Song by Song

Latest Episodes:

Semi Suite, The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits [015] Nov 04, 2015

Show notes

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 chronological order.

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

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Semi Suite, The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits (1974) Working for the Man, More of Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits, Roy Orbison (1964)

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. Do not operate heavy machinery while being Tom Waits.

San Diego Serenade, The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits [014] Oct 27, 2015

Show notes

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 Waits track in chronological order.

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

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: San Diego Serenade, The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits (1974) November Rain, Use Your Illusion I, Guns and Roses (1991)

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. Never listen to the music until you've purchased the album.

New Coat of Paint, The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits [013] Oct 21, 2015

Show notes

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 Waits track in chronological order.

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

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: New Coat Of Paint, The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits (1974)

Closing Time, Closing Time, Tom Waits [012] Sep 25, 2015

Show notes

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 discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

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

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Closing Time, Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973)

Grapefruit Moon, Closing Time, Tom Waits [011] Sep 24, 2015

Show notes

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@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Grapefruit Moon, Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973) Lazy Eye, Rabbit Songs, Hem (2001)

Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love), Closing Time, Tom Waits [010] Sep 23, 2015

Show notes

Sam and Martin debate Waits's influences as a singer and performer and his relationship to Frank Sinatra, and the ways they break expectations of songs and draw audiences in. Marble eggs also feature somehow.

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@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love), Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973) In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning, In The Wee Small Hours, Frank Sinatra (1955)

Ice Cream Man, Closing Time, Tom Waits [009] Sep 22, 2015

Show notes

Things kick up a gear as Martin and Sam discuss the energetic outlier of Closing Time's second half. Discussion includes explicit lyrics, comic-book ice-cream sellers and the swing era of the Big Band.

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@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Ice Cream Man, Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973) Is You Is Or Is You Aint (My Baby), Let the Good Times Roll, BB King (1999)

Lonely, Closing Time, Tom Waits [008] Sep 21, 2015

Show notes

Sparse and open orchestration, dissonant ringing and obscure meaning all feature in the discussion of what Sam considers the most interesting song of the album, with debate over vocal authenticity vs technical ability and musical theatre performance.

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@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Lonely, Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973) Pure Imagination, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Sountrack), Gene Wilder (1971)

Rosie, Closing Time, Tom Waits [007] Sep 20, 2015

Show notes

Utterly unable to keep their minds out of the gutter, Martin and Sam get seriously stuck on one particular lyric, but push through to talk about Closing Time as an album, falsetto singing and courtly language.

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@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Rosie, Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973)

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. Blowing your horn in public may carry a statutory penalty.

Martha, Closing Time, Tom Waits [006] Sep 19, 2015

Show notes

Sam and Martin reach the iconic, eulogic apex of Closing Time, as Tom Waits makes a long-distance call to an old flame. Narrative structure and resolution, Sam's hatred of oboes and the Meatloaf reading of Gilliam's Brazil all come up. Honestly.

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@gmail.com

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Martha, Closing Time, Tom Waits (1973) Martha, Sefronia, Tim Buckley (1973)

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. You will sleep forever, you will never sleep again.

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