SONG TITLE: SILENT ALL THESE YEARS        

PERFORMER: TORI AMOS

SONGWRITER: TORI AMOS

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1991

COMMENTS: Knowing Tori as we do now, this first promotional single from her first real album may ring weird, that is weird in its normalcy. It is basically wistful, a lament of a probably single mother with a self-indulgent and non-commital boyfriend and a generally unfulfilling life. You might get a different picture after getting the whole classic Little Earthquakes album, but this first impression making track sounds more like the work of maybe a particularly articulate college educated slacker than the twisted chick some of us came to know and love.

Considering this as the first exposure to Ms. Amos' work, the idea that she is exceptionally intelligent and well educated comes right through. It is not because she is dropping names from some philosophy class in the lyrics - indeed she mocks her boyfriend's interest in another girl who has "really deep thoughts." Instead it comes through in the quietly understated refinement of her music. Her days at the conservatory show in the sophistication of her melody and arrangement. Even someone whose education came from the American public (i.e. government) school system could intuit that she's not some Courtney Love who's picked up a couple of chords and thinks she's a musician.

Her musical education, moreover, comes out through honest skill in her songwriting. She's not acting like some idiot out of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (sounds like a law firm, not a rock band): she's not quoting, invoking or playing faux-Beethoven to impress us with how smart she is. She is writing a commercial pop song, with attention to maintaining a good rhythmic flow, strong dynamics, and numerous hooks - starting with the bumblebee piano riff that opens the song.

And, again unlike the ELP crowd, she is using all this skill in the expression of real and complicated human emotion. As the title implies, she is just gaining the voice to enunciate all the things locked up inside, and they've all come pouring out. There is the exasperation and growing contempt for the stupid and unappreciative schmuck boyfriend. There is fear in the bridge ("Years go by..."), and there is weariness. All of this negativity, however, is buffered - even redeemed - by the relief of finally being able to understand and articulate it all.

"So you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. What's so amazing about really deep thoughts? Boy, you'd best pray that I bleed real soon. How's that thought for you?"

TORI AMOS PHOTO GALLERY 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11

Holla Back!

Tori Amos - Preacher's Kid Gone Bad!

Music Sustains the Soul

More Things Blog

More Things Home

Link Soup
morethings master photo gallery index MP3 new album releases sammy davis little richard photos buddy holly pictures fats domino images chuck berry pictures 01/ 02/ 03/ 04/ 05/ 06/ 07/ 08/ 09/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 01/ 02/ 03/ 04/ 05/ 06/ 07/ 08/ 09/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 01/02/  03/ 04/ 05/ 06/ 07/ 08/ 09/ 10/ 11/ 12 01/ 02/ 03/ 04/ 05/ 06/ 07/ 08/ 09/ 10/ 11/  12/01/ 02/ 03/ 04/ 05/ 06/ 07/ 08/ 09/ 10/  11/  12/08/ 09/ 10/ 11/  12/ la manchurian candidate pictures 24 lucille ball images james blunt photos clint eastwood pictures lena horne images team america pictures robert mitchum photos bruce springsteen pictures  mariah carey pictures ann coulter photos sissy spacek pictures tanya tucker images  loretta lynn pictures beatles pictures white stripes pictures andy griffith pictures kill bill pictures parliament funkadelic p-funk pictures beverly hillbillies pictures al barger frank zappa pictures jerry lee lewis pictures richard pryor photos june carter johnny cash pictures vic mackey shield pictures macy gray pictures james cagney images elvis presley pictures gwen stefani images dolly parton pictures devil whores pictures tom petty photos tori amos pictures joaquin phoenix images Quills movie images peter lorre images reese witherspoon pictures  flaming lips images rolling stones photos fiona apple images dr strangelove pictures elvis costello images  ray charles photos marx brothers pictures prince rogers nelson pictures blazing saddles images  sinead o'connor images  eddie murphy photos all in the family pictures south park  pictures homer simpson images bob dylan pictures elizabeth taylor photos drawn together images saturday night live pictures hee haw pictures james brown images pete townshend photos tina turner pictures dixie chicks photos robert anton wilson images guns n roses pictures paula abdul pictures jodie foster photos borat eminem frank sinatra photos van halen images satan