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Tom Waits Quotes
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Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor.

Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding as though "it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car". Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona with his trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music. He has worked as a composer for movies and musicals and has acted in supporting roles in films, including Paradise Alley and Bram Stoker's Dracula. He also starred in Jim Jarmusch's 1986 film Down by Law. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his soundtrack work on One from the Heart.

Waits' lyrics frequently present atmospheric portraits of grotesque, often seedy characters and places, although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known through cover versions by more commercial artists: "Jersey Girl" performed by Bruce Springsteen, "Ol' '55" by the Eagles, and "Downtown Train" by Rod Stewart. Waits' albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, although they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries. He has been nominated for a number of major music awards and has won Grammy Awards for the albums Bone Machine and Mule Variations. In 2011, Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also included among the 2010 list of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers, as well as the 2015 list of Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.

Waits lives in Sonoma County, California with his wife and frequent collaborator Kathleen Brennan and their three children.

✵ 7. December 1949   •   Other names تام ویتس, Թոմ Ուեյթս
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Tom Waits: 79   quotes 17   likes

Tom Waits Quotes

“Pregnant women and Vietnam vets, beggin on the freeway, bout as hard as it gets.”

Tom Waits

"Cold Water", Mule Variations (1999).

Women

“The dog won't bite if you beat Him with a bone”

Tom Waits

"Lowside of the Road", Mule Variations (1999).

Dogs

“And someone will head south 'til this whole thing cools off.”

Tom Waits

"Small Change", Small Change (1976).

“If there's one thing you can say about mankind, there's nothing kind about man.”

Tom Waits

"Misery is the River of the World", Blood Money (2002).

“Well, you know when you're the opening act for large groups? Sometimes you feel like a rectal thermometer, you're going out there taking the temperature of the audience.”

Tom Waits

Interview on "Late Show" (2002).

Feeling

“(When asked for advice for younger musicians) "Break windows, smoke cigars, and stay up late. Tell 'em to do that, they'll find a little pot of gold."”

Tom Waits

<i>Musician</i> magazine, October 1987.

“What's he building in there? We have a right to know.”

Tom Waits

"What's He Building in There", Mule Variations (1999).

“Come down off the cross, we can use the wood.”

Tom Waits

"Come On Up To The House", Mule Variations (1999).

“Disneyland is Vegas for children.”

Tom Waits

<i>Playboy</i> 20 Questions, March 1988.

Children

“She's been married so many times she's got rice marks all over her face”

Tom Waits

Nighthawks at the Diner (1975).

Time

“Our Father, who art in Cribari, hallowed be thy glass. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in the lounges. Give us this day our daily splash, and forgive us our hangovers as we forgive those who continue to hangover against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…and somebody give us all a ride home.”

Tom Waits

The live recording of "The Piano Has Been Drinking", "Bounced Checks" (1981).

Art , Home , Forgiveness , Evil

“And their mouths are cut like razor blades, and their eyes are like stilettos, and her radiator's steaming and her teeth are in a wreck, she won't let you kiss her, but what in the hell do you expect?”

Tom Waits

"Small Change", Small Change (1976).

Hell , Kiss

“If I exorcise my devils, well, my angels may leave too.”

Tom Waits

"Please Call Me, Baby", The Heart of Saturday Night (1974).

Angels

“How do the angels get to sleep / When the Devil leaves his porch light on?”

Tom Waits

"Mr. Siegal", Heartattack and Vine (1980).

Angels , Sleep , Light