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"Well, Pele is the volcano goddess and I thought of like, um,
sacrificing some of the boys in my life to her but then I decided that that
wasn't really a very good idea. And, the album is sort of about the way
I've stolen fire from the men in my life. And I got tired of doing that
'cause I have my own. But I couldn't see that for a very long time. And now
I can respect them without needing to suck their blood."
-- Tori; BBC Interview
"This record is about the fragments that have been hidden...You don't follow your heart because you're afraid that you'll be outcast."
-- Tori; radio interview w/ Michael Jackson
"It's a multi-layered work, and there are people that don't get that impression...But I think that's a reflection of them more than the work. I say: get a bottle of red and lie down... you know, the head gets in the way. My head wasn't in the way when I was crawling on my knees trying to find my womanhood."
-- Tori, Keyboard Review, April 1996
"I wrote this record because I was trying to fill the void any way I could...After nothing worked --men, food, incredible Chardonnay, shoes-- there was no anchor to hold on to, the old ways didn't work any more. I realised I'd supressed a lot of sides to myself to be loved and understood by men. I didn't want to play seductive little girl or ballbuster any more. With this record I played all those roles until I got to my heart. To find your fire as man or woman you have to take your torch and go to the shadows."
-- Tori, Diva, Feb/Mar 1996
Amos describes the album as "a descent," and the first track,"Horses," hints
at this metaphor. Says Amos, "It's as if the horses have come to take us
back, to descend, to find the dark side. By dark I mean what's hidden, not
necessarily satanic." Most of "Boys for Pele" was written on her last tour, "not because I didn't
have anything better to do," she says, "but because of what was going on in
my personal life." "I was separated from my soul mate. Just feeling that shock when
half of you walks out-the songs just started coming to me." "This time I didn't have anyone looking over my shoulder. When I don't have
to answer to anybody, I feel I'm more ruthless. When I was doing the sound
check, I would play songs that would be more passionate than what we were
playing on the night. I'd be hesitant, but my live guys would say to me,
'Just do it.' The songs that started the shows begain to dictate the sound."
-- Tori, Billboard Article, 01/13/96
Amos's 1996 album, Boys for Pele, doesn't spend much time on her stereo. "I was really in a bad way. I was finding out what I believed in. What was my ideology? What was the woman I wanted to be? What was sexy to me? What was exciting? I was breaking away from a lot of things and people, and they were breaking away from me as well. It was a low in my life."
-- Tori; Blender Magazine, Nov 2002
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