why i like tori

[woj@remus.rutgers.edu]

saurav@tgevax.life.uiuc.edu (Saurav Misra) sez:
>I am a bit
>surprised at the total appreciation Little Earthquakes is getting on gaffa - 
>are we suffering a bit much from "Lack o' Kate "syndrome? 

not i. if the next album is going to be anything like "candle in the wind",
i'll pass, thank you very much...but i have to agree with melissa: tori's
album attracts me on its own power - no lack of KaTe is involved here...

>I personally
>have to stifle a laugh myself when Ms. Amos sings "give me life, give me pain,
>give me myself again" - for some reason the rhythm reminds me of Metallica's
>"Leper Messiah", aside from the fact that it might just be a bit silly in its
>own respect. 

having never been a metallica listener by any stretch of the imagination, i
can't say that i find the rhythm familiar. however, ignoring that, i don't find
that line silly at all. i hear a woman wanting to regain herself and vocalizing
that desire. i hear a great hunger there and a great emotion as well. how you
think those are "silly" is beyond me.

"little earthquakes" is probably my favorite song on the album. there's some-
thing compelling about it that i can not help but become ensnared by it. and
the sheer imagery of some of the lines ("we danced in graveyards/ with vampires
till dawn/ we laughed in the faces of kings") absolutely floors me.

>Also, I think all of "Crucify" is a bit cliched 

perhaps - throwing off the yoke of religion is an old theme in music. but are
you going to deny a person that right to express that theme cos you think it
is cliched?

that question is rhetorical - i know that you are not implying that we (ahem)
crucify her for being thematically boring. but i think that a toned-down re-
sponse is still warranted. for all the people who find some kind of strength
in this song for their personal lives and for tori herself, i don't think it
is right to belittle such an issue by calling it cliched.

>and her lyrics are a bit too spare to let me see it from a new angle. 

what other angle could you possibly want to see it from?

>Having said all that, I label myself a 
>hypocrite and assert that I LOVE "Silent all these years"....

hypocrite! :)

woj