under the pink

Tori Amos explored her inner world and experimented with new sounds for this expansive emotional exposition.  Her debut 'Little Earthquakes' established her as a powerful new voice; but the tour that followed had left her feeling drained.  Amos remembers:   "This album is a self-healing experience to me...Around Christmas 1992 my tour ended and I went to New Mexico to rest. We were there in a 150 year old hacienda, a sacred place for the pueblo, and that had its effect on all of us...I was gonna take a year off, but the songs just demanded that I tell their story, and their story was about life under the pink. That's why the album is called 'Under the Pink'. These are just some of the different lives that happen in that world. If you ripped everybody's skin off, we're all pink, the way I see it. And this is about what's going on inside of that. That's what I'm really interested in, not the outer world but the inner world. There are many other songs that live under the pink. These are just a few of them, these are just the girls who decided to come to the party ... 'Under the Pink' is a place. It's an internal place. It's the inner world, the inner life. You have to listen from your stomach. To me, it's all there. But you've got to be willing to put your moccasins on and walk down the road." 

'Under the Pink' was recorded at The Fishhouse in Taos, New Mexico and Westlake Studios in Los Angeles with Amos co-producing with  Eric Rosse.  The sessions included Michael Allen Harrison on violin; Tori Amos on piano and vocals; John Acevedo on viola; Steve Caton on guitar; Paulinho Da Costa on percussion; John Philip Shenale on strings and Hammond organ; Francine Walsh, John Wittenberg, Nancy Roth, Ezra Killinger, and Chris Reutinger on violin; Melissa "Missy" Hasin, Dane Little, and Nancy Stein-Ross  on cello; Cynthia Morrow and Jimbo Ross on viola; Carlo Nuccio on drums, George Porter, Jr. on bass, and Trent Reznor on backing vocals.  

The working title for the album was 'God With A Big G'.  Amos reflected:    "My beliefs are different from institutional religion. But I talk about the institution a lot. Organized...My grandfather always taught me that spirit was in all things. He saw things like a medicine man. So there were complete opposite beliefs growing up, and the more restrictive one won out as far as what was practiced in the home, and that was my father's side of things. My father was a lot more domineering than he is now. He's really grown a lot. My father is an incredible success story on how you can be hip at 65. He's like the hippest 65-year-old. He's really getting cool. But he wasn't (laughs). He was a dictator. He couldn't help it -- he was totally caught up in all these belief systems that were handed down to him, and I think that the work and the world that I've exposed him to over the years has really opened him up a lot. So we've grown from that. But I was exposed so much to how the church worked and their belief systems and how controlling it is so I was really seeing it from the inside. Yes, I do feel it's part of my responsibility to expose that. I think that when you know certain information that's keeping a lot of people divided in themselves, you have a choice to share or not share it but why wouldn't you want to share it so that those people can find freedom within their selves? This is the core of my work, I think, is going in there and seeing what am I really made up of. By exposing it to you, I'm just showing you a little blueprint of how I've had to dive in there, and look at the things I'm hiding, and the places where I'm lying, and the games that I'm doing. It's so easy to go, 'This person is just really manipulative,' and now I'm going, 'What is my part in this also? Maybe this person is manipulative, but what am I trying to get from them? What game am I playing?' That's when you really start gaining power, because you're taking responsibility for what you're doing at all times. I'm going, 'Okay, yeah, I want him, so yeah! Maybe I am putting this out.' And then you have to decide if you want him on those terms, or if you want him on terms that are based on honor, and truth, and compassion, and then you go well, if you want that, then maybe I need to look at the way I'm going about this... I think there's so much emphasis on pushing things away, instead of pulling them out of the closet. A lot of times I just notice that people try to hide their dirt for as long as possible. Monsters, dirt, whatever you want to call it, the stuff that you censor and that you don't really want to share with people. I think you can only do that for so long before you start losing your mind. I'm finding a lot of freedom right now in just looking at things that I really feel. We're not encouraged to do that, and I think that that's what makes people sick inside of themselves. You kind of want everybody else to think that you're okay. Well, you're okay if you have monsters! That's what people don't understand -- everybody has many many voices going on inside of themselves. Now there is one voice, though, that is more of the ringleader, more of the innermost voice that isn't trying to beat you up, or trying to make you feel like you can go slaughter 67 people and it's okay. You know, the voice in there that goes: 'Hang on a minute, Tori, we're really feeling lonely right now.' That inner inner voice is, to me, the most important because it can start being a bridge between all these other voices in your head. Everybody has them. After the shows, everybody talks to me about how they're pulled in different directions. A lot of times there doesn't have to be conflict, it's just we're not giving attention to different sides of ourselves. You see, you've got a masochist side that has to be met in some way. You need to look at why you need to be hurt, and why you get some kind of pleasure out of it. Then you need to go and give equal time to the part of you that's a sea captain, you see what I mean? The one that sail the ship, and can bring it home, and isn't needy. We have all these different sides, and they just go out of balance!"

