"Virginia" as written by and Tori Ellen Amos....
In the lush Virginia hills
They kept her as long as they could
Cause they knew when the white brother
Found white shell beads
Wrapped around her skin --
A life giving river --
Her body open as will his hand
And with a "goodbye" there she goes
She may betray all that she loves
And even wait for their savior to come
And in some things, maybe he'll be right
But as always the thing that he loves
He will change from her sunrise to clockwise to soul trading
Still she'll lay down her body
Covering him all the same
So hundreds of years go by
(the red road carved up by sharp knife)
She's a girl out working her trade
And she loses a little each day
To ghetto pimps and presidents
Who try and arouse her turquoise serpents
She can't recall what they represent
And when you ask, she won't know
She will betray
Oh Virginia
Do you remember
When the land held your hand
Oh Virginia
She will let you back in
Oh Virginia
You can't remember your name
They kept her as long as they could
Cause they knew when the white brother
Found white shell beads
Wrapped around her skin --
A life giving river --
Her body open as will his hand
And with a "goodbye" there she goes
She may betray all that she loves
And even wait for their savior to come
And in some things, maybe he'll be right
But as always the thing that he loves
He will change from her sunrise to clockwise to soul trading
Still she'll lay down her body
Covering him all the same
So hundreds of years go by
(the red road carved up by sharp knife)
She's a girl out working her trade
And she loses a little each day
To ghetto pimps and presidents
Who try and arouse her turquoise serpents
She can't recall what they represent
And when you ask, she won't know
She will betray
Oh Virginia
Do you remember
When the land held your hand
Oh Virginia
She will let you back in
Oh Virginia
You can't remember your name
Lyrics submitted by merchantpierce, edited by Iago1604
"Virginia" as written by Tori Ellen Amos
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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and presidents."
The Native Americans who wanted to make peace - "She may betray all that she loves" (America, as the Native American people, betray themselves) - and the broken promises of that peace made by the white man - "But as always, the thing that he (the white man) loves he will change from her sunrise, to clockwise, to soul trading (the white man's back and forth attitude about assuring the Native Americans their homes, peace and freedom... the things they love changing from peace to want of the land they promised away.)"
The song is aptly named, because Virginia was the first state (where all the conflict and change began,) and it is a feminine name, thus bringing in more connections to the usually female associated Earth/land (Gaia, etc.) The name, obviously, also has a virginal meaning; the land that is America was a clean virgin while in the hands of the Native Americans, and when the white man came, they "raped" the land for all it's worth.
The lines "Oh, Virginia, you can't even remember your name" and "And she loses a little each day, to ghetto pimps and presidents, who try and arouse her turquoise serpents... She can't recall what they represent, and when you ask, she won't know." are about what has come of the white man's take over and how America can't seem to find it's true identity or even its former self when the Native Americans lived with the earth. It's like asking what it was all for, and was the end result worth it? Filled with people with little respect for the planet and the land (America) that they live off of... where corruption and greed is in both (political corruption and greed/self-interest with presidents, greed for sex and money with ghetto pimps) ends of the "social spectrum," and Virginia can no longer find meaning in these things that make her up because it's hard to tell what is truly "good" and "evil." The lines "Oh Virginia, do you remember when the land held your hand?" go back to when Virginia (America/the Native American people) knew who she was and she lived simply with the earth. Now, Virginia can't remember her old name that was given to her before the white man came, the names also representing who "she is/was."
Phew, sorry about the length. But, this song is definitely one of my favorite Tori song's ever.
For years, I've wondered what the "turquoise serpents" represent. In my creative writing MFA program, we learned that great Modernist novelists experiment with subject and form, but in order to be effective, the work itself is imbued with instructions on how to read and understand what is being read. That's how Tori Amos's music is written: "turquoise serpents" has always been a stand-out image for me, and clearly the term turquoise can be easily related to American Indian culture. Since the song is set in the 'lush Virginia hills,' I thought the turquoise serpents may be the rivers of the Virginia mountains--and I think they are, if you are reading the song as being about the Earth itself--but as I am from the hills of Northern Virginia myself, I've never seen turquoise waters within the state--or anywhere north of Florida. So what is it?
