(Relative) Clojure noob here: what stops someone from developing a similar library to honeysql, but instead of passing in vectors/maps, one created the data structure in a plain quoted form and passed it in?

e.g. the first example in the README could be turned into:

    (def sqlmap 
        '(where (= :f.a "baz") 
            (from :foo (select [:a :b: :c])))

I understand that hiccup syntax can be awesome, but it seems like Clojure loses a bit of the magic of LISP when everything has to be written in terms of vectors/maps - what's wrong with a plain ol' list?

I imagine I'm probably missing something obvious or important, since I've only dabbled in Clojure (and loved it!)