Song by Song

Scary, Martin & Sam return to Bone Machine for this Tom-Waits-Does-The-Ramones song about the frustrations of youth towards age. We take a look at ideas of inspiration, the evolution of punk in general and the Ramones specifically, and the value of our own childhood ambitions. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track...

We're at another anniversary, as guest host Scary Boots joins Sam & Martin for our bicentennial episode (muttermutter-onefromtheheart-mutter-nightonearth-muttermutter-whataboutthefilms-muttermutter) taking a look at this mournful ballad to locale and lost opportunity. Listening to the work of Tom Jans and thinking about what the dedication of a song means, we get a bit reflective about our own res...

Creepy supernatural vibes dominate the track this week, as Mary, Martin & Sam discuss the terrifying figure who stalks through this track, as well as Waits's own intimidating vocal performance. We discuss the presence (and restraint) of Joe Gore, the mystery of Dr John, and the League of Extraordinary Musical Gentlemen that we'll be pitching to Alan Moore very soon. (Please note that this episode...

Waits jumps on the salacious rumour-mill with this topical true-crime tale from... 1800s Suffolk. Maybe. Mary Epworth returns for a second week of conversation with Sam and Martin, discussing the truth and fiction around the real-life events that took place in the red barn, how Waits does or doesn't engage with this story, and issues surrounding vocal engagement and strain. Song by Song is Martin...

Martin & Sam welcome Mary Epworth to the show, as Waits expresses his dream of heading (back?) to the coast to make it in the movies. With images of Hollywood by Waits in the wake of his experiences with Coppolla, as well as other west-coast imagery in our interval, Song by Song continues its journey through Bone Machine and beyond. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians...

For this bread-and-circus-iest (breadiest and circusiest?) of tracks, guest host Jenny Owen Youngs comes out strong for Waits and his political diatribe... while Sam and Martin are more equivocal. 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-...

Amateur meteorologist and part-time Muppet Tom Waits takes another stab at bleak reportage in this song about loss and the threat to childhood. Jenny Owen Youngs returns for another discussion around Randy Newman, Django Reinhardt and our old friend the Smooth Marble Egg. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in ch...

Our guest-host Jenny Owen Youngs (of the Buffering The Vampire Slayer podcast) joins us as Waits goes full-spiritual for this street-corner preacher scream. We chat about ironic or revolutionary attitudes to religion in LA and Scotland, some of our own religious experiences in music, and the role of coughing in exorcisms. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening t...

For our third track with Eliza and Greg, we delve into a bleaker and more introspective world in Waits's atmospheric poem contemplating seaside suicide. Returning to his attitude to alcohol and growing up, we also take a look at a longer theatrical piece for comparison, via the work of Samuel Beckett. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing ever...

Greg and Eliza return to question Martin and Sam's identity in this fifth track from Bone Machine, as Waits challenges an old lover, or maybe interrogates the music industry, or both? We make comparisons with a more even-handed musical picture of a breakup, and discuss how the song represents Waits and/or Brennan's ideas of relationships. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musi...

As Song by Song progresses through Bone Machine, Sam & Martin welcome Eliza Rickman and Greg Alison for a conversation around the ambience of the album, both thematically as well as sonically. We discuss the overlap of religion and sexuality in this song, the presence of material things in this song as well as our interval artist Bessie Smith, and the antiquing opportunities around the Sebastopol,...

A third week with guest hosts Vanessa & Kent brings Martin & Sam to Poetic Analysis 101 in this funhouse-mirror love song to Brennan. We talk about the depth of imagery that Waits employs, the vocal storytelling that he and our interval artist deploy, and Vanessa finally books that gig at Martin's much-anticipated funeral! Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening...

More music chat (which is the goal, after all) with Kent, Vanessa, Martin & Sam, as Waits releases some of the tension established in the previous track with this weird breathy hymn to the end of life. With discussion of other weird vocal styles, a comparison between bleakness vs acceptance in death, plus an exciting bonus track featuring the resonant space inside Sam's mouth, Song by Song continu...

