For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
There's not much difference between what I appear to be on stage and what I am. I think people like that, that… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
There’s nothing more embarrassing than a person who tries to guess what the great American public would like, makes a compromise for… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
Somebody said I sound like an old lady, and I was really insulted by that. I'm trying to sound like Skip James… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
I'm trying to get music ideas that come and keep them alive. It's like carrying water in your hands. I want to… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
You just write and you don't try to make sense of it. You just put it down the way you got it. — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
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… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
Most of us have the residue of thousands of songs in our ears, that if you end up songwriting, I think you're mostly smoking… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
Bill Hicks - blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer, and brain specialist. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built. — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
“an all time favorite: "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.” — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
For a songwriter, you don't really go to songwriting school; you learn by listening to tunes. And you try to understand them and take… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering. — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
I'm always looking for sounds that are pleasing at the time. The sound of a helicopter is really annoying until you're drowning, and it's… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
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… — Tom Waits Copy Share Image
