When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room.
Tom WaitsRead
I like my music with the rinds and the seeds and pulp left in.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses a desire for authenticity and rawness in music.
Tom Waits highlights the value of experiencing music in its most organic form, suggesting that imperfections and natural elements contribute to the richness and depth of the art. This perspective invites listeners to embrace the genuine qualities of music, rather than seeking a polished or artificial experience.
Themes
MusicAuthenticityRawArtEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a discussion about the appeal of indie music and its emphasis on raw sound.
More from Tom Waits
All quotes βIf you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
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I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox.
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Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothing.
Tom WaitsRead
My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
Tom WaitsRead
Now its raining its pouring the old man is snoring now I lay me down to sleep I hear the sirens in the street all my dreams are made of chrome I have no way to get back home Iβd rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make βem grow
Tom WaitsRead
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