Hey there - how's it going? Oh nothing much, you? Yeah, it has been a while, but you know how it goes. Hey, you want to talk about some new Tom Waits songs? Cool. As we embark on our 14th season, Sam and Martin welcome Vanessa Lowe and Kent Sparling to talk through the quasi-religious eco-disaster anthem which opens Waits's 1992 offering. We take a look at the contributors to this track and their...

Martin & Sam welcome back friends of the show Simon Renshaw and Sam Clements to have a little chat about Coppola's jazz-odyssey The Cotton Club. There's some real difficulties for all four hosts with this one, although there are some standout scenes which seem to generate a little more enthusiasm; from the dancing of Gregory Hines, the crosscutting of dance-numbers and train stations, and the hors...

Kevin Smokler rejoins Martin & Sam for another dip into a teen-drama Hinton/Coppola/Dillon collaboration, as Song by Song takes a look at 1983's Rumble Fish. There's some discussion about the acting styles of the Dillon/Rourke/Hopper family, the symbolism of elements like colour and sound (as well as the relationship between Rusty James and his brother), as well as the theatrical/dream-like qualit...

To educate us all on the history of the Brat Pack, Sam & Martin welcome Kevin Smokler to take a look at Coppola's adaptation of S.E Hinton's coming of age novel, The Outsiders. While Kevin educates us as to the historical and social context of this story, we also debate the success of the scoring choices, try to chart Coppola's creative/commercial rise and fall, and get confused about fires in sch...

Back for a second week, Matthew Crosby joins Martin and Sam to take a look at Jim Jarmusch's 1989 multiple-narrative movie Mystery Train. While we're all full of love and excitement for the quirks and details of the film, there's some debate as to the strength of some of the acting performances, the narrative coherence, as well as whether it's Elvis or Carl Perkins. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Au...

Sam and Martin welcome friend of the show Matthew Crosby to dig into one of Waits's most sizeable film roles, the 1986 Jim Jarmusch classic Down By Law. Immediately proving their analytic credentials by remembering at least two of the main characters' names, Matthew, Sam and Martin discuss the acting strengths (and weaknesses…?) of the three protagonists, the improvisational elements in the script...

Song by Song welcomes back Helen Zaltzman to talk through the film that launched a podcasting power-couple, Jim Jarmusch's 1991 taxi-based anthology Night On Earth. With some mixed feelings about the various segments, along with overall admiration for the ambition of the piece, Helen, Martin & Sam pick through the emotional connections (or lack thereof) between the characters, the sense of space,...

It's back to the megamix format for the second Original Soundtrack of the Waits discography, as Martin and Sam spend a minute (or so) on each of the 16 tracks from his 1991 score to Jim Jarmusch's film Night On Earth. This time with 100% less bell. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. websi...

Lucky for some, season 13 brings us to another structural shift in the format of the podcast, as we take the opportunity to bounce off of the Night On Earth soundtrack into Waits's film appearances. Season 13 will continue to expand over the coming months and years as we add more films to this semi-complete catalogue, but for now look forward to the soundtrack, the film itself as well as a couple...

Happy New Year! 2019 brings Song by Song back to take another look through the listener mail we've received over the last year or so. Check out the show notes on the website for more links and details of the songs discussed. 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.co...

Having spent the last 28 episodes and 4 months looking at Big Time as a collection of songs, both on the album and in the concert film, Sam and Martin spend a little time thinking about both the film as an object in itself, and discuss the feel of this entire era of Waits's songwriting. We take a look at the interplay of ideology and narrative, the strengths and weaknesses of the reinterpretations...

Jeremy Warmsley returns for everyone's favourite, Tom Waits In A Bath. With discussion of the fusion of embodied and distanced performance, the post-modern nature of telling a story about stolen memories, and the slightly repetitious nature of the verses, we pick over the final track of Big Time. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every sin...