We are buried beneath the weight of information…– Tom Waits
We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness.
If you are making a record…– Tom Waits
If you are making a record, you are the one saying ‘action’, and you are the one saying ‘cut,’ and you have to be sure that the most interesting thing is not going on outside the frame.
I always liked the idea that America is a big …– Tom Waits
I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We are all insects crawling across on the shiny hood of a Cadillac. We’re all looking at the wrapping. But we won’t tear the wrapping to see what lies beneath.
When you’re a kid and you’re trying to find your …– Tom Waits
When you’re a kid and you’re trying to find your own voice, it’s rather daunting to hear somebody like Howlin’ Wolf, because you know that you’ll never achieve that.
I bark my voice out through a closed throat…– Tom Waits
I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much. It’s more, perhaps, like a dog in some ways. It does have its limitations, but I’m learning different ways to keep it alive.
You almost have to create situations in order to …– Tom Waits
You almost have to create situations in order to write about them, so I live in a constant state of self-imposed poverty. I don’t want to live any other way.
There’s not much difference between what I appear …– Tom Waits
There’s not much difference between what I appear to be on stage and what I am. I think people like that, that I’m not trying to pull a caper.
When I was younger, I wanted to be older…– Tom Waits
When I was younger, I wanted to be older. Now I am older, I am not quite so sure.
If you’re in the middle of the ocean with no …– Tom Waits
If 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.
I always had a great appreciation for jazz…– Tom Waits
I always had a great appreciation for jazz, but I’m a very pedestrian musician. I get by. I like to think that my main instrument is vocabulary.