'Under the Pink' went to number fifteen in Sweden and New Zealand, twelve in the US, eleven in Switzerland, ten in the Netherlands, six in Austria, five in Australia, and number one in the UK.  It has sold more than two million copies worldwide.  








http://www.toriamos.com/








"Cornflake Girl"









'Under the Pink' 
full album: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7LEe-doi4k


1. Pretty Good Year 00:00
2. God 03:23
3. Bells for Her 07:20
4. Past the Misión 12:38
5. Baker Baker 16:42
6. The Wrong Band 19:58
7. The waitress 23:01
8. Cornflake Girl 26:12
9. Icicle 31:18
10. Cloud on my tongue 37:01
11. Space Dog 41:42
12. Yes, Anastasia 46:53




b sides:
http://www.last.fm/music/Tori+Amos/More+Pink:+The+B-Sides

from the choirgirl hotel

Tori Amos worked with other musicians and worked through her grief to create this dark and gothic exploration. The sessions for 'From the Choirgirl Hotel' were produced by Amos: "I recorded all songs in an old farmhouse in Cornwall, near the south English coast. I needed a different surrounding, because this time I had a different aim. I wanted to integrate the beat, the rhythm into my piano-playing. Until now, I had always recorded the piano and my voice first, and let the instruments find their place around them. There was no interaction ... I liked the feel of the barn, the vibes, and I was persuaded to record this album in an environment where it's a bit easier to work with people, to record. So it was the perfect location...Sometimes the vibes, the feeling, the atmosphere is already there. Sometimes you have to create your own atmosphere, you have to invest time and work to make it happen... I let the rhythm take over, it wasn't really easy because I'm a control freak, but I thought if I want good rhythms then I have to feel them, get caught up in them. This is the first album I recorded with a live percussionist, the first album where there was interaction with other musicians. Usually I recorded the vocals, the piano and the rest of the instruments were somehow placed around it... I wanted to capture a certain atmosphere that was only possible with drums, not with additional drums but with real life drums. I needed the interaction with a drummer. I want to grow, personally and musically, and to grow you have to move on, you have to experiment, otherwise it becomes far too static."

'From the Choirgirl Hotel'  featured Tori Amos on vocals, sample guitar, sample mallet piano, kurzweil, bösendorfer, meletron strings, böse, left hand böse, meletron flute, Danny Snigloo sample, wave, nuns, and carbon vox; Matt Chamberlain on drums, percussion, vibraphone, and silles; Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass; Steve Caton on acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, Electric Hank and the amazing Echoplex, and Big RRock; with George Porter, Jr. on bass; Stewart Boyle on electric guitar; Al Perkins on pedal steel; with Andy Mental-Wicked-Gray as yeti and programmer. The strings were arranged by John Philip Shenale and played by Sinfonia of London, conducted by David Firman.

Amos reveals: "It started with a very tragic incident. After I finished the 'Boys for Pele' tour, I realized that I was pregnant. I was very happy about it, I was looking forward to becoming a mother, but then I lost the baby. I had a miscarriage and that was really tragic for me. I felt so empty because I had lost a life and so I put everything into the songs and tried to create something else...It was very sad but I'm not afraid of grief, you might cry, you might even cry so much that there are no more tears left inside of you that you feel you've become dry, but still your grief lets you make decisions and lets you grow as a person. Everything depends upon how you handle it, if you accept your grief, your loss and your mourning or if you try to push it away. I think you have to live through it, that's my personal belief, because it has consequences...I lost the baby and I had one thought in my mind, one thought that repeated itself. 'Why can some women be mothers and others can't?' So I started to create something else, I created new songs. I realized that I might be a mother one day, but not anytime soon. The experience was too painful to take that risk again anytime soon. Someday, maybe. At the moment I'm still healing, I'm not whole right now. I'm getting there, but it takes time. For the time being I decided to concentrate on music, to dissolve in music...I think you have to know who you are, get to know the monster that lives in your soul, dive deep into your soul and explore it. I don't want to renounce my dark side. The truth has always held an enormous interest for me. Everything is therapeutic, no matter what you do...My songs are like friends. I have a special relationship with my songs and some of them I always want to have around me. Others are not always so close to me, they're still friends, but I don't need to have them around all the time. But they're still my friends, they're still close to me; they're still my creatures but they need to go on holiday sometimes. I think everything you ever write is influenced by what has happened to you, it doesn't have to be strictly autobiographical. My songs reflect parts of my personality; nobody is just one-dimensional. But I think my spiritual body and my physical body are in tune with each other ... I lived through a never-ending, deep sadness, because of my loss...Each piece became a hiding place, because you just feel emptiness after you've had that spark of new life inside you. Although I lost my child under very painful circumstances, for one short moment I had the ability that taught me to love. That changed me forever...The anger lies in each of us; it just depends on how you deal with it. You have to dive into your own psyche, to find out who lives there. Most of the time, the monster that hides inside you, is the one you let loose on others. I'm not afraid of sadness. Yet even when you cry, until you can't cry anymore, you get to the point where you decide, for example, that you want to play with a drummer. Sadness lets you wear stilettos, sadness lets you dance in the moonlight. She just has dark rims around her eyes...I learned to cherish the wonder of life. Sure, I've always loved life, but never understood the secret of how wonderful it is. This experience has changed me forever. I had joy living again."

