Tori Amos' lyrics

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Don’t know how many here are familiar with Tori Amos’ songs or lyrics - I know that I’m not particularly well-versed in much by her, but recently I’ve been interested in what she has to say in some of her songs which garners such a devoted fanbase, which she’s maintained for 15 years now.

I must admit that I’m a little shocked by what I see: lyrics about free sexuality and masturbation, as well as many lyrics dealing with religion in a way which, it seems to me, could easily be classified as definitely liberal or even heretical! Songs such as “God” seem to question God’s activity (which, well, isn’t so bad since we all go through spiritual lulls), “Father Lucifer” which describes some weird shamanic trance in which she had an affair with Lucifer and Jesus, as well as other songs in which she offers up her opinion that the early Church Fathers stripped away Mary Magdalene’s character until all that was left was “the whore” and not the essential “feminine energy” which Mary represents, and she seems to give some credence to the gnostic gospels.

Definitely, she’s a very open-minded girl with quite a few things to say. Are there any opinions here about her or her music?
 
More of a neutral than a fan. My own taste runs more towards Nick Cave and Rasputina.

The music itself is wonderful (well-composed, and she’s a good pianist, which really helps), but I really think she should stick to piano composition rather than also writing lyrics and singing. I don’t think she’s a good singer, and her early lyrics were fairly puerile. Somewhere around 2000 they started to improve, from the few examples of what I’ve heard (I only own her earlier work). I’m not particularly impressed with what she’s trying to say, though. It seems to me to be fairly standard “feminine empowerment” speak, with a touch of fairy dust.

Her crisis hotline does do good work, if you’re familiar with them. Its stated purpose is to help counsel women in trouble, and, well, anyone reaching out is a good hand.
 
I’m somewhat ambivalent. “Little Earthquakes” is a long-time favorite, but I don’t think any of her other albums have come close to it. However, her song “Spark” (off of “From the Choirgirl Hotel”) breaks my heart- she wrote it after suffering a miscarriage and there’s a lot of powerful emotion in it.
 
I used to listen to her many years ago.
That was until I really “listened” to her songs and heard her talk about abortion like it was just the most fabulous option ever. Her support of Planned Parenthood is very well established.

I just could never listen to her after that.
 
LynnieLew said:
I used to listen to her many years ago.
That was until I really “listened” to her songs and heard her talk about abortion like it was just the most fabulous option ever. Her support of Planned Parenthood is very well established.

I just could never listen to her after that.
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I know she was raped, or sexually assaulted, many years ago. I wonder if this has anything to do with her support of Planned Parenthood, or if it might just be her attempt to be an advocate of women’s rights and women making choices about their bodies…

…and what’s remarkable is that she often lays the criticism on what the Bible *doesn’t *say about such issues, namely that abortion, masturbation, etc. are perfectly fine. :confused:
 
Her papa was a fundamentalist preacher. And yes, she was raped when young. I believe her music, while gorgeous and haunting, is a young woman’s angry rant against her upbringing and the tragedy that occurred in her youth. Can’t listen to her anymore either.
 
blessedtoo said:
Her papa was a fundamentalist preacher. And yes, she was raped when young. I believe her music, while gorgeous and haunting, is a young woman’s angry rant against her upbringing and the tragedy that occurred in her youth. Can’t listen to her anymore either.
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I agree. It definitely seems as if she has some sort of trauma in her life which she can’t quite come to terms with, no matter what she says or does. May God grant her peace.
 
LynnieLew said:
I used to listen to her many years ago.
That was until I really “listened” to her songs and heard her talk about abortion like it was just the most fabulous option ever. Her support of Planned Parenthood is very well established.

I just could never listen to her after that.
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blessedtoo said:
Her papa was a fundamentalist preacher. And yes, she was raped when young. I believe her music, while gorgeous and haunting, is a young woman’s angry rant against her upbringing and the tragedy that occurred in her youth. Can’t listen to her anymore either.
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I’m in total agreement to both of these. I used to love her (in the late 90’s) but just couldn’t accept the glorification of PP. Lots of angst.
 
tamccrackine said:
I’m in total agreement to both of these. I used to love her (in the late 90’s) but just couldn’t accept the glorification of PP. Lots of angst.
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How were you able to tolerate her vulgarity? She uses some strong profanity in some of her songs, especially from the late 90s. Nobody is perfect, but I prefer not listening to such!
 
