Music Videos pt 2 (1999-2012) - Final Season Specials

Our second set of music videos brings Philippa back to Martin and Sam for the last decade-and-change of Waits music videos. Sampling the work of Jesse Dylan, Matt Mahurin and various others, we consider what these videos mean in a post-YouTube world, as well as Waits's filmed promos in the 21st century.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Hold On, Tom Waits music video from Mule Variations, dir. Matt Mahurin (1999)

Come On Up To The House, (unauthorised?) Tom Waits music video from Mule Variations, dir. Anders Lövgren (1999)

What's He Building, Tom Waits music video from Mule Variations, dir. Lex Brand (1999)

Scandal Makers from Arrested Development S2E17 "Spring Breakout" (2005)

God's Away On Business, Tom Waits music video from Blood Money, dir. Jesse Dylan (2002)

Tom Waits Library entry for Top Of The Hill music video, detailing contents and origins
Lie To Me, Tom Waits music video from Orphans, dir. Danny Clinch (2006)

Tom Waits Press Conference, promo for Glitter&Doom tour, dir. unknown (2008)

Tom Waits' Private Listening Party, promo for Bad As Me, dir. unknown (2011)

Satisfied, Tom Waits music video from Bad As Me, dir. Jesse Dylan (2011)

Hell Broke Luce, Tom Waits music video from Bad As Me, dir. Matt Mahurin (2012)

Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythms Of The War Drums, A Perfect Circle music video from Emotive, dir. Nick Paparone / Paul Thiel / Steven Grasse (2009)

Bad As Me, (unreleased?) Tom Waits music video from Bad As Me, dir. unknown / Jesse Dylan? (2011/2013?)

Bad As Me, YouTube audio from official ANTI- featuring colour photo from the Satisfied shoot showing full costume (2011)

Misery’s the River of the World, Tom Waits music / lyric video from Blood Money 20th Anniversary re-release, artwork by Casey Waits / animation by Sarah Sheikh Bridge (2022)

Lost In The Harbour, Tom Waits music / lyric video from Alice 20th Anniversary re-release, artwork by Christy Smith / animation by Sarah Sheikh Bridge (2022)

God's Away On Business, Tom Waits music / lyric video from Blood Money 20th Anniversary re-release, artwork by Casey Waits / animation by Sarah Sheikh Bridge (2022)

Top Of The Hill, Real Gone, Tom Waits (2004)

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Music Videos pt 1 (1979-1992) - Final Season Specials

Continuing our season of specials on material outside the show’s main remit, Philippa Spanos returns to help Martin and Sam consider the creative and commercial aspects of Waits’s music videos. Starting with a long-overlooked animation experiment from the 70s, we chart how these films function in relation to the music, the commercial purpose of a video, as well as all the tiny tiny guitars.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Tom Waits For No-One / The One That Got Away, short film feat. Tom Waits, dir. John Lamb (1979)

Aragorn trips and falls in Lord of the Rings, dir. Ralph Bakshi (1978)

An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, video essay via YouTube, Folding Ideas (2021)

In The Neighbourhood, Tom Waits music video from Swordfishtrombones, dir. Haskell Wexler (1983)

Welcome to the Black Parade, My Chemical Romance music video, dir. Samuel Bayer (2006)

Rain Dogs Promos, dir. Chris Blum (1985)

Pachinko adverts feat. Nicholas Cage, dir. ???? (mid-2000s?)

Downtown Train, Tom Waits music video from Rain Dogs, dir. Jean-Baptiste Mondino (1985)

Blow Wind Blow, Tom Waits music video from Rain Dogs, and Limousine Interview promo, dir. Chris Blum (1987)

Temptation, Tom Waits music video from Franks Wild Years, dir. Betzy Bromberg (1987)

Lee Baby Sims Obituary, Media Confidential Blog (2015)
It's Alright With Me, Tom Waits music video from Red Hot + Blue, dir. Jim Jarmusch (1990)

Going Out West, Tom Waits music video from Bone Machine, dir. Jesse Dylan (1992)

Closer, Nine Inch Nails music video from The Downward Spiral, dir. Mark Romance (1994)

