By Request: Suedehead's Authoritative Tori Amos Top 50

Interesting and very informative countdown so far! With some surprising entries; "Time", "Virginia", "Hotel". Not ones I particularly enjoy, but the other ones are spot-on. Thought Tori-fans loathed "Glory Of The 80's" for some reason. I dig it.

Listening to "Not David Bowie" now..hmm, I prefer "Take Me With You" and "Walk To Dublin". I really should get A Piano. My Tori love has rebounded with ADP so I'm keen to do so. Need her bsides on cd, and "Merman" is one of my favourite non-LP Tori tracks!
 
She's Your Cocaine for top 5!

I love the song in your sig/avatar, Suedeykins. Predictable choice I know, but I did love her when she first came out.
 
Pleased to see my two favourites from SLG making it in - Time and Real Men have actually become two of my most played Tori tracks. Other than that, interesting to see a few of the more 'difficult' tracks from Venus featuring. Along with Bliss and Concertina, which I hope will make at least Top 20, it'll be interesting to find out whether 1,000 Oceans makes the grade...
 
And it goes on..

35. iieee
(Album track from from the choirgirl hotel; also on A Piano box-set)

We scream in cathedrals
Why can't it be beautiful?
Why does there gotta be a sacrifice?


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Let's talk a bit more about Choirgirl. After the more conceptual Pele in which the sum was more than the individual songs, Tori set out to create 12 individual pieces for Choirgirl - thus the 'hotel' being a metaphorical place where in which the songs (girls; miscarried children; etc.) reside. In many ways "iieee" is the definitive song from that album. Starting off with a dark trip-hoppy beat and synthesised strings, the song then goes on to serve as what can only be described a chronicle of the emotional upheaval of a woman who has just lost her child. The desperate chorus in which she almost literally cries "Why does there have to be a sacrifice?" transforms later into an angry, distorted balls-out rock bridge and then back into the despair of the chorus. One can also interpret the song as being sung to a certain extent from the point of view of the foetus ("I know we're dying" being a chilling reference to that fact.) So yes, another miscarriage song - but perhaps the most heartbreaking of them all. Well, maybe. But there's one or more of those still to come..
 
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34. Carbon
(Album track from Scarlet's Walk)

Just keep your eyes on her
Just keep your eyes on her horizon


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And we are back to the conceptualism of Scarlet's Walk. At this point in the album Scarlet (Tori) encounters a manic depressive woman (Carbon) who has reached the end of her tether and is hellbent to achieve complete and utter self-destruction. The place of their meeting is in a ski resort (Bear Claw) where Carbon is 'inspired' by the landscape to disintegrate into nothingness ("Carbon made/ Only wants to be unmade") by throwing herself off a steep cliff. Perhaps it all sounds a bit "loony" but I implore you to listen to the song with the above in mind and you'll find that it makes sense. Tori's urgent (read: manic) piano lines underherscore the graceful yet desperate refrain that Scarlet is repeating to herself - "Keep your eyes on her." For once though her ethereal vocals somehow let it down and perhaps the shrieky Tori of yesteryear would have given this track a bit more of a kick..
 
33. Butterfly
(From the original motion picture soundtrack Higher Learning)

And is it right, butterfly,
They like you better framed and dried


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"Butterfly" has over the years become a cult favourite within a cult artist's casual fanbase if that makes any sense. The track was borne out of the Pele era and in many ways it drips with everything that defined that time (creepy pianos; brass; shrill vocals; abstract lyrics) but there is also such a fragility about it that somehow makes it more accessible than the more head-scratching stuff that was on the album - in fact for me it echoes the earlier Little Earthquakes B-sides like "Flying Dutchman" and "Upside Down". Then there is also the unsettling climax ("Pretty pretty garden, yes") that then just leaves you high and dry. It appeared on the soundtrack of a film called Higher Learning and is yet to make an official presence on any of her own records. She performed live on American TV during the Pele promo rounds and many American casual fans report that performance being the clincher that turned them into proper 'loons,' so to speak..

Download "Butterfly" -
http://download.yousendit.com/67FCD7F4288589D2


That definitive TV performance of "Butterfly" -

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32. Flying Dutchman
(B-side to "China" - 1992; alternative mix available on A Piano)

Take a trip on a rocket ship, baby
The sea is the sky
I know the guy who runs the place
And he's out of sight


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"Flying Dutchman" is an epic of a song - just over 6 minutes, drenched in lush strings and with so many different key changes and verse variations you'd think it's more of a mini-symphony than a standard pop song. Lyrically it is one of her most straightforward songs, dealing with youth angst and displacement ("What will you do with your life? That's all they ask of you from day to night") with a hint to illicit substances and plenty of classic Tori metaphors along the way. In many ways it was a criminal omission from Little Earthquakes but on the other hand it formed one of the many golden B-sides from that era which made the acquision of her physical singles at the time a must for any self respecting fan. A subtly different mix to the original version that appeared on "China" was thankfully included on A Piano that gave us the track in remastered glory.

Download "Flying Dutchman" - http://download.yousendit.com/D109026B3B33A66B
 
Thanks for "Butterfly"! I only knew it from that performance so the studio version is new to me :o

I never really analyzed Tori's lyrics post-Choirgirl, so I'm intrigued by the description of "Carbon". Has always been one of my highlights from Scarlet.

And "Flying Dutchman" is indeed so straightforward that I even suspected it to be a cover when i heard it live..especially those 2 lines you mentioned. What an awesome song though! This may be my new favourite LE-bside. "Here. In My Head" always used to be it.
 
It's always great to see some lesser-known gems getting recognition. "Time" and "Real Men" are definitely standouts, and it's exciting to see them resonating with fans. I'm also curious about the fate of "Bliss," "Concertina," and whether "1,000 Oceans" will make the cut. Fingers crossed for them making it to the Top 20!
 
It's always great to see some lesser-known gems getting recognition. "Time" and "Real Men" are definitely standouts, and it's exciting to see them resonating with fans. I'm also curious about the fate of "Bliss," "Concertina," and whether "1,000 Oceans" will make the cut. Fingers crossed for them making it to the Top 20!

Don’t hold your breath, it’s been 17 years!
 
I came into this quite excited too and then saw the dates :D

Does anyone want to jump in and COMPLETE IT?
 

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