Epistemes said:
How were you able to tolerate her vulgarity? She uses some strong profanity in some of her songs, especially from the late 90s. Nobody is perfect, but I prefer not listening to such!
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Well, if you knew me in the late 90’s you’d understand my comment. I used to be able to put a sailor to shame. However, I’ve since changed and can’t stand her. It doesn’t mean I automatically think she’s a poor performer or musician. I just don’t agree with the things she stands for now.

It’s amazing how the heart can change from being pro-abortion to pro-life in the span of 10 years. 👍
 
Epistemes said:
Songs such as “God” seem to question God’s activity (which, well, isn’t so bad since we all go through spiritual lulls),
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Yes the song is definitely questioning, however it is important to understand that her songs are very personal to her own emotions and interpretations. I relate to her music alot. Especially to this song. It actually makes me think about how some people do feel this way when they are so overwhelmed. It reminds us that it is easy to feel that god has abandoned us or that he doesn’t care when bad things happen to us, however this song also reminds me of when I felt that way in the past.
Now it reminds me of that time in my life and how when things go wrong, I need to remind myself that I was wrong.
I reflect on the past knowing how wrong I was.
Epistemes said:
“Father Lucifer” which describes some weird shamanic trance in which she had an affair with Lucifer and Jesus,
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Again like I said, most of her songs are personal to her and my not make sense in the context of our situations.
The following are the lyrics to the song you mention, however she does not mention anything about shamanistic trances or that she had a n affaire with Jesus or Lucifer. The song mainly refers to how sane and human lucifer can appear to someone.
In this song, she rejects him…Nothing’s gonna stop me from floating…
Father Lucifer
Father Lucifer
you never looked so sane
you always did prefer the drizzle to the rain
tell me that you’re still in love with that Milkmaid
how’s the Lizzies
how’s your Jesus Christ been hanging

nothings gonna stop me from floating
nothings gonna stop me from floating

he says he reckons I’m a watercolour stain
he says I run and then I run from him
and then I run
he didn’t see me watching
from the aeroplane
he wiped a tear
and then he threw away our appleseed

nothings gonna stop me from floating

everyday’s my wedding day
though baby’s still in his comatose state
I’ll die my own Easter eggs
don’t go yet
and Beenie lost the sunset but that’s OK
does Joe bring flowers to Marilyn’s grave
and girls that eat pizza and never gain weight
Father Lucifer you never looked so sane
as well as other songs in which she offers up her opinion that the early Church Fathers stripped away Mary Magdalene’s character until all that was left was “the whore” and not the essential “feminine energy” which Mary represents, and she seems to give some credence to the gnostic gospels.
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What particular songs are you referring to here? I am very interested.

In short I am a fan of Tori, I have all of her albums. Some I love and some I don’t… I think she has done amazing work creating RAINN.
rainn.org/
 
I used to listen to Tori Amos all the time because the music is beautiful and the lyrics in some of her songs were very healing to me due to some bad situations I endured when I was younger. However, there were other songs that I refused to listen to: God, Crucify, etc. I have never heard Father Lucifer, though I have heard of it. Just the name alone made me refrain from listening to the track. As I grew and learned more about my faith, certain things just didn’t seem right about her music. For instance, one of her most beautiful songs is titled Bliss and part of the song goes like this:
*
Lately, I"m in to circuitry
What it means to be
Made of you but not enough for you
And I wonder if
You can bilocate is that
What I taste
Your supernova juice
You know it’s true I"m part of you*

Now, I still don’t fully understand the meaning of those lyrics, but when I first listened to the song I looked up the meaning of the word “bilocate.” Let me tell you, the word takes on a much different meaning when you look at it from a religious stand point as opposed to a secular stand point. And being that Tori generally likes to make a statement with her music (political or religious), I believe she is fully aware of the meaning of bilocation to Catholics. Also, the song starts out with “Father, I killed my monkey.” Again, I don’t pretend to know what those lyrics mean exactly, but over the years I have come to believe that when she says “Father” she is meaning Our Heavenly Father and not an earthly dad.

