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Manic Street Preachers – (It's Not War) Just The End Of Love Lyrics	10 years ago
I always thought this was about their attitude towards the Labour Party? "You pay your dues...." They were regarded as a party for the people, particularly the trade unions. Now, although they don't hate them (it's not 'war'), they don't feel an affiliation with them anymore ('just the end of love'_

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Tori Amos – Fast Horse Lyrics	12 years ago
I also wonder if the New York/Tennessee thing is to do with fake/natural. Just because the character's not a 24 hour party girl, dressed up all the time - she's more natural, soulful. The guy maybe doesn't appreciate this, and compares her to women who are fake and always putting on a show.

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Tori Amos – Snow Cherries from France Lyrics

12 years ago

Thing that really sticks out to me here is 'and when I promised my hand he promised me back snow cherries from France'. They are teenagers, he is only a boy and she is a girl. He would 'not share his bike, oh but he let me go sailing'. Probably a euphemism for him not wanting to go all the way? France is the epitome of love, sensuality. So he lets her touch him. When she uses her hand, in return, he comes - snow cherries from France? Maybe way off!!!

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Goldfrapp – Rocket Lyrics	14 years ago
I agree it's about a cheating partner. Love the line 'but I still wanna know how she got in the door uninvited'. He says the other woman did all the chasing, came on to him etc etc. She wants to know how that was possible if he didn't give her the chance to take it further. Good song.

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Tori Amos – Fast Horse Lyrics

14 years ago

I think of this as the flip-side to Jamaica Inn. In this one, the guy in the relationship no longer values the female character and what makes her unique, but unlike Jamaica Inn (where she fears him leaving her for this other woman) now it just enrages her and she can see that the fault lies on his part. 'You got you a fast horse darlin', but all you do is complain it ain't a Maserati' - he is with this woman who is a person, who has wonderful attributes and strengths, yet all he can see is what she isn't. (This is another link to Jamaica Inn with the 'he says she reminds him of me, when we first met in those early days' part) He's always comparing her to other people and seeing her flaws rather than her beauty. I think it's also about him constantly putting her down, her actions and her own appearance. I'm not sure but maybe NY is a metaphor for glitz, in-your-face physicality, whereas Tennessee is meant to represent something more soulful and less immediate. She's saying that just because she may not be dressed up all the time, she's still worthy of someone who respects her. He used to, when he was Memphis, but now he's changed. An interesting song.

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Tori Amos – Give Lyrics

15 years ago

I think it relates to sex, but I don't think it's prostitution. To me, this is a character who has begun to seduce men, trawling bars late at night on her own to pick guys up. She has crossed the line, almost becoming a bit of a hunter. The line 'some whose give twists itself to take' makes me think of people getting into casual arrangements and then wanting more - affairs etc develop into wanting the other to leave their partner. This is straighforward sex, no strings, no complications. Some people go out and give blood, they fight or take drugs or self-harm compulsively, whereas she seduces. The video with Santa really gives me that impression. The only way she can live is to give herself. I wouldn't term it sex addiction, but it's definitely drawing her in.

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Tori Amos – Curtain Call Lyrics

15 years ago

I don't think this is necessarily about her, although I'm sure parts of it reflect her, but I think it's a musician/singer whose popularity fades (possibly through drink or drugs). The line 'by the time you're 25, they will say you've gone and blown it' describes a failed album or substance abuse that leads to a slump in your popularity. I think the 'blown them all' bit at 35 means resorting to offering sexual favours to producers, company guys, whoever, just so she doesn't lose the contract or get dumped. The bit about the 'friendly substance' relates to someone who is using coke or some other drug to get them through the day. I can think of a few artists in their 20s who could fit this song. I think the reference to Tori having climbed China'a wall means that in the Y Kant Tori Read days she was considered a joke and not as someone who could be successful, but she proved them wrong. I think this song is like Tori observing how 'celebrity' can destroy some people and she is watching someone go through this just now.

