All Tom Waits Quotes
- Sometimes words are just music themselves. Like 'Chicago' is a very musical sounding name. Chicago
- 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. Any
- Oh, I got a beautiful 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille four-door. No one will ride in it with me. Beautiful
- My first big gig was an opening show for Frank Zappa, and I think that was difficult. Big
- I used to imagine that making it in music - really making it in music - is if you're an old man going by a… Children
- Any image I have, it's just what I do, but it comes off as being very pretentious. When you're a bit in the public astigmatism,… Any
- If you're a writer, you know that the stories don't come to you - you have to go looking for them. The old men in… Go
- What you want is for music to love you back. That's why you pay your dues. You want to feel like you belong and are… Belong
- I have an audio stigmatism whereby I hear things wrong - I have audio illusions. Audio
- 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… Achieve
- 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… Any
- I don't really like listening to the radio so much. Inspirational
- I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox. All
- You hope people are going to be listening to you after you're gone. And they like you better after you're gone. Better
- I didn't really want to be part of a clique or a niche. But I also was looking for my own voice, as a writer,… Call
- If you are recording, you are recording. I don't believe there is such a thing as a demo or a temporary vocal. Believe
- I’ve never met anyone who made it with a chick because they owned a Tom Waits album. I’ve got all three, and it’s never helped… Album
- Popular music is like a big party, and it’s a thrill sneaking in rather than being invited. Every once in a while, a guy with… Big
- I’ve always believed that the way you affect your audience is more important than how many of them are there. Affect
- Planes and Trains and Boats and Busses Characteristically Evolve a common attitude of blue Unless you have a suitcase and a ticket and a passport… Attitude
- I hope I'm becoming more eccentric. More room in the brain. Becoming
- She pulls a razor from her boot and a thousand victims fall around her feet. Boot
- Cross my wooden leg, swear on my glass eye. Cross
- I'm the type of guy who'd sell you a rat's asshole for a wedding ring. Asshole
- They called it the Terminal Bar but they had no idea that like twenty years later the place'd be filling up with terminal cases. Bar