I sold a quart of blood and bought a half a pint of scotch Tom Waits More Quotes by Tom Waits More Quotes From Tom Waits I've made a profound transformation. I've fashioned some cyber-underwear. I'm not scared of anything! Actually, I am scared of a few things. Cyber world is a world of adventure, a new galaxy. I'm big on adventure. But I don't assume that just because the word cyber is being used as a prefix, doesn't give it anymore value or credence. Cyber relationships have the illusion of intimacy, sometimes with the absence of intimacy. Is it better to have a conversation in a café or on the telephone? Tom Waits adventure giving profound It's terrible for the culture of music. Like anything that is purely economic, it ignores the most important component. Tom Waits economic important culture There's a lot of intelligence in the hands.When you pick up a shovel, the hands know what to do. The same thing's true of sitting at the piano. Tom Waits piano sitting hands Well, it's either kiss me or kill me, that's how I see it. Tom Waits kiss-me kill-me kissing Some men are searching for the Holy Grail, but there ain't nothing sweeter than riding the rail. Pregnant women and Vietnam vets, beggin on the freeway, bout as hard as it gets. Tom Waits riding holy-grail men All medical procedures require two hands, so in a sense it's like when you play an instrument. That's what they call things that they use in their work: They call them instruments. A lot of people start out majoring in medicine and drop it and change their major to music. Tom Waits medicine play hands Break windows, smoke cigars, and stay up late. Tell 'em to do that, they'll find a little pot of gold. Tom Waits musician gold advice The dog won't bite if you beat Him with a bone Tom Waits bones beats dog Folks who work here are professors. Don't replace all the knowers with guessors keep'em open they're the ears of the town Tom Waits ems towns ears Any place is good for eavesdropping, if you know how to eavesdrop. Tom Waits know-how ifs knows If you are recording, you are recording. I don't believe there is such a thing as a demo or a temporary vocal. The drama around even sitting in the car and singing into a tape recorder that's as big as your hand - waiting until it's very quiet, doing your thing, and then playing it back and hoping you like it - is the same basic anatomy as when you're in the recording studio, really. Sometimes it's better that way because some of the pressure is off and you can pretend it's throwaway. Tom Waits drama believe hands Every single song has its own individual character and you can't treat each song the same way, because it wants to be treated differently and there are songs that are like scared birds that you have to sneak up on over the course of months in the woods. Tom Waits song bird character The blues and gospel stuff seemed to go together. Tom Waits together stuff People make songs so that somebody else will hear them and want to do them. I guess it's an indication that the songs aren't so ultra-personal that they can't possibly be interpreted by anyone else. Tom Waits want song people As a kid, I did want to be an old-timer, since they were the ones with the big stories and the cool clothes. I wanted to go there. Now, I guess I want to bring that with me and go back in time. Tom Waits clothes stories kids Jesus Christ, this godamn rain, will someone put me on a train. Tom Waits rain jesus christ Songs really are like a form of time travel because they really have moved forward in a bubble. Everyone who's connected with it, the studio's gone, the musicians are gone, and the only thing that's left is this recording which was only about a three-minute period maybe 70 years ago. Tom Waits musician song years Most changes in music, most exciting things that happen in music, occur through a miscommunication between people "I thought you said this." Poetry comes out of that too. Tom Waits miscommunication said people Sometimes when you're making songs you just make sounds, and the sounds slowly mutate and evolve into actual words that have meaning. Tom Waits sound song sometimes 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. Tom Waits soul fire jesus