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Paris Motel – Mr Splitfoot Lyrics

15 years ago

There's a film called 'Mr Splitfoot' where that's the name of the devil/poltergeist. The original term came from the Fox sisters, who first claimed to be able to communicate with the dead in the late 19th century. The girls convinced their parents and a huge number of others that they could communicate with the ghost, who would rap in response to questions (hence the lines 'knocks once and twice'). This led to the development of the modern-day industry of spiritualism, despite one of the girls revealing many years later that they had fabricated the sounds by clicking toe and knee joints. The song is basically about an evil presence arriving after being called up at a seance (candle light, rolling dice etc [often in seances items like dice and balls would be 'moved' by the spirits to show their presence])

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Tori Amos – Scarlet's Walk Lyrics

15 years ago

I agree with all the comments about the settlers staying and taking over the land. I also think there's a subtext, particularly given the political situation in the US when the album was released. The line 'the new sheriff said, quite proud of his badge, you must admit the land is now in good hands, yes time will tell that' always makes me think of a politician, it could be anyone from the president to a local representative. there's a state of turmoil and war and restlessness and the messages say 'don't worry, we're looking after your interests'. I think Tori is encouraging us to look past the spin, and linking it back to the arrival of the settlers.

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Martha Wainwright – Don't Forget Lyrics

16 years ago

'But in my silly mind I've gotten married to you' - this song is beautiful yet heartbreaking. The way she has imagined this life with him, and she knows he doesn't feel the same way. Built up this fantasy future in her mind, which can only lead to heartbreak and disappointment, yet she's not bitter, she still feels love for him as he moves on his way. A really good description of how it feels to be the person who has fallen in love when the other one hasn't.

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Barenaked Ladies – Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel Lyrics	16 years ago
forgot to say - the circus music? i think that's because the car is like a tightrope walker - it makes me think of the car weaving the lanes before it crashes - will it go off the edge, won't it? it nearly loses its balance a few times and then it goes, then the flip when it finally rolls off and tumbles over and over - like a somersault off the trapeze.

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Barenaked Ladies – Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel Lyrics

16 years ago

i agree with what most people have said. at first, he's got 100 things to think about and not her, and by the end he genuinely has her as the last thing on his mind as he is dreaming of her when he crashes. the thing i find most beautiful is the line 'i can see my face slumped with a grin' - there is absolute chaos all round him, paramedics, fire engine etc, shouting and noise and carnage, and he's in the middle of it blissfully unaware, out of it all now. an amazing play on words and a beautiful song

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Tori Amos – Carbon Lyrics

16 years ago

that's a beautful interpretation. I also think it's to do with bipolar disorder. I love the line 'carbon made only wants to be unmade' - it's the person's mind. They can never settle into one mood or situation, even if it makes them happy. There is no security, as their mood is always changing, and just when they think they're 'better' or stable, there is another crisis. They can't find any degree of consistency or middle ground.

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Tori Amos – Bachelorette Lyrics

16 years ago

I think it's more about the woman feeling she's been abandoned by her female friends - they used to party together, drink and have such a good time. Then they got into long term relationships, maybe had children but definitely 'settled down' and now they've forgotten about her. 'The things you do girls to your bachelorettes' - she's been neglected by them all. Maybe she's trying to rush into something with someone and it's not really meant to be, 'you can never rush a man' - she's coming on too strong and scaring them off. I always feel so sad listening to this song, the character gets drunk and tells herself she can go to Paris, be with whoever, drink champagne, but in reality she misses all the people she did that with before, and now she's on her own.

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Tori Amos – Bug a Martini Lyrics	16 years ago
Yeah, it makes me imagine her as a spy too. I always think of her as a female spy out there with male spies, who have different ways of getting the information ' your version - coercion (ie they beat and torture people) my version - elixir of quietude (a kind of more sinister 'cyanide in your martini', no blood, no gore, just a very smooth kill and then on to the next)

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Tori Amos – Upside Down Lyrics	16 years ago
Makes me think of someone who really doesn't have a clue and is very naive - like a newborn. The voice in her head is kind of playfully teasing her for making a poor judgement or mistake - 'and it says girl you're all the same, still coming out of your mother upside down' - you still haven't learned, and you haven't taken any wisdom from previous experiences.

