I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons
Can't go there
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
As longs as your army
Keeps perfectly still
And maybe I'll find me
A sailor, A tailor
And maybe together
We'll make Mother well
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
As long as your army
Keeps perfectly still
You showed me the meadow
And Milk wood, and Silk wood
And you would if I would
But you never would
So I chased down your posies
Your pansies in my hosies
Then opened my hands
And they were empty then
Off with Superfly, sniffing a Sharpie pen
Honey, it's Bill and Ben
Off with Superfly, counting your bees
Oh me honey like one two three
The camera is rolling, it's easy
Like one, two, three...
And if there is a way
To find you, I will find you
But will you find me if
Neil makes me a tree
An afro, a pharaoh
I can't go, you said so
And threads that are golden
Don't break easily
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons
Can't go there
So I got me some horses
To ride on, to ride on
As longs as your army
Keeps perfectly still
Keeps perfectly still
Keeps perfectly still
To ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons
Can't go there
To ride on, to ride on
As longs as your army
Keeps perfectly still
A sailor, A tailor
And maybe together
We'll make Mother well
To ride on, to ride on
As long as your army
Keeps perfectly still
And Milk wood, and Silk wood
And you would if I would
But you never would
Your pansies in my hosies
Then opened my hands
And they were empty then
Honey, it's Bill and Ben
Off with Superfly, counting your bees
Oh me honey like one two three
The camera is rolling, it's easy
Like one, two, three...
To find you, I will find you
But will you find me if
Neil makes me a tree
I can't go, you said so
And threads that are golden
Don't break easily
To ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons
Can't go there
To ride on, to ride on
As longs as your army
Keeps perfectly still
Keeps perfectly still
Keeps perfectly still
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I think the horses are things that you can rely on when you feel unconfident. They protect you and no one can get you when you are riding them. Apparently she is speaking to someone who helped/loved her (you showed me the meadow...), but he wouldn't stay/the relationship couldn't work (you would if I would but you never would). So now she's alone. With her horses. But she's not satisfied with just the horses (which, by the way, can be different for differnt people: art, sports, friends), she's still looking for fulfillment (if there is a way to find you I will find you). She wonders if her love will ever find her (will you find me...), but finds relief in her horses... as long as there are no attacks. BASICALLY: this song is the give and take between the confidence given by the "horses" and the fear of the old love/love to come.
"The record begins with the horses from Winter coming back to take me on this journey and we ride and go find the demons..."
"It's as if the horses have come to take us back, to descend, to find the dark side. By dark I mean what's hidden, not necessarily satanic." [Tori Amos, Billboard, 1/13/96]
i think the horses represent her escape from all the things that are bothering her, or went wrong (the say that your demons can't go there) wherever the horses are taking her, she'll be safe. anyway, i love this song. this is probably my favorite of hers.
The entire of Boys For Pele is kind of a break-up album, it's all centred around the end of a relationship anyway. She takes us on a journey through her pain, and Horses is the beginning.
She's looking back at their relationship: "you showed me the meadow and Milkwood and Silkwood and you would if I would but you never would"
And the horses represent her escape from the pain of the end of the relationship..they're a positive thing, coming in to rescue her...
"But will you find me if Neil makes me a tree"
is a reference to Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic books. In Sandman#4 the protagonis, Dream of the Endless is escorted by Etrigan to the city of Dis. Suicides are depicted as trees, rooted and stuck in their suffering.
The horses save her from the evil pain she needs to escape from. The narcissists demon cannot follow her anymore - she rides away
This song is one of the most cryptically brilliant songs about going on a sex/rebound relationship bender
It is about needing a man to feel alive and safe. The men are like a drug she needs to feel normal. Since she has just had a major break up, she explores a variety of men in a rebound fashion, each encounter chipping away her self-esteem even more, feeling less and less. “Open my hands and they were empty them”—after I slept with you I felt empty inside
This song is about looking for ways to fill emptiness through sex (which is being confused for love and validation). After a major break up where you are the one rejected the sting of it can bring up a variety of inner wounds and traumas. She attempts to self soothe these traumas through rebound sexual encounters to feel wanted and loved on a primal level. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Horses are euphemisms for….as in “hung like a horse”
The men she lusts after are “the sailor”, “the tailor”, Milkwood man, “Superfly”, “Bill” “Ben”, “the Afro”, “the Pharoah”. The buffet of men to choose from.
“Making mother well to me” is if I can just be in a relationship or get married my mother will stop being so worried about me. Like you’re the guy I could bring home to mom.
“As long as your army keeps perfectly still “means I can only handle your body at the moment, please do not give me your offenses or defenses because I’m too fragile for anything else.
“Sniffing a sharpie pen”—-think about it “Counting your bees” - birds and the bees - sex…
“The camera is rolling” to me almost means that these relationships are purely sexual and almost pornographic. This is what she is reduced to. “It’s easy like one two three”—-I can just act like I like this empty sex. I am just being an actress pretending to be what I think you want.
“If there is a way to find you I will find you”—-I will always find a man to have but will a man ever find/want me?
The next song Blood Roses is the aftermath of Horses —being reduced to a piece of sexual meat and having to find yourself again.
This is my favorite Tori Anus song because I don't understand the lyrics. It reminds me of how in all my own relationships there were a whole bunch of inside jokes and stories that no one else would ever understand, but I treasure dearly, long after it ends. If something happened to me involving an afro and a pharoah, I would probably never forget that.