Song by Song

Joined by long-hoped-for guest Sara Gran, Sam and Martin shuffle back into the crowd of emotional songs of loss and yearning, flanked by Waits in a sorrowful mode and Roy Orbison full of powerful decl...

9 Aug 202328min

With a brief digression into Beyoncé's oeuvre, Kerry-Jo, Martin and Sam discuss some of the oddities in the writing of Pay Me, and what story Waits is trying to tell. We consider stories of theatrical...

2 Aug 202333min

Back with Sam and Martin, Kerry-Jo has some opinions about the honesty of Waits's reasons for departure, as well as the comprehensibility of his Sweetums voice. We discuss the inevitability and/or dua...

26 Jul 202324min

We welcome Kerry-Jo Reilly to the show, joining Martin and Sam for songs of travel, departure and longing by Tom Waits, Larry Taylor, and their various associates. There's discussion of the value of 6...

19 Jul 202324min

Waits pulls on some (possibly) contemporary references this week, as Bryce, Sam and Martin consider the various meanings that "everybody talking" may relate to. Considering the tone and quality of the...

12 Jul 202328min

Shambling on from Chicago, Waits lays down some relationship advice for Bryce, Martin and Sam to pick apart and interpret, with some mixed attitudes towards partners' and parents' influence over right...

5 Jul 202324min

Back for the beginning of our final(?) season, Bryce Halliday joins Sam and Martin for a journey toward the great unknown of Illinois. We examine the era of the song's setting, the power of Mavis Stap...

28 Jun 202324min

One more Megamix before we hit the final straight, with Martin and Sam taking the opportunity to consider the penultimate release of Waits, the 2009 live album Glitter & Doom Live, bouncing through th...

7 Jun 202353min