I also puzzled for quite a long time about Tori's song "Strong Black Vine." I heard the song as a sexual metaphor the first few lessons--the image of the vine and the line "submission is my mission/for a strong black vine," but that idea doesn't follow throughout the song. I believe I read on here people describing the song as being about ayahuasca, which I have since learned is a decoction made from a boiled black caapi vine and another plant that activates its hallucinogenic qualities. OK, that made sense in the context of being 'Abnormally Attracted to Sin.' I moved on. But now we have 'Night of Hunters,' in which Tori sings "from ivy leaves/there is an ale that can unveil/the hidden meanings and serpents/only revealed through visions." This is another reference to ayahuasca, plainly and clearly--and in case it seems like that can't be the case since Night of Hunters is set in Ireland and not Central or South America, she carefully followed 'Battle of Trees' with the song 'Cactus Practice,' which is also geographically out of context in the album.
So what is the point of all of this? I think that Virginia, and Strong Black Vine, and Battle of Trees all are strong examples of how Tori Amos's writing is far more complex than it ever comes across on its surface; it is never nonsense, and almost without exception, her words should be understood to mean more than one thing at any given time. She's a poet who writes in layers and who is always teaching something--something of a spiritual nature most of the time.
Amos has spoken frequently about having spent time with shamans in Central or South America when she was younger. Her songs Datura, Father Lucifer, and the ones being discussed here all relate back to those experiences, and she means them to be taken seriously. 'Battle of Trees' is very much about the living spirits that were imbued in the ancient Celtic tree alphabet, and likewise, 'Virginia' animates the American land with living spirit. Still, it is easy to overlook the specifics in Amos's lyrics where they may seem just generally metaphoric--'turquoise serpents' is the prime example to me.
I've never taken ayahuasca or any other hallucinogen (but now I admit I have a strong desire to try the 'strong black vine'), but I have been reading a lot about it lately, and it's really a fascinating substance. People who drink it--practiced shamans and people who have zero idea what to expect--almost always relate stories of fluorescent colors, bright light, and very often report frightening snakelike creatures that somehow impart a deep wisdom of reality and are able to convey a sort of meaning of life to people. The people of the Western Amazon believe that the plants around them are alive and intelligent, and in particular they believe that the caapi vine (used to make ayahuasca) is a godlike teacher and that its mother is an anaconda or a boa constrictor. Shamans move back and forth from this reality to the 'hallucinated' one, which they believe is as real as our lives here on sober Earth. These brightly colored snakes have to be the turquoise serpents--the teachers from the other realm/dimension/whatever--who Virginia has forgotten once she gave herself over wholly "from sun wise to clockwise to soul trading" to the Europeans. "Virginia" tells the story of the loss of that sacred knowledge and wisdom and understanding of what we are doing here on this planet, "Strong Black Vine" is a sort of instruction manual for getting spiritual seekers back there, and "Battle of Trees" is Tori and the "Tori" of 'Night of Hunters' going back to a pivotal time when mankind (or at least the Celts) lived in harmony and cooperation with the natural world, and then that was taken away from them by the church.
Nobody wants to read all this I know, but the more I think about what I've learned because of Tori Amos's enigmatic but ingeniously written lyrics, I just get hungrier and hungrier for more.
:)
:)
at least the lines "still she'll lay down her Body /covering him all the same" strongly suggest it, and it shouldn't be unclear to anyone familiar with her story.
*shrug* eloquence is lost on me. The song has such great imagery, though.
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Basically, Virginia's all chillin' happy with her native peeps, and then said native peeps are like, "Oh no the white man is coming, hellll no! He is going to take to Virginia too!" So the white man does, but Virginia being what she is (land, the basis of life) she is fully giving. Unlike the natives the white man doesn't know the right amount to take: he just takes and takes (hands open bit.)
The savoir bit I'm not as sure on, though I think it's Virginia taking the whole Jesus thing (all will be made well in the end) on credit, but doesn't see it come to fruition. So life goes on and she's losing her self to all the corruption, both from individuals and politically. Forgetting her name, not knowing what her turquoise serpents represent- she has lost her spirit.
In a nutshell, a song about "raping the land," using the metaphor of physically doing so (gives him her body, covering him, arouse.)
Most people here got that.
I just thought it was always beautiful however, that Tori writes about after all this taking men has done to America, America herself has the last laugh when you die because you become her.
"But as always the thing that he loves he will change". Obviously about people changing America every day. Ghetto pimps, and presidents will change what she is.
But then she writes, "Still she lays down her body, covering him all the same"
While this also means a woman laying down her body covering a man though he's trying to change her, I think what Tori wanted us to understand is that when all is said and done, the land itself will cover you when you die. Hence, Virginia. Beautiful song.