Cool On Your Island

technically this is from her years in the band 'Y Kant Tori Read' not tori amos solo, but iv heard she does sometimes sing it in concert. but anyway its the best song on that cd (and the only one tori still likes!). from what i gather its about someone who is being mistreated in a relationship, maybe from the other party not commiting or not giving emotional support, but she still desperatly wants to stay together. any other ideas?

Yeah, she sang it in the concert i went to of her, and i went mad trying to find the mp3 or cd of it, then i found out it was Y Kant Tori Read. It was really soulful when she performed it which gave it alot of depth... but this one is kind of more... flirtatious i guess? But they're both good.

this is the first song i heard tori sing and it just got me hooked. i like that the music is so island-y, i don't know how else to describe it. I liked it because even though she is basically saying how much she loves him and she seems so vulnerbale, she is also spelling his defeat as well. This is present in most of her songs- starts off saying how she is let down but in the end, she is stronger due to that experience and the other person realizes this. Makes me think that she is truly the strong person- it doesn't take a lot of courage to be icy, stand-offish, i don't know why our society associates emotion with weakness. Tori is a very strong person in my eyes because she is able to sing and expose these emotions.

the solo version is good for mellow times of sadness when you're mourning over what things have come to, whereas the yktr version is good for more upbeat times[and yes, the islandy vibe of that version is awesome!!]...those times when you're determined to just leave it all behind.

"from what i gather its about someone who is being mistreated in a relationship, maybe from the other party not commiting or not giving emotional support,"

I agree with you, Gem. that's exactly what i feel about this song.

emotionally distant people are definitely islands... sometimes you have to wonder how warm it really is on those pieces of lonely land out in the middle of the ocean. for anyone trying to reach a person like that, it definitely takes something out of you when you realize the person can't be reached at all...and it hurts to know they don't want to be reached.

"it doesn't take a lot of courage to be icy, stand-offish,"

very well said, eeriemily.