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Song by Song — Music
Song by Song

Song by Song is a podcast celebrating the music of Tom Waits, hosted by podcaster-musician Martin Zaltz Austwick and actor-musician Sam Pay. Sam and Martin set themselves the goal of listening to Tom Waits’s back catalogue from beginning to end, and devoting an episode to discussing each track.

Song by Song is in no way officially linked to Tom Waits, or endorsed by Tom Waits, or associates. All excerpts are used for criticism purposes – please purchase your own copies of the music at your favourite shop, app, or platform to get the full experience and support musicians’ work.

Copyright: © All rights reserved

Latest Episodes:

Chocolate Jesus, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [266] Feb 03, 2021

Show notes

Is Waits talking about confectionary, Christianity or something else in this week's track? Helen Rosner returns to discuss her perspectives on all sides of the equation with Sam & Martin, along with communion wafer recipes, Brazilian religious statuary, and exactly how one goes about eating a saviour.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Chocolate Jesus, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) Christo Redemptor, Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band, Charlie Musselwhite (1967)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Picture In A Frame, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [265] Jan 27, 2021

Show notes

Food writer and Tom Waits fan Helen Rosner joins Martin and Sam to curate her end-of-life mixtape, as well as interrogate the central message of this tender and minimal love song.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Picture in a Frame, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, First Take, Roberta Flack (1969)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Eyeball Kid, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [264] Jan 20, 2021

Show notes

As Tom Waits explores his frustrations around the business of music/entertainment, Amrita shares some of her own experiences with Martin and Sam. We discuss the managerial perspective of the song, how that compares to Wait's own position in the industry, and the different strategies The Ting Tings use to express similar sentiments.

Note: Sam refers to Eddie Campbell as Australian; he is actually Scottish and just lived in Australia for a number of years.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Eyeball Kid, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) That's Not My Name, We Started Nothing, The Ting Tings (2008)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Black Market Baby, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [263] Jan 13, 2021

Show notes

Images of illicit women blur with dangerous spousal descriptions, as Amrita rejoins Sam and Martin for a second Mule Variation. The value of heartbreak in the production of art, the prevalence of the male gaze in popular music, and feline solutions to romantic difficulties all feature in our discussion this week.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Black Market Baby, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) Undercover, Music for People in Trouble, Susanne Sundfør (2017)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

What's He Building?, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [262] Jan 06, 2021

Show notes

Actress Amrita Acharya joins Martin and Sam to kick off the new year with voyeurism and construction in this creepy Mule Variations classic. We chat about musical intention, whether Sam is funky (spoilers; he's not), and images of neighbourhood in 1970s America.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: What's He Building?, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) We Are Neighbours, (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People, The Chi-Lites (1971)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Mailbag Episode #4 Dec 16, 2020

Show notes

A brief seasonal diversion into listener mail sees Martin and Sam discussing Elton John, winters in South London, and of course the second SbS appearance of Australian spin-bowler Mike Whitney . Nothing says Christmas like Mike Whitney. Happy Holidays all - we'll see you in 2021 for the second half of Mule Variations!

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Big In Japan, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) Innocent When You Dream (Barroom), Frank's Wild Years, Tom Waits (1987)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Pony, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [261] Dec 09, 2020

Show notes

Martin and Sam fly solo this week, discussing Waits reaching back to his hyperbolic storytelling style of the 70s, how mixing draws the eye and ear to certain elements of film and music, as well as the mechanics of equine taxonomy.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Pony, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?, Chocolate And Cheese, Ween (1994)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Cold Water, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [260] Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

Waits returns to stories of wandering America with a chainsaw guitar and a towel in this sleeper hit from Mule Variations. Justin, Sam and Martin discuss the revivalist gospel sound, the image of water in this and other music, and take an extended diversion into possible Tom Waits/Guillermo del Toro collaborations.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Cold Water, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) Water Me Down, Vagabon, Vagabon (2019)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

The House Where Nobody Lives, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [259] Nov 25, 2020

Show notes

Justin returns to discuss the nature of abandonment and housing with Martin and Sam, as well as our feelings about Waits's sentimental tone. We dig into Kathleen's involvement in the composition, his vocal quality, and then get massively side-tracked by the recording history of the deepest man in showbiz.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: House Where Nobody Lives, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) This Ole House, single, Rosemary Clooney (1954)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

Get Behind the Mule, Mule Variations, Tom Waits [258] Nov 18, 2020

Show notes

The breadth and intimacy of Waits's writing is highlighted by our new guest host, director Justin Audibert, who joins Martin and Sam for this quasi-title track from Mule Variations. We discuss the emotional expression of singing through popular music, how Waits paints a portrait of America with specifics and generalities, and yodelling. Lots on yodelling. You didn't ask for this, but you're getting it. Yodelling. You're welcome.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Get Behind The Mule, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999) Blue Yodel No. 8 (Mule Skinner Blues), Jimmie Rodgers (1930)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.

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