An Open Letter to Tori Amos - Comments Page 2

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• 26 - Temple Stark

  May 31, 2005 at 12:54 am

  (I know I already told you but I'm on a roll) - From two weeks ago Blogcritics' editors liked this one. It's a pick of the week. Congrats. Put the news up proudly on your site.
  
  Here's a link to the rest of this week's picks where we say why we chose 'em.

• 27 - Meredith

  Jun 03, 2005 at 3:15 pm

  I have to agree alot with Roxanne, I am also 27 and I remember putting down my barbies and becoming an angry teenager and Tori Amos was my shoulder. I understand so much more after reading the book, and you know what, Scarlet sorta sucked until you got used to it. I love the album and I feel she is making a come back of what she used to be. I skip the "foofy" songs like Ribbons Undone and Sleeps with Butterflies, but Mary's of the Sea, Goodbye Pices, and MOther Revolution touch me so deep my eyes well up with tears, just like they used to when I hated my mother and blasted Everybody Elses Girl in my bedroom.
  And yes, I love to plug this wonderful Tori Amos Forum: www.damagedtwinkles.net
  
  

• 28 - Zeena

  Jun 05, 2005 at 1:55 pm

  This open letter is RIGHT ON THE MONEY.
  
  Shape up, Tori.

• 29 - pickle

  Jun 23, 2005 at 1:42 pm

  She meant well, but I still think 'Ireland' sounds as if it was intended to be covered by Atomic Kitten!

• 30 - Summer

  Jul 08, 2005 at 11:01 pm

  I have to just throw in my quick 2 cents here, because if I threw in my 10 cents....Well, Lord knows it could go on forever.
  It's perfectly fine if The Beekeeper doesn't become you favorite album. It's even fine if it's at the bottom of your list. But seriously....is it necessary to be so harsh? I know that the "other" Tori was fun, but unfortunately we don't stay the same forever and if you are one that does...maybe you should consider some change. I'm not going to even bring Mark and Natashya into the equation, I'm talking strictly of the individual known as Tori Amos. If you don't like the new album, it's quite simple...don't listen to it. You are, of course, welcome to have your own opinion, as is everyone else. I'm not trying to invalidate your thoughts and opinions, but it truly isn't necessary to insult. I know I'm not the only one to say this, but sometimes you can hear the same thing a thousand times over without actually considering it until the 1,001th time.
  Love,
  This peace lovin', modern age hippie and fellow Tori fan
  
  Can't we all just get along? *rolls eyes at self on that one*

• 31 - Luna D

  Jul 24, 2005 at 10:25 am

  I agree with Roxanne, and ultimately fans just need to chill out. I wasn't crazy about Strange Little Girls at first, either, and now I find myself listening to it more 4 years later. I also am not all that intent on seeing her on this tour either, because I happen to love the band. So what? I'll listen to the excellent boot legs and the album and catch her next time around. Here is the bottom line; Tori's music, to me at least, is a sonic catalogue of a life's experience, and we all don't go through the same things at the same time. No I don't care for syrupy Sleeps w/Butterflies, either, but-ahem-let's face the genius of it; it gets people listening to her who might not otherwise. It's her "honey" to the masses, to draw them in--to draw WOMEN and GIRLS in to listen to the fact that there is a another story of creation. And what it all boils down to is the healing of the woman... well, this is where Tori is, and she always puts her interests and passions into her music. Not everyone is at this place in their life right now. Not everyone has children and can appreciate the sentiments of Ribbons Undone, the facing of mother's mortality in The Beekeeper, and the idea of nature & spirituality & politics and our unfolding evolution. So what? Tori will be onto something new next time, and the current no spouse, no children upset fans might one day find themselves in appreciation of the themes of The Beekeeper in retrospect. If not, well then you have obviously grown apart from this chilled out yet passionate artist--so pick up some Ani Difranco. But believing that she somehow owes one fan something because he or she has spent the equivalent of .0005% of what Tori has earned and spent on her art is ridiculous.
  Peace Out, Luna D

• 32 - letthembleed

  Aug 04, 2005 at 11:03 pm

  The latest release from not only Tori Amos but also "knuckle Down" from Ani Difranco have helped me out of the darkest period of my life. Writing the words and showing me the images I have had in my head and been unable to put down for myself. "The best artists are the ones who echos our own stories back to us!"-Tori Amos quoted from Piece by Piece. Wanna know where she is really coming from right now? I suggest a read of the above mentioned work by Tori Amos and Ann Powers before you make judgement on the talent of another! Where is your talent? Who is your critic? Who is your enemy? They are inside all of us and until we find them inside and remove them will any appreciate what these artists are truly here to do for us!

