I heard a feature on NPR on the way home on Friday where Tom Waits shared some thoughts on creativity.
It’s a negotiation. Some of his songs just appear fully formed, others need to be coaxed out, some put together from found things, like bits of chewing gum on the underside of chairs.
He’ll walk up and down in the studio, to try and convince the last snippet for the last song on an album to come through.
“Come on, everyone else is in the bus, we’re ready to take off. If you want in, you gotta come now.”
I don’t know how this song came about, but it’s perhaps the most beautiful song I know.