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


Lyrics submitted by merchantpierce, edited by Iago1604

Virginia Lyrics as written by Tori Ellen Amos

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

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Virginia song meanings
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    Song Meaning

    I'm pretty sure (well, as sure as it's possible to be on a Tori song- so many fucking layers!) that this is about Virginia, the actual spirit of that slice of land. Tori's choosing to characterize her as female and definitely Native American- turquoise serpents, the Red Road part, etc.- which makes sense because that was the first culture to live there, and the Native American connection with and spirituality given to land fits her metaphor nicely.

    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.)

    wanderloveon November 14, 2008   Link

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