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 think all songs should have weather in them. Names of towns and streets, and they should have a couple of sailors. I think those are just song prerequisites.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that songs should incorporate elements of nature and inspiration from everyday life.
Tom Waits expresses a belief that songs should capture the essence of life by incorporating imagery related to weather, locations, and characters such as sailors. This perspective highlights how music can reflect the world around us, drawing on familiar experiences and settings to resonate with listeners.
Themes
SongsWeatherSailorsArtMusic
In practice
Example use cases
In a songwriting workshop, this quote can inspire participants to include vivid imagery in their lyrics.
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.
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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 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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