick… Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and...

As we head into the final tracks of Closing Time, Martin and Sam explore the sentimental side of Waits's writing and the presence of unusual types of love in his lyrics. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gma...