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
It's a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace, and a wound that will never heal. No prima donna, the perfume is on an old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey. Goodnight to the street sweepers, the night watchmen flame keepers and goodnight, Matilda, too.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the struggles and harsh realities of life, representing both pain and resilience.
In this quote, Tom Waits uses vivid imagery to convey the bittersweet nature of existence. The battered suitcase symbolizes the burdens we carry, while the mention of wounds emphasizes the lasting scars that life experiences can leave behind. The farewell to street sweepers, night watchmen, and Matilda adds a touch of nostalgia and connection to the everyday lives of individuals who quietly endure their hardships, suggesting a sense of empathy and acknowledgment of shared experiences.
Themes
LifeStrugglePainResilienceNostalgia
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a reflection on life's challenges at a community gathering.
More from Tom Waits
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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.
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My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
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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 I’d rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make ‘em grow
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