Re: None

[c164-ks@equuleus.berkeley.edu (Boris Chen)]

In article <66774@apple.Apple.COM> katrina_michael@muwayf.unimelb.edu.au (Katrina Michael) writes:
>I'm not a regular subscriber to the newsgroup, but I have been reading the
>reports of Tori Amos with interest, and will probably buy her CD.  In reply to
>Melissa Caldwell's message:

I hope this doesn't mean that you've never listened to TA's songs. One can't
make a good assessment of someone's music by descriptions by others.

>
>>Repression of unpleasant thoughts and feelings is something that girl children
>are taught from
>>a very early age, and it's wonderful to see that she seems to have overcome
>this.
>
>
>What a statement!  Repression?  Sorry, but this 'girl child' recalls a
>childhood where all thoughts and feelings were accepted, as a form of her
>growth, and she was often given help to deal with them.

I believe that Melissa was speaking about how females in general are raised in
modern culture, not about every individual case.

>repressed, and that's very sad, but I can't  believe that she has 'overcome'
>this while a huge 'web' of bitterness still covers her work.

Though I haven't seen her in concert, so I can't say anything about her
reported "man hating." From her album itself, I don't think bitter is
a good word to describe the statements she is making. I think her songs
express melencholy, pensiveness, sadness and mourning, and anger
at how she's been treated. Bitterness comes through at points, but
I can't see how it's a "huge 'web'." It basically, seems that she
says a lot of "It's terrible the way you treat me," "you" being
applied to various people. That seems more an expression of
frustration and pain, not bitterness. Of course, this pain can
lead to bitterness, but though she walks a fine line, on the
whole, it seems that the lack of bitterness despite the painful
experiences is what comes noticably across.


>>I also believe that we tend not to see Kate as a real person.  I agree; Kate's
>music is 
>>beautifully emotional, but she doesn't really show us who she is.
>
>
>Again, I disagree.  Kate, to me, _is_ a real person.  She's the friend that
....
>different personas, but it is left to you to make that imagery work.  That's
>why she's special.

The perception of a persons "realness" (I know this sounds terrible,
but I lack a better word), is of course, as in most subjective assessments,
a relative one. In this case, we're comparing Kate to Tori, and I think
Melissa makes a good point in how, compared to Tori, Kate as a person
is not as "present" in her music as Tori is. Tori's music is in some
ways anecdotal, whereas Kate uses, as you say  a lot of imagery and
her personas. You can find instances of both Tori and Kate using both
imagery and personal happenings, or psuedo-narritives, that's apparent,
but based on this album of Tori's (for I have no other)  and on all
I've heard of Kate (which is quite a lot), I'd say that Kate's
person takes a back seat to her creation, whereas Tori's person is
mounted on it like a hood ornament. not saying that either is bad,
just a different approach and indicative or each artist's different
approach to what they create.

>
>>Tori's work _is_ more direct and confrontational.  In some ways it is more
>courageous.
>>IMHO, she writes the truth, and sometimes truth makes us uncomfortable.  She
>definitely
>>has an attitude, but it's the attitude of a strong, independent woman.
>
>
>I don't like being 'hit in the face' with lyrics.  Being direct has nothing at
>all to do with courage - it is more courageous to deal with your demons than to
>tell everyone about them.  I would much rather sort through the clues in lyrics
>and decide for myself.  Sorry, but it's the attitude of a bitter woman.

Though many things in Tori's music is obvious to its meaning, I don't think
it can be said that her music is obvious (or that her lyrics are "hit in the
face"). Cryptic is not analogous to brilliance. 
	As for being direct, perhaps expressing ones problems and sharing
them with others is a means of dealing with them.

>
>>It will be interesting to see if this was just a "stage" that she was in or if
>her work 
>>will always have this tone.

>Let's hope not.

I think that art is generally indicative of the society from which
it is created from, and thus, as long as the world has this "tone,"
I'd suppose that most art, and Tori as well, will have this "tone,"
the "tone" of sorrow, regret, and disappointment resulting from
injustices wrought on people. 


My review of the album, as you can probably gather, is favorable. 
Her lyrics seem to carry with them a literary finesse (sp), and
the music has a lyrical, and beautifully fluid range from a
deep melencholy, to joyous playfulness. And eventhough her music
sounds erratic to Philistines (as expressed by that one buffoon of a
reviewer), people with more than 1/2 a brain can see the beauty
of her stylistically diverse gamut, and her skill in combining
them in a artistically balanced expression. :-)


======================================================================
Boris Chen  | c164-ks@ara.berkeley.edu   |     --Kate Bush
"I turn to my computer, And spend evenings with it, Like a friend."