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Tori Amos – Father's Son Lyrics

16 years ago

Thanks Cornflakz. I think you're probably right about the cartoons referred to being the religious ones, that fits more with the song. All I thought of for the 'keep my flesh firm' part was that the song talks about these people who die for their beliefs, who will go to war and die because of their faith, (whatever that faith may be) and then there are other people who talk about it light-heartedly. I think she's talking about those people obsessed with youth, surgery, anything they can do to stay young. If God keeps them youthful, keeps their flesh firm, they'll mention his name. People who would say 'Oh my God, a wrinkle' or 'Thank God I had my make up'- they use the term in such a different way to those who are spoken about in the rest of the song. For them, God is someone who is supposed to do them a favour, and if he doesn't they'll be up in arms, which is a contrast to those mentioned at the start of the song.

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Sinead O'Connor – Three Babies Lyrics	16 years ago
I found an interview where she talks about how she wrote this song and another one after miscarriage. "I had a series of miscarriages....that's what the story was with that....Miscarriages and things like that never really get discussed. It's a grieving thing and there's nowhere to go and talk about it."

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Ani DiFranco – Present/Infant Lyrics

16 years ago

An amazing song. I think the first verse should be 'and I will never have lived it UNFETTERED' though. It's so true - she's talking about how the media and the world outside you tries to project the idea that you're never pretty enough, popular enough, thin enough, sexual enough, clever enough..... and she fell for it. Now she looks at her daughter, who is just so content to be here, to smile, and she sees that the fetters she had on her life were ridiculous, so she's brushing them aside and enjoying herself the way she is. She's seeing through all the ways she's 'supposed' to be, and finding that she's actually fine. She sees this through her daughter too - maybe she hopes that she'll never be caused to doubt herself the way most people seem to.

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Ani DiFranco – Adam and Eve Lyrics

16 years ago

Makes me think about a brief relationship but the guy is already seeing someone else, and he rationalises it in his own head that SHE tempted him, hence the Eve reference. He leaves her at night and goes back to the other woman, and she feels horrible when he goes, really really cheap. 'Leave you to your garden and the beauty you prefer' - Eden before Eve tempted Adam - he goes back to his partner for good. A real heartbreaker of a song.

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Tori Amos – Putting The Damage On Lyrics

16 years ago

The bit about the poodle and the corvette is from Groucho Marx, who wanted to get his daughter out of his way one day and sent her off to shop. She came back and told him she bought a poodle and a corvette, and he never asked her to go like that again. in this song it makes me think of him telling her to leave him alone, he needs space, and she says yeah, well look what you drove me to (something pointless that annoys him)

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Tori Amos – The Pool Lyrics	16 years ago
I think it's about two women experimenting sexually with each other, one is experienced and the other one isn't, but is letting herself enjoy the moment.

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Tori Amos – Yes, Anastasia Lyrics

16 years ago

'Show me the ways I forgot to be speaking' - apparently Anna Anderson (the woman who for years claimed to be Anastacia) spoke a language other than Russian (I can't remember what it was, I think German) and those who found her decided she was a fraud as she didn't speak Russian, but others then came forward to say that in the Russian Royal household, they did speak that language, as their mother did not have Russian as her first language (she was German) and that the shock had caused Anna to revert to using the language that made her feel safest. Equally, 'if you know me so wel then tell me which hand I use' relates to those who said Anna was not the real Anastacia as she wrote with the wrong hand. Some believed it was the trauma and others said that the experts were mistaken and that Anna used the same hand as Anastacia had. Several DNA tests have shown Anna was not a Romanov descendent, and linked her to a Polish family. Her supporters continue to deny this.

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Tori Amos – Spark Lyrics	16 years ago
I've heard her say the 'ballerinas that have fins that you'll never find' is to do with mermaids - what is a ballerina with fins? a mermaid. she felt like she could never be a mermaid, and she'd never be a mother.

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Tori Amos – Pancake Lyrics

16 years ago

I think it's to do with religion too, but for me I imagine pancake to be a choice taken away from you. I didn't know a pancake was a word for communion wafer, but I always pictured a woman leaving a table in a restaurant for two minutes, and coming back and someone else has ordered for her, she has no choice about it. I think this links to religion, those who simply tell you what to follow or believe and don't encourage or permit you to question it.

