Song By Song

Fran James and Bárbara Mendes-Jorge of the Over/Underrated podcast join Sam & Martin to kick off season 20 with a song about the saddest body of water you can imagine (feedback pending). We compare to other wet songs from musical theatre, discuss vocal quality and tone, and touch on the difference between enjoyment and analysis. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Misery Is the River of the World, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002) Ol' Man River, Showboat, Paul Robeson/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II (1936) 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.

Returning to deliver our GCSE Drama lecture for the season, Callum Hughes chats with Martin and Sam about the theatrical history of Woyzeck, some of the themes present in the play, and gives us a jumping off point for the Waits album to come. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Misery Is the River of the World, Blood Money, Tom Waits (2002) 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.

Sam and Martin re-reconvene to dig into the Alice material that doesn't appear on the studio album. Great… because this show wasn't niche enough… We explore Waits's interpretation of Jabberwocky, his field-recording improvisations, the possible use of instrumentals in the play, and look back at the album as a whole. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: One Two and Through (Jabberwocky), The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) What Became Of Old Father Craft, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Falling Down The Lane, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Instrumental 5, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Instrumental 4, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Instrumental 9, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Instrumental 10, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, i

Sam and Martin reconvene for their third centenary, concluding Alice with this delicate, pretty-yet-textured instrumental. We've got discussion of mythical creatures, we've got an unpacking of the value in novelty songs, and we've got a hard left-turn in the interval track choice. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Fawn, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) French Toast Man, Car Radio Jerome, Fred Lane & the Hittite Hot-Shots (1986) 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.

Waits struggles against the passing of time (and perhaps the classical form of the song) this week, as Celine chats with Martin & Sam about beauty and clarity, song forms versus meaning, and why we don't do more opera on the show. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Barcarolle, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Belle nuit, o nuit d'amour (Barcarolle), The Tales of Hoffman (Act IV), Ann Murray / Jessye Norman / Jacques Offenbach (1988/1881) Instrumental 1 (early version of Barcarolle), The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) 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.

Sound the klaxon; Martin reaches the apex of his Song by Song journey, as his discusses the beauty and elegance of this track with Celine and Sam. The contradictions of the narrative, the expression of the impossibility of (some) love, and a key link to Waits's collaboration with Brennan all feature in our conversation. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Fish & Bird, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Exit Music (For A Film), OK Computer, Radiohead (1997) 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.

Things get a little meta this week, as guest host Celine Teo-Blockey discusses with Sam & Martin the way that this song exemplifies the ways women are seen and perceived in art and culture, and in the world in general. We chat about storytelling, being trapped in roles, and the buddhist attitudes of Bill Murray. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: I'm Still Here, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Playing Nancy, Groundhog Day The Musical, Rebecca Faulkenberry / Tim Minchin (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.

Waits leaves the theatre and heads out to the streets, with Sean, Sam and Martin (as well as Udo Lindenberg) in tow. Discussion ranges from the image of Hamburg’s red-light district across the last 50 years, German re-purposing of US rock (and vice versa), and locational nostalgia from around the world. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Reeperbahn, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Reeperbahn (Penny Lane), Lindenbergs Rock-Revue, Udo Lindenberg (1974) Reeperbahn, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) 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.

Sean Real returns for a second week with Martin and Sam, to discuss a song that faces the complex and perhaps uncomfortable relationship between Dodgeson and Alice head-on. We talk about the intensity and intimacy of the recording sound, as well as the intensity and intimacy of naked women running through the streets of Coventry. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Watch Her Disappear, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Peeping Tom, Monkey Man, The Metals (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.

Multi-instrumentalist and 99pi music producer Sean Real joins Sam & Martin to discuss coherent and incoherent images of madness. Our discussion revolves around the song's gothic viscerality, the texture of both album and demo versions, and head back to a late 60s' image of the madness in Wonderland. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: We're All Mad Here, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) White Rabbit, Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane (1967) Hang Me In The Bottle, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) 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 lost for a conversation, Jo, Miranda, Martin and Sam take a look at the theatrical and political context of Waits's less-mannered song of longing. We return to some conversations from recent episodes, consider Kathleen Brennan's presence in these songs, and break SbS rules to revisit Lotte Lenya's presentation of the music of Kurt Weill. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Lost in the Harbour, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Lost In The Stars, Lost In The Stars, Lotte Lenya / Kurt Weill (1943) 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.

