A trip to the musicals for this first episode on Blue Valentine, as Martin and Sam are joined by Caspar Salmon and Elizabeth Sankey to discuss another of Waits's rare covers. The (perhaps inevitable) comparisons between this and other versions of Somewhere, the nature of the song in its original context and the extent to which Waits reinterprets the material all kick off season six of Song by Song.
Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include:
Somewhere (from West Side Story), Blue Valentine, Tom Waits (1978)
Somewhere, West Side Story Motion Picture Soundtrack, Jim Bryant & Marni Nixon [w. Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim] (1961)
Somewhere (Ballet), West Side Story (Original Broadway Production), Max Goberman & West Side Story Ensemble [w. Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim] (1957)
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