'From the Choirgirl Hotel' went to number thirty-one in Switzerland, thirty in France, twenty-six in New Zealand and Sweden, twenty-four in the Netherlands, thirteen in Germany, eleven in Austria, ten in Canada and Ireland, nine in Norway, eight in Australia, six in the UK, five in the US, and number two in Iceland. Amos says: "'From the Choirgirl Hotel' could have numerous different beginnings. We could for example start at the presidential suite and check what she is doing. After a while you meet all girls and receive an image of how and who they are. This time around, I just needed to decide through which door you go first. Then you can explore the hotel just the way you want...Each one is a part of me. Sometimes the girls let me be part of the choir, sometimes I was just their leader. But slowly I got to know the girls. They gave me a lot of joy and hope." 






http://www.toriamos.com/












"Cruel"  



"Black-Dove (January)" 



"Raspberry Swirl"

Tori Amos  Raspberry Swirl by skinandbones


"Jackie's Strength"  



"i i e e e"



"Liquid Diamonds"  



"She's Your Cocaine"  





"Northern Lad"  




"Playboy Mommy" 



"Pandora's Aquarium"





'From the Choirgirl Hotel'
full album:
http://www.last.fm/music/Tori+Amos/From+the+Choirgirl+Hotel




All songs written and composed by Tori Amos. 

1. "Spark"   4:13
2. "Cruel"   4:07
3. "Black-Dove (January)"   4:38
4. "Raspberry Swirl"   3:58
5. "Jackie's Strength"   4:26
6. "i i e e e"   4:07
7. "Liquid Diamonds"   6:21
8. "She's Your Cocaine"   3:42
9. "Northern Lad"   4:19
10. "Hotel"   5:19
11. "Playboy Mommy"   4:08
12. "Pandora's Aquarium"   4:45
13. "Purple People" (Japanese Edition Bonus Track)



B-sides 

"Purple People"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqNzV21Ha7g

"Bachelorette"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCqzvpxgLlU

"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwX62HL2vKo

"Do It Again"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzD-h_9T41Q

"Cooling"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-w9HVbvjfI

"Never Seen Blue"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lLAQ-JS8Kk

"Beulah Land"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAKi0yJFu_0

"Merman" from 'No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwVbxKGSoMI

"Violet's Eyes" unreleased, leaked in 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LVkxX1Euq0

little earthquakes

Tori Amos found her voice and made her solo debut with this powerful personal artistic statement. She had released an album with her band Y Kant Tori Read; but the band had broken up and Atlantic Records still expected her to fullfill her six album contract. The label was not pleased with the first recordings done with producer Davitt Sigerson at Capitol Records in Los Angeles. The next batch of songs were recorded with her boyfriend Eric Rosse at his home studio and at Stag Studios for their Yamaha grand piano. Finally, Amos went to England to record with producer Ian Stanley on two more tracks. Atlantic was finally satisfied with the album (using six of the tracks from the original sessions, three of which were released as singles) and sent her back to England to promote the album in small clubs and playing for executives in her apartment. 'Little Earthquakes' was a critical and commercial breakthrough for her with its confessional and cathartic lyrics dealing with heavy subjects like religion, sexuality, and identity with a sparce and evocative atmosphere that evokes the music of Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell. 'Little Earthquakes' went to number fifty-four in the US, forty-nine in Canada, and peaked at fourteen in Australia and the UK.








http://www.toriamos.com/










'Crucify' was one of the original Sigerson tracks. The single went to eighty-three in Australia, seventy-four in Canada, twenty-five in Ireland, twenty-two on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, seventeen in France, and peaked at number fifteen in the UK.