• 33 - PollenPath

  Aug 11, 2005 at 3:01 pm

  So Tori suddenly bust your comfort zone, the one that she joined you in to begin with, or at least garlanded for you... and suddenly she doesn't do that anymore. I guess the real need is not to question her integrity here, but to ask: why was your trust in her really so fickle?
  
  Time was, people in pain (of so many varieties) wanted music that took away the edge, and there was plenty composed throughout the ages, in one form or another, that attempted to do just that for people. Along comes a generation like our own, attuned to and asking for music that would reflect our pain back to us, confirming and in a sense justifying it. And also, it must be noticed, in some respects crystallizing and perpetuating that pain. That music had - has - its place for us, and there are some great albums out there, laid down for posterity, that will always 'do it' for us. Tori Amos recorded a healthy amount of them, and you can access them pretty much whenever you want, going a little deeper each time, because that's how they were made.
  
  When an artist like Tori grows (as she has, if you really pay attention, throughout an incredibly varied and creative catalogue), she invites those who accompany her to grow alongside her. Perhaps most of us are far too cynical to believe in a teleological and redeeming force operating behind the universe, but I believe Tori has come to believe in at least the intimations - a spark - of that, and is trying to share her perspective with us. If she were nearly as cynical as some of her fans seem to have become, you can bet she'd be just like all the other bloodsucking morons who play variations on the same tune ad nauseam, just to ensure that they'll keep their bank balances and vacuous lifestyles up in the air. But in terms of integrity, groundless. There would never, for example, have been anything like a guarantee that an album like The Beekeeper would attract a new audience, or expand an old one. And why, for that matter, would anybody object to Tori's new songs lately gaining at least some radio play, when without similar exposure she would never have been in a position to offer us the breathtaking amount of work that she's put out, in one form or another, in the last 14 years? Look at how prolific she's been in the years since Kate Bush's last album release, for example, and honour her instead of joining ranks with those who've long sought to diminish her talent for daring to explore the shades and textures of intelligent/intelligible pop. Recognize the risks she's taken and continues to take in order to enrich her musical and lyrical skills, instead of selfishly expecting her to keep you in your pain. Nobody who really gives a shit about their audience is going to want to do that forever, especially when they can appreciate the healing nature of a sometimes lighter touch.
  
  If you really are not comfortable with The Beekeeper, let it be. And don't shoot the messenger, especially when that herald has been such a great friend - to the extent that anybody in Tori's remote situation could be: faithful, generous and supportive.
  
  "You're not alone in your darkness..."
  
  She hasn't forgotten you.

• 34 - Eric Olsen

  Aug 11, 2005 at 3:10 pm

  she squeezed my comfort zone until it popped, but that was back between marriages

• 35 - Bob A. Booey

  Aug 11, 2005 at 4:15 pm

  Tori is a fascinatingly bizarre woman and has always struck me as one of the few genuinely touched, odd people in music (unlike the many businesspeople who TRY to act crazy to get attention). And it's probably a good thing that someone like her has had a long career in popular music.
  
  But I can only take so many heartfelt piano dirges about molestation. I know artsy, weird chicks love her and God bless those artsy, weird chicks, but I don't really get it.
  
  That is all.

• 36 - David-Anthony Phoebe

  Sep 20, 2005 at 7:47 am

  This letter is spot on.
  
  I had already read The Di Vinci Code, and I guessed that she had too by half way through Parisol. She even ended an interview when questions relating to Dan Brown's book was made.
  
  Ireland is an advert for SAAB, and we even get a look at the car and another mention in the DVD, she shamelessly plugs SAAB in interviews. I bet SAAB payed her a real nice price.
  
