When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room.
Tom WaitsRead
I always had a great appreciation for jazz, but I'm a very pedestrian musician. I get by. I like to think that my main instrument is vocabulary.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Tom Waits highlights his love for jazz despite not being an accomplished musician, indicating that he values words as his primary means of expression.
In this quote, Tom Waits expresses his deep admiration for jazz music while humbly acknowledging his limitations as a musician. He suggests that while he may not excel at playing musical instruments, he finds strength and creativity in language, implying that vocabulary is his true instrument. This reflects a broader idea about the different ways individuals can express themselves artistically, whether through music or words.
Themes
JazzMusicVocabularyExpressionArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a creative writing workshop to inspire participants about the power of words.
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