"I don't know if any genuine meaningful change could ever result from a song. It's kind of like throwing peanuts at a gorilla."
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Quote collection
Tom Waits quotes (page 10 of 15)
282 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Unfortunately, I made the mistake at one point of putting my address on the back of one of my albums, just to find out what would happen. I received a lot of disturbing mail and calls. Actually, I was living in a hotel, so it was easy enough to find the number. I got a kick out of it for a while. Then I realized what I'd done."
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"I took a hundred dollars from a blindman's hand."
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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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"I'm usually more concerned with how things sound than how they look on the page."
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"I finally discovered that my life is more important than show business."
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"I like writing melody without an instrument. It's just so - it's more like the choreography of a bee; you just go."
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"God's away, God's away, God's away on business. Business!"
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"I never told the truth so i can never tell a lie."
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"Well, it's either kiss me or kill me, that's how I see it."
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"The dog won't bite if you beat Him with a bone"
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"You know, we just buy music now. We don't make it any more. And that goes for just about everything. I think it's so important that people develop and subscribe to and have confidence in their own ability to make music, however rough it is."
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"People get frightened that success is going to take them out of life. They're no longer going to be on the corner of Bedlam and Squalor; life will only be something you can get through the mail."
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"When the weather's rough and it's whiskey in the rain it's best to wrap your savior up in cellophane."
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"Music has generally involved a lot of awkward contraptions, a certain amount of heavy lifting."
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"You choke my days, I'll choke yours."
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"Anton brings the camera. I'll bring a tuba, wear black, not shave, and take us to a burned-down Chinese restaurant. (On being photographed by his longtime photo collaborator Anton Corbijn)"
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"I worry about a lot of things, but I don’t worry about achievements. I worry primarily about whether there are nightclubs in Heaven."
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"If you walk with Jesus, he's gonna save your soul. You gotta keep the devil way down in the hole. He's got the fire and the fury at his command."
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"I'm reliable sources, I'll tell ya anything you want me to know."
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