  Tori has to explain many of the songs on the DVD just because what she was trying to express simply didn't come through on the CD.
  
  The album was flat and all sounded the same, the artwork cheep, the concert was a stinker (and I waited 10 years in Oz for it).
  
  The whole concept was weak, and could have been summed up in a couple of songs, and we had already covered this ground before.
  
  I am getting really sick of her exploiting Tash too. She was in Welcome to Sunny Florida, Ribbons Undone is awful. Every partent thinks their little gem is the best in the world, I couldn't care less about Tash. The Beekeeper is best played as background music at mother's club meetings, where is will offend no one.
  
  And what was the forced dying donkey vocals she makes at the end of Barrons of Suburbia? It ruined the song, one of the few on the album that could have been good. I was so embarressed by it I had to turn it off in case someone heard me listening to it. Add singing about her knickers, it wasn't clever, it wasn't metaphorical, it was lazy thinking and it was just YUCK.
  
  Tori was one artist that I always bought the CD instead of downloading, but I feel ripped off, I want my $33 back, and Tori is now going to be downloaded so I can delete the rubbish this album was full of. Tell her too that she doesn't need to fill up every second of the CD either, we know what "filler" is. Her dwindling numbers at her US concerts go to show that many people feel the same.

• 37 - David-Anthony Phoebe

  Sep 21, 2005 at 6:22 am

  As an after thought, I think "Cars and Guitars" is really about Tori singing about her wealth, her selected lifestyle, and her currently inflated ego, and how that caused a friendship to break down.
  
  She says "It never was the cars and guitars," her wealth (all the things she can buy), "that came between us." She is dissing the other person and denying that may-be money does change people, even you Tori.
  
  I really don't think I have much in common with a multi-millionare, who isolates herself on a farm (nice to not have to actually work one, hey? - I am an original farm boy), and pretends she still relates with the common folk.
  
  I am sure we will see her again in two years time (or whenever she decides to cash in on a half arse endevour (eg: Welcome to Sunny Florida, Tales of a Librarian), that fits in with her schedual, no matter what she has to say.
  
  Mark was the one who said she should reinvent herself, and she said "Thank you, husband." But I do fear we will soon have The Partridge family Amos style coming soon. Get out of the house, Tori.
  
  May-be all that Botox has effected her brain (look at Strange little Girls, and Tales of a Librarian, she can't move a muscle in her face.) It's all part of the business, and we will supply like born-again Christian who holds onto every word.
  
  Thanks Tori for all the work, and thoughts and the places you have taken us. We related to each other once, on some level, long before the "Car and Guitars came between us." It is time now to move on, and see what else is out there, because we are still listening, and we hear the things never said...just like Tori used to do.
  

• 38 - JC

  Oct 26, 2005 at 4:36 pm

  Anna,
  "If Tori never experimented, we wouldn't have gems like Pele or Choirgirl."
  
  I completely agree. She experimented with The Beekeeper and failed and to me that's ok. It beats putting out the same album again and again, which is what most people do.
  
  David-Anthony Phoebe
  You're being very judgmental and arrogant. You don't know how anyone else thinks or feels. I am a farm girl myself, and if Tori wants to live in an old farmhouse that's her right and that's fine by me. Is it really fair to attack and criticize someone based on limited knowledge?

• 39 - David-Anthony Phoebe

  Nov 04, 2005 at 6:35 am

  I agree Anna, I was bit harsh, and I only have myself and a glass too many of chardonay to blame. But that album really did piss me off and force me to look at Tori in a differnt light, and what a hash light it was. Maybe it was time for that, but I felt she was just trying to convince us of what the album was meant to be about, when it is really just her accounts of daily life in Cornwall, which doesn't come as any great suprise that it is not that interesting.
  
  In the mean time Kate Bush is back and what I have heard of her new album it is fantastic.

• 40 - shmoogenthorpe

  Nov 04, 2005 at 9:37 pm

  True - I wondered why Tori was going on and on about Saab in her online diary blurbs at her website. It just didn't mesh. It struck me later that she is using product placement and got compensated for that. Tori has sold out.
  