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Tori Amos – Siren Lyrics

16 years ago

I think this is a girl who's not ready to be with anybody yet, but fools herself with each relationship that she gets into that this is her for life now. The part about 'almost brave, almost pregnant, almost in love' shows how she is completely lying to herself, because you can't be any of these things. You are either pregnant or you aren't. The same is true for love. I always think of a girl telling herself 'he's the one', but in reality it's 'almost lin ove', which is not really love at all.

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Tori Amos – Ruby Through the Looking-Glass Lyrics

16 years ago

I completely understand the reference that's been made to Alice Through the Looking Glass, but given that it talks about an unborn child, I always thought of the shape of a woman's body as the looking glass - the womb would be a bit like the large circular lens and the birth canal underneath would look like a stick holding up the lens. And little Ruby is inside, literally hearing all that's going on 'through the looking glass', ie her mother's skin. I also think it's partly to do with the way certain religious views can affect women. Tori has spoken a lot in interviews about how she feels Christian women have to 'pick their Mary' - have the spirituality of the Virgin Mary or the sexuality of the Magdalene. I think 'won't put her through what you put me through' relates to this, she is saying that her daughter won't be bound by the same conventions. 'Strike me at the root' also makes me think of the image from old pictures of God striking people down. The part about drowning in the waterfall - it made me think of the quote from Tori about baptism, that the water wasn't splashed on her head, but her head was held under for 13 years. Maybe this is a reference to that. The last bit about 'doesn't every woman want it all?' I think relates to her previous miscarriages - she wanted her sonic children (she talks about this in her book) as well as a real-life child, and now she is hoping that this child will be born. The 'boy smoke to cry' bit is where the male character can't deal with the grief by crying, so he smokes to cope with the loss because it's hard for him to let it out.

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Tori Amos – Ode to My Clothes Lyrics	16 years ago
The liner notes for A Piano say that she had a bag of some beautiful designer stuff at her house in Ireland, and a friend came in thinking she had ignored her in the street, but it had been someone else wearing her top, and it turned out the cleaner at the house had given all the clothes away to charity thinking they were old, so people were walking around in all the stuff she loved. ;-)

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Tori Amos – Not The Red Baron Lyrics

16 years ago

I think the reason Tori kept the Dutch conversation in at the start is that she's like a radio operator in the war, and she's listening to the communciations on the radio about the fighting, and she's trying to make it out but it's not clear, so she has to guess from the tone of it - 'think I got the message figured [she's not sure] another pilot down'. it's all frantic and hard to get a handle on.

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Tori Amos – Not David Bowie Lyrics

16 years ago

I think you are right, and the very specific problem he blames on her is that he isn't famous. Maybe he was someone she worked with musically, and they never achieved the level of fame she did. Now he looks at the time he spent working on her music and tries to blame her, saying that if he had been concentrating on his own stuff he'd have been as famous as her? I have no idea who this person is, and I know Tori has worked with a lot of people over the years. It just sounds like he's 'filled with bitterness' - all Tori tells him is that 'it is what it is' - she got the success because she deserved it, and he has to move on or he'll never get it himself. 'Take me back to the fact that you still blame me, but I am not the reason you are not David Bowie'. This guy had dreams about being as big as Bowie, being out there centre stage, and he never quite achieved it. All he feels now is resentment towards those who were successful.

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Tori Amos – Demo Medley: Fire-Eater's Wife/Beauty Queen [Demo] [#] Lyrics

16 years ago

I see Beauty Queen in a whole new light now that Fire Eater's Wife comes before it. I always thought Tori was looking at the Beauty Queen in a bathroom mirror as they put their lip gloss on. I thought this beautiful girl made her feel a twinge of jealousy. Now I think the Fire Eater's Wife is the character singing both songs. A Fire-Eater is another word for some traders in the financial world I think, and one of their wives is in the bathroom looking at some gorgeous girl, feeling vulnerable and neglected by her husband. She sees this beautiful woman and gets distracted by her, and maybe sees some life or spark in her that has been washed out of her own character, and Tori sees that. It's so moving, even though it's incredibly short. I love it.