Ricky Jay Plays Poker, dir. Jesse Dylan (2007)

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, Tom Waits music video from Bone Machine, dir. Jim Jarmusch (1992)

Coffee and Cigarettes III - Somewhere in California, dir. Jim Jarmusch (1993)

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At Play In The Fields Of The Lord (film, dir. Babenco, 1991) [F11]

For this challenging film, Martin and Sam call on the Kiefer Sutherland of Song by Song, Philippa Spanos, to tackle this 3hr epic and possibly save her daughter and the president along the way. We grapple with both the shortcomings and the charm of this behemoth, and end up finding lots to like... although possibly not much from Waits himself.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
At Play In The Fields Of The Lord Trailer, via YouTube (dir. Hector Babenco, 1991)

Shore Leave - Big Time (film) [163]

Regular Big Time contributor Philippa Spanos returns for her third visit, laying out the physical space described by Waits in the next film-only version of Shore Leave. Back "in the studio", Sam and Martin talk about the scale and strength of Waits's voice in this track, as both a singer and a screamer.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Shore Leave, Big Time (film), Tom Waits (1988)

Shore Leave, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

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Johnsburg, Illinois - Big Time [156]

Cub reporter Philippa Spanos returns to revisit another Swordfishtrombones track, the tender ballad for his wife Kathleen, now with added concluding harmony! Back at the SbS ranch, Martin and Sam think about Waits's vocal shift upwards, theorise about Brennan's attitude to his sentimentality, and again consider the space between the performer and a silent (and attentive) live audience.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Johnsburg, Illinois, Big Time, Tom Waits (1988)

Johnsburg, Illinois, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

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Underground - Big Time [146]

Philippa Spanos, our first guest from Swordfishtrombones, takes another look at Underground on Big Time, which seems to be her preferred upbeat bouncy party version. Back in the Song by Song bunker, Sam and Martin compare Disney animated corollaries, note the disparity of material and the similarity of tone on this live album, and how meaning is retained slightly better on this third track.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Underground, Big Time, Tom Waits (1988)

Underground, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

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Johnsburg, Illinois - Swordfishtrombones [095]

Back one more time with Philippa Spanos, we delve again into Waits directly writing about Kathleen Brennan, as well as the way that this track reaches back to the songwriting techniques of his earlier albums. With a sense of loss pervading both this track as well as our interval, Song by Song continues its journey through Swordfishtrombones.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Johnsburg, Illinois, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

Chelsea Hotel #2, New Skin For The Old Ceremony, Leonard Cohen (1974)

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Dave The Butcher - Swordfishtrombones [094]

Three tracks in and we're already deep in the weeds with season 9 of Song by Song, picking through the nature of this odd intense instrumental both in terms of the meaning of the title as well as the musical choices Waits makes. We get into industrial music as well as musique concrète, as well as some of the politics of the humble bacon sandwich on this latest track from Swordfishtrombones.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Dave The Butcher, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

December, One Pig, Matthew Herbert (2011)

Matthew Herbert discusses the process of creating One Pig (video link)
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Shore Leave - Swordfishtrombones [093]

As their unmanageable egos run rampant, Sam and Martin return with Philippa to discuss the musical soundscape created in this second track from Swordfishtrombones. There are some strange choices in terms of instruments (and furniture) on this song, as well as a direct comparison not only of the song and a later cover, but of Waits's own opinion of the song as well.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Shore Leave, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

Shore Leave, Wicked Grin, John Hammond (2001)


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Underground - Swordfishtrombones [092]

After taking a more cursory approach last season for One From The Heart, Song by Song rolls up its sleeves (between four and eight sleeves usually, six this week) to return to a more in-depth analysis of the music of Tom Waits, beginning season 9 with the opening track of Swordfishtrombones, Underground. Philippa Spanos joins Sam and Martin to debate the instrumentation and lyrical content of the song, as well as David Bowie's ball-manipulation technique and goblins. All the goblins.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Underground, Swordfishtrombones, Tom Waits (1983)

Subbacultcha, Trompe Le Monde, The Pixies (1991)

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