As Waits moves away from his standup stylings, Sam, Martin and Catherine discuss the contribution of some of the other performers on the album, the strengths (or lack thereof) in the songwriting as well as the details of the 1970s described in the lyrics. More conversations as well around drinking culture, and the decline of the American dream… all in less than 14 minutes!

Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order.

website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: [email protected]

Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: Warm Beer And Cold Women, Nighthawks At The Diner, Tom Waits (1975) Theme from “Cheers”, The Monitor, Titus Andronicus (2010)

We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly.