--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I always liked the idea that America is a…" description: "\"I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We are all insects crawling across on the shiny hood of a Cadillac. We're all looking at the wrap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/tom-waits-916_america_i-always-liked-the-idea-that-america-is_2649059.jpg" --- # I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We… ![“I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We are all insects crawling across on the shiny hood of a Cadillac. We're all looking at the wrapping. But we won't tear the wrapping to see what lies beneath.” quote by Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/tom-waits-916_america_i-always-liked-the-idea-that-america-is_2649059.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/tom-waits-916_america_i-always-liked-the-idea-that-america-is_2649059.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ec/tom-waits-916_america_i-always-liked-the-idea-that-america-is_2649059.jpg) > “I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We are all insects crawling across on the shiny hood of a Cadillac. We're all looking at the wrapping. But we won't tear the wrapping to see what lies beneath.” [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. Society hides truth behind flashy appearances, preventing deeper understanding. **In simple terms:** Surface hides deeper truth. Key Takeaway Look beyond appearances to discover reality. Themes illusion materialism truth society Mood skeptical melancholic Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political analysis - personal growth - media literacy Key Concepts philosophy critical thinking social critique Questions to Reflect On - What does the Cadillac symbolize? - How can we uncover hidden truths? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Facade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facade/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Insects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insects/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) ## Related quotes > [Oh, I got a beautiful 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille four-door. No one will ride in it with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/oh-i-got-a-beautiful-1959-cadillac-coupe-deville-four-door-no-one/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [President Barack Obama is a doer. And we in America will do big things with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hunt/president-barack-obama-is-a-doer-and-we-in-america-will-do-big-things/) [Jim Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hunt/) > [“America is one big maill with a country attached to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/america-is-one-big-maill-with-a-country-attached-to-it/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [America is not only big and rich, it is mysterious; and its capacity for the humorous or ironical concealment of its interests matches that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-riesman/america-is-not-only-big-and-rich-it-is-mysterious-and-its-capacity/) [David Riesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-riesman/) > [We've been taught in America that big is best. That's why people have to believe that they must live in the greatest country in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-robinson/we-ve-been-taught-in-america-that-big-is-best-that-s-why-people-have/) [Randall Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-robinson/) > [“..there was always a chance, that as bad as things were, America was a big juggling act and that we could all be kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctrow/there-was-always-a-chance-that-as-bad-as-things-were-america-was-a/) [E. L. Doctrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctrow/) > [That's always been the case in America; there's been a big spectrum in how much people are interested in American politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kristol/that-s-always-been-the-case-in-america-there-s-been-a-big-spectrum-in/) [William Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kristol/) > [“In many ways he was like America itself, big and strong, full of good intentions, a roll of fat jiggling at his belly, slow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/in-many-ways-he-was-like-america-itself-big-and-strong-full-of-good/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [America is the big subject of the second half of the 20th century, tackled in one form or another by all the great American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cartwright/america-is-the-big-subject-of-the-second-half-of-the-20th-century/) [Justin Cartwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cartwright/) > [It may be that America has become too big and complicated for most people to deal with being part of. People are longing for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-may-be-that-america-has-become-too-big-and-complicated-for-most/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [You come to America, and, if you do a big TV show, then you can be overexposed, or old, before you're new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hemsworth/you-come-to-america-and-if-you-do-a-big-tv-show-then-you-can-be/) [Chris Hemsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hemsworth/) > [It's really hard to get fans in another country, especially here, because America is so, so big, so it's really hard to get known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/it-s-really-hard-to-get-fans-in-another-country-especially-here/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) > [In America, everything is big and more like a jungle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meital-dohan/in-america-everything-is-big-and-more-like-a-jungle/) [Meital Dohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meital-dohan/) > [What Bannon and Trump have presented us with is an idea of America that's not been the traditional idea, not the Walt Whitman idea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/what-bannon-and-trump-have-presented-us-with-is-an-idea-of-america/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [The national park is the best idea America ever had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bryce/the-national-park-is-the-best-idea-america-ever-had/) [James Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bryce/) ## 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 America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I always liked the idea that America is a big facade. We are all insects crawling across on the shiny hood of a Cadillac. We're all looking at the wrapping. 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