--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And they all pretend they're Orphans And…" description: "\"“And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg" --- # And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's… ![“And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember Tell the things you can't forget that History puts a saint in every dream” quote by Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg) > ““And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember Tell the things you can't forget that History puts a saint in every dream”” [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The lyrics portray memory fading like a train moving away, turning past events into distant, almost forgotten dreams. **In simple terms:** Memories become distant as time passes. Key Takeaway Cherish moments before they fade. Themes memory time loss nostalgia Mood melancholic reflective Type lyrical poetic When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts impermanence subjective reality dreams Questions to Reflect On - What memories do you let slip? - How can we preserve important moments? A Different Perspective It may romanticize loss, ignoring coping strategies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Orphans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orphans/) ## Related quotes > [Their memory's like a train: you can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember Tell the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/their-memory-s-like-a-train-you-can-see-it-getting-smaller-as-it/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“And the things you can’t remember tell the things you can’t forget that history puts a saint in every dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/and-the-things-you-can-t-remember-tell-the-things-you-can-t-forget/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [“I thought his memory was like the other memories of the dead that accumulate in every man's life,—a vague impress on the brain of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-thought-his-memory-was-like-the-other-memories-of-the-dead-that/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“My memory often seems like a city of exiled poets afire with the astonishment of language, each believing in the integrity of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-memory-often-seems-like-a-city-of-exiled-poets-afire-with-the/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [I've got better things to do than remember you...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-got-better-things-to-do-than-remember-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Nothing improves the memory like trying to forget...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-merrow/nothing-improves-the-memory-like-trying-to-forget/) [James Merrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-merrow/) > [“Memory requires active engagement with the complexities of the past. It is not an unthinking or passive process, like breathing or (for most people)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-raskin/memory-requires-active-engagement-with-the-complexities-of-the-past/) Jamie Raskin > [The memory of you is like a cobweb that lingers in my mind and stings through my organ of fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/the-memory-of-you-is-like-a-cobweb-that-lingers-in-my-mind-and-stings/) [Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/) > [“I have a memory like a baseball glove, so please, don’t toss me a basketball-sized rumination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-have-a-memory-like-a-baseball-glove-so-please-don-t-toss-me-a/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [But don’t forget that memory is like salt: the right amount brings out the flavour in food, too much ruins it. If you live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/but-don-t-forget-that-memory-is-like-salt-the-right-amount-brings-out/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I think memory is the most important asset of human beings. It's a kind of fuel; it burns and it warms you. My memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-think-memory-is-the-most-important-asset-of-human-beings-it-s-a/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You got to imagine your memory is like an old bucket, you know? Once it’s filled up with old stuff there ain’t no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/you-got-to-imagine-your-memory-is-like-an-old-bucket-you-know-once-it/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) > [“That's what memory is like: layers, one overlapping another, and compacting down the way old leaves slowly crumble and turn to a rich peaty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-green/that-s-what-memory-is-like-layers-one-overlapping-another-and/) [Julia Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-green/) ## More by Tom Waits > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/most-of-us-have-the-residue-of-thousands-of-songs-in-our-ears-that-if/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Bill Hicks - blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer, and brain specialist. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/bill-hicks-blowtorch-excavator-truthsayer-and-brain-specialist-he/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Don't plant your days they turn into weeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/don-t-plant-your-days-they-turn-into-weeds/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“T’ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/t-ain-t-no-sin-to-take-off-your-skin-and-dance-around-in-your-bones/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [“an all time favorite: "The large print giveth, the small print taketh away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/an-all-time-favorite-the-large-print-giveth-the-small-print-taketh/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-ll-tell-you-all-my-secrets-but-i-lie-about-my-past/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/for-a-songwriter-you-don-t-really-go-to-songwriting-school-you-learn/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I'm trying to learn how to write faster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-m-trying-to-learn-how-to-write-faster/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The world is a hellish place, and bad writing is destroying the quality of our suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-world-is-a-hellish-place-and-bad-writing-is-destroying-the/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-m-always-looking-for-sounds-that-are-pleasing-at-the-time-the-sound/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-was-born-in-the-back-seat-of-a-yellow-cab-in-a-hospital-loading/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/there-s-not-much-difference-between-what-i-appear-to-be-on-stage-and/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [Most of the things you absorb you will ultimately secrete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/most-of-the-things-you-absorb-you-will-ultimately-secrete/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The devil knows the Bible like the back of his hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/the-devil-knows-the-bible-like-the-back-of-his-hand/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I bark my voice out through a closed throat, pretty much. It's more, perhaps, like a dog in some ways. It does have its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/i-bark-my-voice-out-through-a-closed-throat-pretty-much-it-s-more/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) [Explore all 328 Tom Waits quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away And the things you can't remember Tell the things you can't forget that History puts a saint in every dream”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Waits" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and-their-memory-s-like-a-train/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dreams" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and-their-memory-s-like-a-train/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/tom-waits-916_dreams_and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and_2502603.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And they all pretend they're Orphans And their memory's like a train You can see it getting smaller as it…” — Tom Waits", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Waits", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And they all pretend they're Orphans...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and-their-memory-s-like-a-train/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/and-they-all-pretend-they-re-orphans-and-their-memory-s-like-a-train/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```