  It's not the lyrics changing and becoming more mellow, it's not her maturity - none of that. I'm glad she's not like, say, a Courtney Love. But she has sold out in the sense that she is now just as manufactured as a Jennifer Lopez or something.
  
  We all have a right to grow, duh. I mean I'm not refuting that a bit. And we all have the right to make what kind of sounds we want. But as an artist who is supposed to be all about integrity, Tori seems more interested in spending money and being dull.
  
  I have been a fan since 1993 but I haven't bought an album of hers in a while. She accuses illegal filesharing for taking away her record sales, but it's really that she sucks now. Case in point, for her Scarlet's Walk concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan, only about 30% of the venue was filled. No one wanted to listen to her. I felt embarassed for her. This was a show that would have sold out once upon a time. No wonder she has to pitch products for extra lootcakes now.

• 41 - David-Anthony Phoebe

  Nov 05, 2005 at 1:08 am

  Sorry, I meant CJ (not Anna) at the start of the last post.
  
  At least put your real name to what you write, some don't have the courage to stand behind what they say,
  some people have to be careful,
  in case they are famous one day,
  but you don't say it,
  because you are a coward,
  when your name is the simpliest thing to recall.

• 42 - HKJ (cause using my real name is so 90's)

  Nov 05, 2005 at 1:35 am

  Tori should do a cover of "Money" by Pink Floyd, at least then she would be honest again

• 43 - RM

  Dec 04, 2005 at 12:02 pm

  Um...if you think this artist owes something to YOU by producing an album to YOUR exact liking, I think you've got another think coming. I hope.
  
  Tori's in a special place, her very own special place in life. Don't judge what comes out of that and what she chooses to say right now. Or how she chooses to say it. Artists don't have to go up up and up by YOUR standards. She's gone above and beyond with this album in so many ways, perhaps you don't even know. Could it be a very special personal journey for her? and your debunking it because you expected it to be different? Get over yourself.
  
  Music is art. Music is an expression. You borrow the expression of the artist when you adopt a certain song to listen to and identify with. Perhaps you should do your own work in creating that if you need it. Don't judge this woman for what she does or does not do based on your ridiculous standards.

• 44 - T

  Dec 04, 2005 at 1:03 pm

  All:
  
  Artistry is a funny creature. In times, it can be kind and full of nuances, but with too much time, it can become muttled and anti-social. The messages, Tori always says she is guided by (her babies) were, at one time, full of rage, angst, and sadness, but these emotions were dealt with in her previous albums. She is now in a hightened place, and as one of her fans, we have the choice of having her guide us to these places or not.
  
  The problem I find with Beekeeper is that her references stem from experiences I have not dealt with personally, hence, no real attachment to the album. I personally loved Pele, I can listen to that album front to back anytime. But, as an artist myself, one cannot stay static, it is the death of art. No real artist can revisit past successes, it is a sign of momentum fatigue. She has to force herself into new and different territory constantly.
  
  Bee Keeper is the new place, she explored it, she lived with it, she dissected it, and she emerged from it with her lyrics. Its a process, and although we may not agree with the outcome, enjoy where she is at because she won't be there long. So, don't worry, Tori will again submerge herself into another pool, and she will surface with cooling liquid to quench our ever parched throats.
  
  T.

• 45 - Christopher Joseph McGoff

  Feb 09, 2006 at 4:22 pm

  I have read each and everyone of these post, and find everything has already been said. The BeeKeeper is something on a diferent level, say from Choirgirl, or any other past album, however the common denominator these albums have is, they come from a place of reality. A reality we have no clue about, due to the fact we are not within Tori Amos' psyche. And who would want to be! We have our own Psyche to play around with. I have allways believed in Tori amos, the artist, the visionary, the poet, I still do! I look at her body of work and am very pleased with the things she has acomplished, and yes it may seem she is "selling out" because she uses the name of a car in one of her songs, but what the fuck does this have to do with me! NOTHING! Calling her a "sellout" is a cheap shot. How dare you! Her body of work has never inspired me to go out and buy a SAAB. (except maybe a bottle of red hair dye, LOL, In my formative years)
  anywhoot I only have two more thing to say in regards to these negetive post. GROW UP!!! AND STEP OUT OF YOUR DIRTY BATHTUBS HONEY, AND LETS WORK OUR WAY FORWARD!
  LONG LIVE TORI AMOS

• 46 - T.

