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 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that people often focus on superficial appearances rather than the deeper realities beneath them.
Tom Waits' quote reflects a critical view of American culture, portraying it as a veneer or facade that distracts from the underlying truths of existence. He likens people to insects moving across the gleaming surface of a Cadillac, emphasizing how society is captivated by outward appearances while ignoring the more complex and possibly troubling realities that lie underneath. This metaphor serves as a commentary on materialism and the human tendency to prioritize surface-level beauty over deeper understanding.
Themes
AppearanceTruthSuperficialityMaterialismSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about consumer culture during a seminar.
More from Tom Waits
All quotes βIf you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
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I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox.
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Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothing.
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My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
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Now its raining its pouring the old man is snoring now I lay me down to sleep I hear the sirens in the street all my dreams are made of chrome I have no way to get back home Iβd rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make βem grow
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