"Every finger in the room is pointing at me
I wanna spit in their faces
Then I get affraid what that could bring
I got a bowling ball in my stomach
I got a desert in my mouth
Figures that my COURAGE would choose to sell out now.
I've been looking for a savior in these dirty streets
Looking for a savior beneath these dirty sheets
I've been raising up my hands
Drive another nail in
Just what GOD needs
One more victim"







'Silent All These Years' was another Sigerson track. It hit number twenty-seven on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and number fifty-one in the UK. Re-released in the UK a year later, it went to number twenty-six. Five years later, it was released again in the US were it made it to number sixty-five on the Hot 100 chart and number twenty-six on the Hot Adult chart.


"What if I'm a mermaid?
In these jeans of his with her name still on it
Hey, but I don't care
'Cause sometimes
I said sometimes I hear my voice
And it's been here
Silent all these...
Years go by
Will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand?
Years go by
If I'm stripped of my beauty
And the orange clouds raining in my head
Years go by
Will I choke on my tears
Till finally there is nothing left?
One more casualty
You know we're too easy, easy, easy "








'Precious Things'

"So I ran faster
But it caught me here
Yes my loyalties turned
Like my ankle
In the seventh grade
Running after BILLY
Running after the rain
These precious things
Let them bleed
Let them wash away
These precious things
Let them break their hold over me"

'Happy Phantom'

"Oo who the time is getting close
Oo who time to be a ghost
Oo who every day we're getting closer
The sun is getting dim
Will we pay for who we been"







'China' was an old song that she had rewritten and recorded with Ian Stanley. The single peaked at number fifty-one in the UK

"China all the way to New York
I can feel the distance getting close
You're right next to me
But I need an airplane
I can feel the DISTANCE as you breathe
Sometimes I think you want me to touch you
How can I when you build a great WALL around you
In your eyes I saw a future together
You just look away in the distance





Recorded acapella with Ian Stanley, Tori says 'Me and a Gun' is "a song about brutality and invasion on the deepest level." She had been kidnapped and raped by a fan and, after years of struggling with the aftermath, used the writing of the song to process the pain. "To heal the wound, you have to go into the dark night of the soul." She describes it as: "Difficult work. Raw. I had seen 'Thelma & Louise' and after seeing it I went off and spent some time by myself. Days. Days. And days. Processing so much that I hadn't been able to begin to become conscious about. And it was through gut-wrenching pain - hysteria, I think - that the music began to come. In the quiet, in the silence, being alone. I couldn't speak to or be with anybody so I just went off to one of my secret private haunts that you go in the world You just leave everything you know and go. And that's what I did. And when I came back out again, this song was walking hand in hand with me. It became something I had to sing to move forward. I had to claim it and be the necklaces of somebody I came to work with a few years later. She ran the Cedars-Sinai ward; her name was Dr. Rita Lynn. I worked with her for many, many years because after this song came out, I then began to retreat and put up all those shields again because I couldn't deal with the invasion of all the questioning. It became a whole other process in which people were getting off on that. Nothing was enough, so I needed to retreat. By retreating, I began to take a few steps back in my process. So I began to work with her after Under the Pink, when things just got to a place where I needed to do that. And she would say, 'We have to bead a necklace of truth.' And sometimes we have to bead little bits at a time so we can assimilate. And that's kind of key, because in singing the song, it was the thing that kept me breathing and conscious."

"5am friday morning thursday night far from sleep
I'm still up and driving can't go home obviously
So I'll just change direction cause they'll soon know where I live
And I wanna live
Got a full tank and some chips
It was me and a gun and a man on my back
And I sang "holy holy" as he buttoned down his pants"








'Little Earthquakes' was another of the Rosse tracks.

"We danced in graveyards with vampires till dawn
We laughed in the faces of king never afraid to burn
and I hate
and I hate
and I hate
and I hate disintegration
Watching us wither
Black winged roses that safely changed their COLOR
Oh these little earthquakes
Here we go again
These little earthquakes
Doesn't take much to rip us into pieces"






'Little Earthquakes' 
full album:




All tracks written by Tori Amos.

1. Crucify 0:00
2. Girl 4:58
3. Silent All These Years 9:06
4. Precious Things 13:18
5. Winter 17:45
6. Happy Phantom 23:27
7. China 26:45
8. Leather 31:44
9. Mother 35:05
10. Tear in Your Hand 41:54
11. Me and a Gun 46:34
12. Little Earthquakes 50:18