I'll take a rusty nail and scratch your initials on my arm. Tom Waits More Quotes by Tom Waits More Quotes From Tom Waits Sometimes the magnetism of a song is impossible to ignore, and it demands that it be sung in a certain way. Tom Waits demand song way 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. Tom Waits done easy mistake It seems a stray bullet actually pierced the testicle of a Union soldier and lodged itself in the ovaries of a woman standing approximately 100 ft. away. She's alright, the baby's doing fine...ofcourse the soldier's a little pissed off. Tom Waits pissed-off soldier baby My wife, when I met her, she had a remarkable record collection. And they were all still in their sleeves! I couldn't believe it. She took care of her records. Rachmaninov, Beefheart. For me, most of my records were out of their sleeves and in a drawer somewhere. I married a record collection. Tom Waits records wife believe When you say you're doing an opera, it's like when you're a seven-year-old and say, 'I'm off to Washington, Dad.' You kind of go, 'Sure. Sure you are, son.' Tom Waits dad years son The ocean doesn't want me today, Tom Waits suicidal sad ocean I'll be clickin' by your house about two forty-five, Sidewalk Sundae Strawberry Surprise. Tom Waits ice-cream house two Photos are profound because they have such short lives. They are more like fingerprints, dead leaves, rain puddles, or the corpses of flies. Tom Waits short-life rain profound Most songs that aren't jump-rope songs, or lullabies, are cautionary tales or goodbye songs and road songs. Tom Waits rope song goodbye 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. Tom Waits gorillas song meaningful I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged needing a shave and shouted 'Time Square, and step on it!' Tom Waits squares yellow running The beginning of it starts at the end Tom Waits ends New York forces you to be in endless surreal situations. Tom Waits endless force new-york I dunno when I started writing really. I was, like, filling out applications and stuff real early. Last name first, first name last, sex. 'occasionally' , stuff like that. Then I was writing letters, filling out forms, writing on bathroom walls. Tom Waits wall real sex Presley's what I go by, why don't you change the station. Tom Waits stations Music has generally involved a lot of awkward contraptions, a certain amount of heavy lifting. Tom Waits heavy awkward certain 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. Tom Waits important people thinking I'm just trying to make a buck like everyone else. Tom Waits bucks trying 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 Tom Waits dream rain home There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries to guess what the great American public would like, makes a compromise for the first time, and falls flat on his face… I would rather be a failure on my own terms than a success on someone else’s. That’s a difficult statement to live up to, but then I’ve always believed that the way you affect your audience is more important than how many of them are there. Tom Waits important trying fall
