Back with Heath and Robert Sledge for Waits at his most earnest, in this pop ballad charmer. From the murderers row of musicians assembled, questions as to whether this is heartfelt or ironic and other “trainey” songs - it’s all here on this week’s Song by Song.
Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Downtown Train, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (1985)
Downtown Train music video, Rain Dogs, Tom Waits (via YouTube) (1985)
Night Mail, Poem from GPO Film Unit documentary “Night Mail”, W.H. Auden/Benjamin Britten (1936)
Night Mail, Anthology of English Verse vol 2, W.H. Auden/John Laurie (1936/1961)
Night Mail, GPO Film Unit documentary (via YouTube) (1936)
Downtown Train, If We Fall In Love Tonight, Rod Stewart (1996)
Downtown Train, The Language Of Life, Everything But The Girl (1990)
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