  Feb 19, 2006 at 12:55 am

  Fuck off. Peace.

• 47 - Paul S.

  Feb 24, 2006 at 2:53 pm

  Lol Sweety maybe you never learned to take.
  Your Critique has reduced whatever you did gleen from Tori Amos into Cotton Candy. Lovely fan forced creativity ???:o( We are all deeply sorry that Sleeps with Butterflies didn't give you enough obscure personal interpretations for you to dazzle all of us with. (NOT really) :o)
  It's all good you just keep holding on to the tail of that kite. Like the woman said "Everywhere a Judas as far as you can see"!

• 48 - Rachael

  Mar 25, 2006 at 5:30 am

  All I have to say is that Bono (U2) said it best. "As musicians we are allowed to have all the possessions in the world and do whatever we want with our lives and our concerts, we just aren't allowed to suck."

• 49 - MK

  Jun 02, 2006 at 5:24 pm

  I thought I hated the Beekeeper, but then I realized it's great music when I'm upset - it calms me down. For me it is the musical equivalent of Pepto-Bismol. It's great when I have an upset stomach. When I feel fine, the taste puts me off and I don't drink it. I'm not saying Pepto-Bismol is not good; it is. In fact when I am sick, it is a miraculous invention. But it has its place and so does The Beekeeper for me.
  
  I think Tori has the right to do whatever she pleases, but it's obvious that this album has split her (already non-mainstream) fanbase and I'm not sure it really gained her any new listeners. I personally think most of the songs, though pleasing, don't have enough spark to attract new people. I still love Tori's music, but not all of it equally.
  
  She will do what she wants and I'll keep buying her CDs for now anyway, and who knows what she'll do in the future. Paul Simon said once when he was young that maybe he'd do his great thing when he was 50, and right around then the Rhythm of the Saints came out, and in many fans' opinion (including mine) it's the best thing he ever did, including in his career with Garfunkel.
  
  It'll be interesting to see how she reacts to the criticism and what she comes out with next.

• 50 - hilary

  Jan 26, 2007 at 1:02 am

  great article. totally agree. the beekeeper makes me want to cry. i feel like i've been widowed by my favorite musician.

• 51 - John L

  Apr 14, 2007 at 8:54 pm

  Wow. I've been listening to about 30+ hours of Tori's music (bootlegs, official releases, etc.) in seclusion from the world and from the internet. I have two experiences with Tori. The first was thinking that everything post-Under The Pink was worthless. Then, my second life......wherein I collected all of Tori's music and sat down to write a book, with her playing in the background. For hundreds, if not thousands, of hours.
  
  I found EVERYTHING was brilliant.
  
  So, wow. I'm semi-shocked to find near-universal distaste for The Beekeeper. Parasol is brilliant. The Beekeeper itself is an epic masterpiece--possibly her best song ever, IMHO. In fact, songs from Little Earthquake feel a little "light"--cute, catchy, brilliant . . . but they don't have the density or depth of her later works.
  
  So, wow.

• 52 - Bird

  Jun 16, 2007 at 6:32 am

  I couldn't have said it better myself. Well done Rohin... But i'll always love you, Tori. I just really miss the days of Pele and Pink. Loved it when it was just you and your piano... xxx

• 53 - Shannon Richards

  Dec 08, 2007 at 9:19 pm

  I agree with what you are all saying. However I have to say I like the Beekeeper. Having a daughter about the same age as her and being married I could relate to a lot of the songs on the album. However, I agree with another post when it said that if you aren't in that particular situation in your life, then it is hard to relate to. In the past she has always written songs that were very open to interpretation whereas on this album they may have been a little more clear cut. However there are songs like Parasol and Martha's Foolish Ginger that I think anyone in a relationship can relate to .
  
  As for the SAAB comment she seems to have always talked about her cars. On from the choir girl hotel interview tour she was talking about when she actually miscarried and how she had to drive her Toyota 4 runner to the hospital. That is just TORI she throws odd comments out there.