Down, Down, Down - Swordfishtrombones [102]

Martin and Sam return for another slice of Swordfishtrombones, as Waits grabs his bible and gives it a good thump. Links to blues performers of the 20s and how seriously we should take Tom's threats of fire and brimstone all feature, plus... the return of the grand unified egg theory of musical accessibility.

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

It's Nobody's Fault But Mine, It's Nobody's Fault But Mine - The Best Of, Blind Willie Johnson (1925/2010)

Nobody's Fault But Mine, Nina Simone & Piano, Nina Simone (1969)

Nobody's Fault But Mine, Presence, Led Zeppelin (1976)

The Soul Of A Man, God Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson, Tom Waits/Blind Willie Johnson (2016)

John The RevelatorGod Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson, Tom Waits/Blind Willie Johnson (2016)

Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground, God Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson, Rickie Lee Jones/Blind Willie Johnson (2016)

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Rainbow Sleeves (Rickie Lee Jones Special) - Blue Valentine/Girl At Her Volcano [067]

Once more, with feeling… as a final coda to our sixth season, we switch focus from Waits directly and instead look at his then-partner Rickie Lee Jones. Kit departs from us with some observations of not only the music of Waits and Jones, but also some of the social implications of writing emotional and emotive material about another "public figure", while Sam talks about… minor thirds, or sevenths, or something? And Martin nails down our inaccuracies.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Rainbow Sleeves, Girl At Her Volcano, Rickie Lee Jones [w. Tom Waits] (1978/1983)

A Lucky Guy, Pirates, Rickie Lee Jones (1981)

Rainbow Sleeves, deleted scene from "Divine Madness", Bette Midler (1980)

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