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Tori Amos – Hey Jupiter (The Dakota version) Lyrics

16 years ago

I agree. I think she's with another man after the break-up, and maybe some of her friends are telling her she's moving too fast; they think she's lost it. she's telling herself she isn't crazy, she's attending to all the daily things she has to do, and she's also telling herself that she knows he's not 'jupiter', she knows that, but maybe she needs him for a while to get through her sadness. i always felt like she was talking to her brain in that section, rationalising it. okay, i know i'm not crazy, and i know he's not the one, but for now, i need this...

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Ani DiFranco – Both Hands Lyrics

16 years ago

i think the first part sets the scene so beautifully. they've fought, and she's walked out to get some air. it starts to rain, and she calls and calls their house to speak to the other person, who won't pick up. it's a symbol of their relationship in general, she's always trying to connect and it's not happening. the old woman hears their rows all the time, and she is watching to see how long this final goodbye will be drawn out for. as for both hands, i've read that it's a reference to sex, but it also makes me think of the moment where her lover tells her it's over, that they don't want to be with her anymore, and she's begging him/her to take her hands in both of hers and look her in the eye to tell her, as opposed to shutting their eyes and barely touching her. the only bit i can think of for body graffiti is maybe that she's tracing words with her fingers as she holds the other person's hand, or they have sex once more before they finally split, and durig it she's writing secret messages with her fingers to tell the other person what she can't say out loud. it's a beautiful song.

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Tori Amos – In the Springtime of His Voodoo Lyrics

16 years ago

I think I read an interview that Tori did years ago and she talked about this song. She was talking about sexuality, and the frustration that comes with sometimes not knowing if the guy she was interested in was gay or straight, and wanting to know once and for all if she was wasting her time looking for something more than friendship with him. I think that fits in to the general theme of the song - 'got an angry snatch girls you know what i mean, when swivelling that hip doesn't do that trick' - she's doing everything she can to attract him, pulling out al lthe stops, and he's not falling for it. The end part about 'when you're the sweetest cherry in an apple pie' and 'momma's sunshine' bit refer to this guy who has girls falling all over him, his mother loves him and thinks he's playing the field with them all, when in reality he isn't, and he's in the springtime of his voodoo. Just my interpretation

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Tori Amos – Gold Dust Lyrics

16 years ago

I think Alfie is the film character, the element in their character that played the field, slept around and didn't really commit to anyone - he's crying (although not necessarily through sadness, maybe relief?) cos this couple is moving on now, they don't need him anymore as they're settling down as parents and are going to create a stable future together without other relationships now. I think the Alfie part of their personalitly tells her that it will be ok, she knows in her heart it will be. Even though she might feel it's dark all around her right now (impending motherhood, an unchartered territory for her) Laura Mars could see snatches of the future, and she can do the same, she can imagine them together with their child, and she knows in her heart the new family will be alright. It is like a goodbye from the part of herself that used to stay out all night and party. She's moving on to the next chapter as mother and partner. Just my interpretation, and I think this is a beautiful song.

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Goldfrapp – A&E Lyrics	16 years ago
also, forgot to add that the little melody that plays over and over at the start - not sure but think it's either meant to be the noise of the siren repeating over and over again as she gets taken to hospital, or the sound of her heartbeat on the monitor. makes me think of hospital shows like ER or Casualty in UK which use the same kind of recurrent pattern.

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Goldfrapp – A&E Lyrics

16 years ago

The backless dress part - I think the character in the song realised the other person wasn't coming after all. She was all dressed up, either wishful thinking that he did love her (starting to lose her grip on reality a little) or there was meant to be a romantic date and he ditched her. Either way she started drinking or taking drugs, and it went too far. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or accidental, but she's ended up in A&E lying on a bed in a ward. The doctors have given her something, or the stuff she took hasn't worn off yet, and she feels numbed and anaesthetised from her pain. A beautiful song, that makes me think I can hear her heart breaking.

