dreaminginthedeepsouth: Happy 72nd birthday to the great Tom Waits!*“My theory is that if you&

dreaminginthedeepsouth: Happy 72nd birthday to the great Tom Waits!*“My theory is that if you’re going to make a song it’s like packing somebody a lunch. You’ve got to give me weather, a name of a town, you’ve got to give me something to do and something to eat. It helps with the atmosphere. If you want to invite somebody into a song of yours it’s kind of like inviting them into your home, and you have to give them some place to sit down. Because there’s too many songs that are already written that are well furnished. “With a new song you’ve got to use some old tricks.”There’s a song about everything. And when you think about how songs were written and how they were kept alive before the recording industry, that to me is fascinating. ‘Cause we were all part of writing those songs when it says “Traditional” or “Negro spiritual” or “public domain.” Like all the songs that Alan Lomax collected. Those were songs that were written by all of us. Those were songs that if you learned it, you would change a verse or line. Just like a recipe. When you got a recipe from your neighbor, or if somebody asked for a recipe, the traditional thing to do was to change one thing about it. You never gave anybody your recipe. No, it’s only a cup and a half of flour, honey instead of sugar, chopped quince instead of apples. And that’s how songs moved along. You would add your verse. Or, it doesn’t apply in this town, in this weather, with that gender. I have to change it to make it fit.”*Maher, Paul. Tom Waits on Tom Waits -- source link

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