Strong Black Vine

I'm almost certain that it has to do with ayahuasca. Tori has talked earlier about her appreciation for this southamerican brew made out of the vine, by many reffered to the 'vine of death' or 'vine of the soul'. The experience is supposed to be very powerful, not at all time pleasant, but enriching once you submit and accept the experience you are getting. Or that's what I've been told...

I completely agree with and thought the same as notlikecrazii, about the 'strong black vine' being a whip, when I first heard the song. Think about it: submission is my mission? Tori is Abnormally Attracted to Sin? But when I saw the visualette it showed scenes from the Iraqi war mixed with scenes of Tori visiting some voodoo shop and getting her cards read. A friend of mine and I now think it's about being evil - evil that's done secretly in the dark in voodoo shops, and evil that's done in broad daylight with guns and bombs. Now I think it's a complex combination of the two interpretations.

I don't know if this fits with the military themes of the song, but maybe the black vine refers to ayahuasca. She has talked about her experiences with it in several interviews before.

I watched the visuallette. I think Tori pretty much says the song is about intolerance geared towards other religions. Submission comes into play because the singer is trying to whip others who have differing beliefs into submission.

• Save you from that Evil Faith....Lay Back.
• You just might see that Sweet Jesus
• Submission is my mission

A simplified meaning, but I found out long ago that if you try to break up her songs too much, you loose the meaning, rather then find it.

I believe the strong black vine she's referring to is the ayahuasca vine. It is said to give people powerful spiritual experiences (hence the Jesus reference). "You rape Earth knowledge, still she would save you from that evil faith" The "she" being referred to is the ayahuasca itself, which is called the "mother plant" and is said to have a female spirit. Tori is saying here, that ayahuasca can save you from the evil faith in the powers that be, i.e. the government. I also think she's telling vets that they don't have to live like that, with the burden of war.

I always associate the 'strong black vine' with a whip

Well, 'black gold' says quite much, so I suppose the 'oil' guess is very accurate here.

I think that Tori is criticising the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and George W. Bush's "war on terror" in this song. Al Quaida's spokesman appears more than once in the visualette, together with scenes of gulf war. Bush referred to Iran and Iraq as part of an "axis of evil" while Iran refers to the USA as "the great Satan" so, for each, the other is an "evil faith". While the USA "sells arms in Balmy cities", Al Quaida "blows to bits innocent flesh". Both try in their own way to force the other to submit; the USA would like to spread democracy to the arab world, while the arab world seeks to impose sharia law in the west (several such islamic courts were discovered to be operating in England recently). I think the main point of the song is that it is pointless to use violence to try to impose your point of view on somebody else, and murdering that person when they don't come around to your way of thinking is a twisted and "evil faith" that mankind needs to be saved from.

uhmm I heard an interview where she talks about submission as in submission into tolerance but I cant decide if strong black vine is alluding to a suffocating religious vine or something else.

"submission is my mission for a Strong Black Vine"

This is a great song. I love the part where she sings "Lay Back"

Anyway, I found an extensive write up on this songs meaning here:

toriamosmusic.com/forum/my-interpretation-of-strong-black-vine-part-1-of-3 toriamosmusic.com/forum/my-interpretation-of-strong-black-vine-part-2-of-3 toriamosmusic.com/forum/my-interpretation-of-strong-black-vine-part-3-of-3

It's a long read but it will tell you everything you need to know about the song.