Episodes

  • S5 E2 Caught Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Spaceman) with Anthony Sifert
    Aug 4 2025

    Tom Maier and Anthony Sifert continue on season five (Blue Jean Serenade) talking about Spaceman from the album Day and Age. They discuss the song line by line giving their various interpretations on the elegant poetry of Brandon Flowers. They discuss Epistemology, Emotivism, and other things they know nothing about.


    Unfortunately this is the last episode for a while due to scheduling.

    Spaceman Lyrics

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    1 hr and 28 mins
  • S5 E1 Making Sure The Merry Still Goes 'Round (This River is Wild) with Anthony Sifert
    Jul 29 2025

    Tom Maier and Anthony Sifert open up season 5 (Blue Jean Serenade) on The Killers with the song This River is Wild off of the album Sam's Town. They discuss the poetry conveyed in the lyrics going line by line through the song. After the 30 minute intro talking about Marty Robbins and other random topics, they stay surprisingly on task and discuss the problem of small-town America sending all its best citizens to the big city.


    This River is Wild Lyrics

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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • Season 5 Blue Jean Serenade (The Killers Part 2)
    Jul 29 2025

    Tom Maier and Anthony Sifert tackle The Killers for a second time delving into the music of The Killers focusing on the rustic truck-bed poetry and its war against the bright lights.

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    1 min
  • S4 E4 My Empire of Dirt (Hurt) with Anthony Sifert
    Jul 15 2025

    Tom Maier and Anthony Sifert wrap up season 4 (It Took Me Back To Somethin' That I'd Lost) on Johnny Cash talking about redemption and the song Hurt (originally by Nine Inch Nails). They discuss the redemptive qualities included and absent in the song with minimal biographical context. Tom has a war of nostalgia vs Anthony's war of poetry.

    Hurt Music Video

    Hurt Lyrics

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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • S4 E3 No Water, No Home, No Chance (Ballad of Ira Hayes) with Anthony Sifert
    Jun 7 2025

    Tom Maier and Anthony Sifert are back at it with a new discussion on several ballad-type songs from the "dark ages" of Johnny's career (according to Thomas). They cover the songs Ghost Riders in the Sky, The Baron, and The Ballad of Ira Hayes. They get sidetracked quickly into Paradise Lost and a multitude of subjects that are not Johnny Cash.

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • S4 E2 The Sun Years with Anthony Sifert
    Jan 20 2025

    Thomas Maier and Anthony Sifert continue season 4 (It Took Me Back To Somethin' That I'd Lost) on Johnny Cash. They discuss Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk the Line, Hey Porter, Big River, and Give My Love to Rose. This is the last episode for the next several months as well so enjoy!

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    58 mins
  • S4 E1 Somethin' That I'd Lost (Sunday Morning Coming Down) with Anthony Sifert
    Dec 23 2024

    Tom Maier and Anthony Sifert open up season 4 (It Took Me Back To Somethin' That I'd Lost) on Johnny Cash with the song Sunday Morning Coming Down from the Johnny Cash Show Live Album in 1970. They discuss Johnny's story of redemption and the role that the song played.


    Kakutani, Michiko. “The High Times, and the Hard Ones, of a Gritty Musical Outlaw.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Dec. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/12/02/books/johnny-cash-the-life-by-robert-hilburn.html

    Hilburn, Robert. Johnny Cash: The Life. Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company, 2014.

    Sunday Morning Coming Down Lyrics

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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Season 4 is Here! It Took Me Back To Somethin' That I'd Lost (Johnny Cash)
    Dec 23 2024

    New Season about country legend Johnny Cash.

    Hilburn, Robert. Johnny Cash: The Life. Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company, 2014.

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    1 min