Quotes: Computers

"I have no computer. It's in the pool with the TV and the golf balls. The cyber world creates the illusion of communication. You put the word cyber in front of something and it's like "new and improved". It's part of the advertising virus. Cyber chats, cyber love affairs, cyber discoveries. It's a way of selling us things that are already available. I'm suspicious of it."

Tom Waits (1989): "It used to terrify me, the idea of drum machines, and now I've figured it still comes down to who's operating it." EC: And who programmed it in the first place. That one you showed me? I got one of those to play with and I used it on the next B-side I did, and I just plugged it into an amplifier, which immediately changed it. So there's one thing I've done, I've distorted the natural sound of it... TW: "Crank up the sound, get some dirt on it, and it sounds a lot different."(Source:"Eavesdropping on Elvis Costello and Tom Waits". Option Magazine. July/ August 1989)

AC (1999): Do you ever surf the Internet? TW: "I've never been in the water." AC: Well, you've got some obsessive fans who keep up some pretty intense Web sites. And I know they have a festival devoted to your work in New York every year. How do you deal with such fanaticism when you meet these people? TW: "I don't meet these people." (Source: "Mule Conversations". Austin Chronicle: Jody Denberg. April 1999)

Q (1999): Are you scared of cyberspace? When we talked to you up in Petaluma, seemed like you weren't too keen on computers. TW: "I've made a profound transformation. I've fashioned some cyber-underwear. I'm not scared of anything! Actually, I am scared of a few things. Cyber world is a world of adventure, a new galaxy. I'm big on adventure. But I don't assume that just because the word cyber is being used as a prefix, doesn't give it anymore value or credence. Cyber relationships have the illusion of intimacy, sometimes with the absence of intimacy. Is it better to have a conversation in a caf� or on the telephone?" (Source: "Sonicnet full chat transcript". Sonicnet: host: Goldberg. April 1999)

Audience (1999): "Go over where I can see you!" TW: "I know! You thought those were the expensive seats didn't you? Right? On the Internet! You made a saver purchase. They're not so great, but you know, you can tax-deduct all kick backs and bribes. So maybe we can do something about this. I'll wave every now and then." (Source: Intro to "A Little Rain". Paramount Theatre, Oakland USA. June 9 1999)

Tom Waits (1999): "I have no computer. It's in the pool with the TV and the golf balls. The cyber world creates the illusion of communication. You put the word cyber in front of something and it's like "new and improved". It's part of the advertising virus. Cyber chats, cyber love affairs, cyber discoveries. It's a way of selling us things that are already available. I'm suspicious of it." (Source: "Wider public greets Waits' 'Variations". USA TODAY: Edna Gundersen. June 1999)

JV (1999): I don't know how aware you are of the Internet, but there is this technology called MP3 that basically allows artists to put songs on the Net and people can download them and burn their own CD's, essentially cutting the record companies out of the equation. TW: "I don't know what I think about that. I don't know about the Internet. I'm not on that. I'm way behind. I have a rotary phone. Progress is compulsive and obsessive, I guess. I get the feeling that people aren't leaving their homes. They are sitting in front of their computer desks and everything comes to them from their screens. That's what the whole nation really wants, but anything that is that popular or easily accessible is usually not good for you. It's like tap water is not good for you; it's recycled piss and chemicals, that's all. There is a reason that a bottle of water costs more than a gallon of gas. And what's the biggest enemy of computers? Water. And the computers are trying to eliminate all the water. I don't know where I'm going with this. I guess we're in the middle of a revolution and nobody knows where the rocks are going to fall." (Source: "The Man Who Howled Wolf ". Magnet: Jonathan Valania. June/July 1999)

Tom Waits (1999): "Hey, did you know that American Airlines saved $40,000 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class?" GK: That's fascinating. Did you know that musicians are distributing their music through the Internet? TW:"You've entered an area where I have no coordinates. The computer is at the bottom of the pool in my back yard, along with my television set." (Source: "Reapers and weepers". Metromix Chicago: Greg Kot. August 1999)

Tom Waits (2002): "You know there's this Web site where all these people who have Tourettes get together--they're kinda like these punk Tourettes guys where they get together and emote or have Tourettes moments, and they grade each other on how cool their moments were." (Source: "Blood on the looking glass." Chico News and Review (USA) May 7, 2002 by Dan Cohen)

Q (2002): "Are you an Internet person?" TW: "No, no, no!" (Source: "This Business Called Show". Austin Chronicle (USA) May 10, 2002 by Margaret Moser)

Tom Waits (2004): "I certainly don't trust the voting machines, which are all computerized now. I don't know enough about it, except that any computer is corruptible. You've already got a corrupt government, so ..." His voice trails off before widening the argument: "I don't trust anything they tell you. I don't trust the food I buy at the supermarket. You better grow it in your backyard or it's going to kill you." (Source: "Songs Of Decay From Waits" Toronto Star (Canada). By Vit Wagner. October 5, 2004)

Tom Waits (2004): "This is what's wrong with the world. "Everything is explained now. We live in an age when you say casually to somebody 'What's the story on that?' and they can run to the computer and tell you within five seconds. That's fine, but sometimes I'd just as soon continue wondering. We have a deficit of wonder right now." (Source: "Tom Waits: Dancing In" The Dark Harp Magazine (USA), by Tom Moon. December, 2004)

Q (2004): "When asked about the Internet, he responded, "I don't know how to turn it on ." (Source: Thrasher Interview With Tom Waits Thrasher Magazine (USA), by Eben Sterling. November 1, 2004)

Further reading: Interviews (complete transcripts)