Miranda returns alongside Jo (not currently available on table-tops) to talk about parody and joy in this Waits track as well as it's 1992 demo version. We dig into a discussion of the entertainment industry, images of American exceptionalism, and the presence/absence of women in music. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Table Top Joe, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Table Top Joe, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Wrote My Way Out, The Hamilton Mixtape, Lin-Manuel Miranda / Naz / Dave East / Aloe Blacc (2016) 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.

As Waits takes a left-turn into a very different story from the 19th century, we're joined by Miranda Horvath and Jo Lewis to take a look at some of the gender politics in the tale of Edward Mordrake, and how nostalgia/fear/obsession are represented in this week's tracks. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Poor Edward, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) All Of My Mates Are Owls, from Imaginary Advice podcast 39 "I Heart 1984", Ross Sutherland (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.

Waits mangles both minds and the German language, as translation expert Justine Houyaux rejoins Sam and Martin for this call to punctuality. We explore linguistic alterations in other directions, as well as the image of madness and the ways that meaning is projected onto misheard or uncomprehended language. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Kommienezuspadt, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Prisencolinensinainciusol, Super Best, Adriano Celentano (1992/1974) 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.

Our third week with Ashleyanne sees our hosts expressing some differing opinions on both the Waits and interval tracks. Portrait of bleak mortality or optimistic reach for freedom? Upbeat flirty plan for adventure or bloodless cover? All opinions are valid, except for the ones which are definitely wrong... website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: No One Knows I'm Gone, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Cups, Cold Water, Lulu & The Lampshades (2011) 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.

There's some examination of the value and impact of this song, as Ashleyanne discusses the prettiness and depth of music with Martin and Sam. We talk about the context of the play, as well as the presence of hope and optimism in music with a fatalistic attitude. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Flower's Grave, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Flowers On My Grave, Aunt Ma Kwacha, Smokey Haangala (1976) 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.

Producer and DJ Ashleyanne Krigbaum joins Sam & Martin for the worst lullaby in the world, as Waits aggressively welcomes us into the body of the album. We discuss the sonic tone of this track, the use of sound effects, and the meaning of Dreamlands for Waits, Carroll and others. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Everything You Can Think, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Dreamland, Studio One Women, Della Humphrey (1972/2005) 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.

Carrollian scholar Justine Houyaux rejoins Sam & Martin to look at the eponymous opening track for our 19th season, Alice. We chat about the sorrow and violence in the song, the lyrical density and the overlap between the writing of Waits and Carroll, as well as other adaptations of the Alice stories. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Alice, Alice, Tom Waits (2002) Clips from Alice (Neco z Alenky), dir. Jan Svankmajer (1988) 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.

Before embarking on our Alice season, we thought a little context on the books, the play, and the biography of the major players would be relevant (for us as well as you, dear listener). So we welcome Carrolian scholar Justine Houyaux to talk about the writing of Charles Dodgeson, his friendship with Alice Liddell, and the adaptation by Robert Wilson, Paul Schmidt, Kathleen Brennan and... who's the other guy? Many thanks to Hannah McGregor and Amanda Lastoria for helping set up this episode. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: There's Only Alice, The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) Untitled (Barcarolle), The Alice Demos, Tom Waits (1992 - unreleased) 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 us

It's the silly-fun one folks! For perhaps the biggest blockbuster movie in the Waits filmography, Sam & Martin welcome Desiree Burch to get nostalgic(ish) for the 90s in this gigantic neon superhero comedy mashup. With a few frustrations and no small amount of delight, we talk about juggling the ensemble cast, how it relates to the cast and superhero films... but basically, you should give this one a look, it's a lot of fun. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: songbysongpodcast@gmail.com Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Clips from Mystery Men, dir. Kinka Usher (1999) 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.