Her music is still beautiful to me, but I have ceased listening to it because I think she promotes a bad attitude.

Another singer/lyricist that I used to enjoy immensely is Ani DiFranco, who is also a Planned Parenthood advocate and an advocate of marijuana use. Her music has a wonderful folksy sound to it, but I just can’t listen to it anymore. It’s a shame that these women didn’t use their talents in a way that could glorify God.
 
I am an avid Tori Amos fan. In fact that is where my User Name came from. Her real name is Myra Ellen Amos. Her music really makes one think about their faith and dive deep into your beliefs. If anything her music has inspired me and peaked my interest in regards to my Catholic faith. She has a beautiful voice and is truly a spiritual person. Sometimes her views go astray yet I truly believe she is a good person. Just likes to push the envelope a little. 😃
 
I have been a fan of Tori Amos for 5 years. Her work explores things that I have come to the conclusion are not right. I can and will no longer listen to her, be a fan or support her work. I have finally found peace in the Catholic Church and the Bible.
 
I’ve spent time listening to her. She’s another nut, like so many entertainers. You can be quite sure that any profit she makes from you goes into causes the Catholic Church opposes.

Got your screen name from her? Sheesh. And you’re Catholic? Good luck with that.
 
ipwnuathalo said:
I’ve spent time listening to her. She’s another nut, like so many entertainers. You can be quite sure that any profit she makes from you goes into causes the Catholic Church opposes.

Got your screen name from her? Sheesh. And you’re Catholic? Good luck with that.
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Who me? No, that’s just my name. I’m not a fan of hers (I know three songs and that’s it) but I wouldn’t go so far as to label her a nut either. That’s just kind of mean.

And, I was certain she was a devout Catholic…either way we’re not supposed to judge people and to be kind. Right?
 
LeighG2 said:
songmeanings.net/artist/view/songs/49/

Check out people’s interpretation of Tori’s songs
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I just looked up her song G_d and here are some interpretation:

commenter 1:
maybe this song really isn’t about God at all. maybe this song is about a man in her life, probably her father, who she’d always looked up to and admired as God but then he let her down in some way, causing her to say that sometimes he just doesn’t come through.

commenter 2: Dude,

The song is not against religion, despite the fact all of you seem to have issues with it (and possibly men as well). The song is actually challenging Patriarchy in religion, (how God is always referred in the masculine). Tori uses male shortcomings to illustrate her point

commenter 3:
I can see this song as an indictment from Lilith,the first woman and feminist who was removed from the garden because she would not be subservient to Adam.
Now that time has passed on Earth,and history has unfolded like it has, Lilith is pointing out the Earths shortcomings and the shortcomings of its creator.
Liliths familiars, the screech owls can be heard in the song hooting. she sings this critique from the barren ruins of Edom

Commenter 4:
I definitely think it can be viewed from the simplest and most obvious interpretation, but also think like a few others have said here that she’s also referring to the popular idea of the Divine Masculine and using God to speak to that (instead of Goddess) and how men can let you down.

I’m experiencing that right now, lol, so I can say it really speaks to me that way! Sometimes it does seem like they wouldn’t tell you something as important as deciding to make the sky fall and then when it does the woman has to deal with it. haha.

And on another song, “Silent All These Years”
Ans/commenter:
"I saw Tori Amos on 20/20 a few years back. She explained this song was written to give voice to her inner rage at being raped. “Cause sometimes I said sometimes I hear my voice,I hear my voice, I hear my voice, And it’s been years silent all these years”. That is saying she was silent about it but not anymore. “Years go by will I still be waiting, For somebody else to understand” Well plenty of women hear and understand!!!

And it seems Tori has broken free by the end of the song as she sings “silent all these years” near the end and instead of returning to the repetitive three-note arpeggio she has matured into a simple yet elegant string part."

…I guess everyone is free to interpret.
 
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