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Tori Amos – Jamaica Inn Lyrics

16 years ago

'are you positive this is a friend? the captain grimaced 'those are cliffs of rock ahead if i'm not mistaken' - subconsciously she knows that this other woman is a potential threat, a wrecker trying to draw her in to destroy her (perhaps by gaining her confidence and telling her that she's not interested in the guy), but she's sailing closer and closer to the rocks - destruction of the relationship. 'tying up along your coast' - she's been distant from him, and is trying to be closer to him again in the hope of seeing off this threat, but maybe the other girl, the pirate, has already done the damage and is moored with him. I think the other girl is an ex, as the Rebeccas she references are from the other Du Maurier book 'Rebecca' where a new wife is haunted by her husband's deceased ex-wife, and the influence she still has over him and all those who know him. She is constantly judged against the ex.

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Tori Amos – The Power of Orange Knickers Lyrics

16 years ago

I think the groups of people that the person lives with are the terrorists, a section of society she's been trying to change herself to be accepted by. 'a matter of complication, when you become a twist, of their latest drink as they're transitioning' - she changed herself to be the drink of the moment, the zeitgeist, but times moved on so quickly and she became old news - they moved on to someone younger, prettier, whatever she no longer was to them. 'this little pill in my hand' - anti-depressants to keep out the voices of crippling self-doubt she feels now that she's not the hottest property anymore. Will she overdose? - the secret kiss...

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Tori Amos – Gold Dust Lyrics

16 years ago

Tori has said that the character Scarlet finishes the album giving birth to her daughter, so I think this is the meaning behind Gold Dust. It also ties into her real daughter's birth in Washington. I always think of a couple walking along the road as it's starting to get dark - gas lights glowing etc- looking at the places she knew when she was younger, and she's pregnant, so they're discussing hair colour and names for the baby. In her head, after such a difficult journey through the album, she hears her inner voice telling her to 'enjoy every smile/cry' of the new life when it arrives, because the time she is living in for the next little while is going to be like gold dust. just my interpretation anyway.

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Tori Amos – Father's Son Lyrics

16 years ago

I think it relates to the war in Iraq, definitely, but the father's son is George W Bush, following in his father's footsteps with the war. I love the first verse - "Bread can feed a few, so can some cartoons" - some people take their nourishment and life force (physical, spiritual, emotional and mental) from appropriate things, things that will genuinely feed them, while others sate their appetitie with consumer culture and 'fast food' which will leave them unfulfilled. As spoken from the father's son's perspective, it could mean that some people will only be satisfied with the truth (the bread), while others can be distracted by pop culture and don't see any further. The third verse draws the distinction between the Bush father/son and God/Jesus - 'watch them pray, to you I suspect' - the message that you follow in the path of those who went before you, whether you are mortal or deity.

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Tori Amos – Dragon Lyrics

16 years ago

i think that the dragon in the song is not a negative thing - when i hear it, i feel that there's a word that could be included- 'don't believe the lie THAT your dragon needs slaying' - the previous woman he was with saw his masculinity and tried to cut it out of him - tori is saying that with her this side of him is safe - she will bring kisses to it. he does not have to worry, there is nothing dark about her, and all of the things the previous partner told him were 'candy lies'. it's such a lovely song.

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Tori Amos – Smokey Joe Lyrics

16 years ago

i agree it's about pip taking matters into her own hands cos someone has hurt clyde, but i think smokey joe is a metaphor for her anger and rage - he's calling at the station, in other words, her anger is about to arrive and she's scared she'll act on it. she's debating it with her rational self before the red anger really arrives, what would happen if she did or didn't kill him. that might fit with the peace pipe and stuff, she's weighing it up in her mind, because she senses that this anger is almost at the station, and she knows if it truly arrives she won't be able to hold herself back. fantastic song! my favourite on adp.

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Tori Amos – Girl Disappearing Lyrics

16 years ago

i think this may refer to those kind of women in the media, and maybe even to britney spears - tori recently did a song about her in melbourne. i thought the lyric was 'ditching the BLONDE shell', which could refer to when she shaved her hair off. i definitely agree with you guys though, that it's about seeing some famous women, disappearing before the eyes of the public, either through eating disorders or a breakdown.

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Sinead O'Connor – Three Babies Lyrics	16 years ago
i think this song refers to miscarriage - these babies do not have physical form, but they are her children. i blasphemed and denied, i know they will be returned to me - i think she is imagining another place or time/life when they will be reunited. i can understand why a mother would want it at her funeral, it really sums up a mother's unconditional love.

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