I think it's about a woman who was raped and she doesn't know if the father is her man or the man who raped her. I think the line where she refrences ann boylen "he did it right quickly,a murciful man" is comparing Henry the 8th's hiring an expert swordsman to behead her so it was done quickly with little or no pain, to how long it took the rapist to finish raping her. kind of a sarcastic shot at the rapist for his lack of endurance. I think"big bird on a fishing line"and "favorite hooker in whole bunch" relates to abortion (removing the fetus)but that might be a stretch...
"And it keeps moving into the dance of Talula, and her desperately trying to dance, desperately trying to figure out the whole idea of loss: it must be worth loosing if it's worth something. So if I feel like I am loosing something, at lease I valued something enough to loose it in the first place... it's going back into that train of thought. Talula is very much a riddle. The loss of Eric in my life was... it felt like half of me walked out the door. And Talula came as a nursery rhyme, my little dance that I would do when things were so sad. Because I started thinking 'but God, I have these feelings, which means...' we shared so many moments that I value, I really valued that, so what a gift that I can feel this loss, that I am not so numb, that I haven't cut myself off so much, and once I could feel the loss then I started to feel free. I want to dance and go 'yeah, I want to be with Talula. I want to be able to dance through the people that come in and go out of your life. I want to learn how to dance with the gifts when they come and the gifts when they need to take a different route." [B Side, 05/96]
I don't know exactly what she means in this twisted song (heh. i love the popular Tornado Mix) but it is by far my favorite.
does anyone else think this song could be about a pregnancy? specifically a miscarrage? lines like 'I don't want to lose her' and 'I know right now honey that it's in god's hands, but I don't know who the father is' make me think that. also the reference of being wrapped in a papoose. in her book i think she said she was lost a baby during the making of this album. anyone agree/disagree?
I think merchantpierce's comment kind of covered it.
I don't think any single quote by Tori about one of her songs is an end-all be-all description of any given song. they're all open to more intrpretation than what the Tori is willing to say about it.
I don't think any single quote by Tori about one of her songs is an end-all be-all description of any given song. they're all open to more intrpretation than what the Tori is willing to say about it.
Talula could be a symbolic baby, or represent a inner child. Like the idea of going back to when you were young, and had no worries.
Like the line, "Say goodbye to a glitter girl". That point in life where you have to leave childhood and learn how to cope with life. The idea that you have someone you can go to who will help you return to the time when you could say, I really enjoyed the time I had spent with that person, and celebrate them.
Like the version of yourself, that was too busy playing with toys to think things over and over to death. Sometimes you need to get back in touch with that inner child, to keep your sanity. So it would seem that Talula is the name for Tori's inner child.
interesting p.o.v.
interesting p.o.v.
I've always thought it was about losing her baby?
Yeah i think also its about losing a baby... it wudnt have to be tori herself, coz its more being so wild and free that she doesnt even know who the father is... and maybe this is hurting tori very much coz she lost a few babies :( and she doesnt want pple to think so easily about abortion...
I think it is about shedding one skin for another and during the course of doing so realizing that the ideals of youth are sometimes just that --ideals. But, I think the song also speaks to the fact that the ideals of youth, though sometimes too lofty to be attained are necessary and worth having. Every great accomplishment started out as an unattainable dream.
I think you are all right. I do believe she is speaking about her younger self, I do believe she is speaking perhaps about an aborted pregnancy but the first verse, for me, drives home the idea of how I once thought a pair of shoes for $150 was a steal and now, raising a very exspensive four year old, I would be mortified to own such an extrvagant item. She says "say godbye to the old world" and I assume she is referring to the new baby in the pappoose. Maybe she is using the complex metaphore of how everything changes with a new child to talk about life changing events in general. I am constantly trying to manage "cake and bread" I had to say goodbye to a glitter girl as we all eventually do when we realize that dorm life isn't really living on your own.
Ofcourse there are other more serious ideas that I had to modify as I grew older. I have come to terms with the idea that world hunger might not be abolished in my lifetime and sometimes I have nothing but contempt for my old self and my childish naivete but "I dont' want to loose her" and I have to assume "She must be worth loosing" and so it goes.
I still don't completely understand what the hell she is talking about but I love her hypnotic rythms and that haunting voice and for crying out loud if for nothing else she gets props from me for working her magic and making a harpsichord sound cool.
I love the fact that her lyrics are so multidimensional that we can all take what we need from them and make them our own. the song has meant many different things to me at different stages in my life.
When I was younger I thought it was all about abortion and how hard it should be to make the decision but I see so much more now. I think that is real talent.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER!
Also, I think she is considering abortion because she doesn't want her man to find out she was raped for fear he will blame her and leave her.