Cold Water - Mule Variations [260]

Waits returns to stories of wandering America with a chainsaw guitar and a towel in this sleeper hit from Mule Variations. Justin, Sam and Martin discuss the revivalist gospel sound, the image of water in this and other music, and take an extended diversion into possible Tom Waits/Guillermo del Toro collaborations. 

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Cold Water, Mule Variations, Tom Waits (1999)

Water Me Down, Vagabon, Vagabon (2019)

Water Me Down - Official Music Video, Vagabon (dir. Maegan Houang) via YouTube (2019)

Song Exploder episode 177: Vagabon - Water Me Down, Hrishikesh Hirway/Song Exploder (2020)

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Blue Skies - The Early Years vol 2 [246]

A second week with Charlie brings his brief SbS return to a close, as we revisit this excellent demo version of Blue Skies. We broadly acknowledge our love of the simple 1971 version, before digging into Solange's 2016 image of Cranes in the Sky, and the beautiful complexities of that song’s structure.

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Blue Skies, The Early Years vol 2, Tom Waits (1993)

Cranes in the Sky, A Seat at the Table, Solange (2016)

Blue Skies (Single from The Heart of Saturday Night Sessions), Tom Waits (1974)

Cranes in the Sky, music video (via YouTube, dir. Alan Ferguson & Solange Knowles), Solange (2016)

Song Exploder episode 94: Solange - Cranes in the Sky, Hrishikesh Hirway/Song Exploder (2017)

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