Tori Amos: HEREINMYHEAD.COM

excuse me but
can i be you for a while
my DOG won’t bite
if you sit real still
i got the anti-christ
in the kitchen
yellin’ at me again
yeah i can hear that

been saved again
by the garbage truck
i got something to say
you know but NOTHING comes
yes i know what you think of me
you never shut up
yeah i can hear that

but what if i’m a mermaid
in these jeans of his
with her name still on it
hey but i don’t care
cause sometimes i said
sometimes i hear my voice
and it’s been
HERE silent all these years

so you found a girl
who thinks really deep thoughts
what’s so amazing
about really deep thoughts
boy you best pray
that i bleed real soon
how’s that thought for you

my scream got lost in a paper cup
you think there’s a heaven
where some screams have gone
i got 25 bucks and a cracker
do you think it’s enough
to get us there

but what if i’m a mermaid
in these jeans of his
with her name still on it
hey but i don’t care
cause sometimes i said
sometimes i hear my voice and it’s been
HERE silent all these

years go by will i still be waiting
for somebody else to understand
years go by if i’m stripped of my beauty
and the orange clouds raining in my head
years go by will i choke on my tears
till finally there is nothing left
one more casualty
you know we’re to EASY easy easy

well i love the way we communicate
your eyes focus on my funny lip shape
let’s hear what you think of me now
but baby don’t look up
the sky is falling

your MOTHER shows up in a nasty dress
it’s your turn now to stand where i stand
everybody lookin’ at you
here take hold of my hand
yeah i can hear them

but what if i’m a mermaid
in these jeans of his with her name still on it
hey but i don’t care
cause sometimes i said
sometimes i hear my voice
i hear my voice
i hear my voice
and it’s been HERE silent all these years
i’ve been here silent all these years
silent all these
silent all these years

Quotes

Alot of people ask me about this song [Silent All These Years]. And um, what I try and explain to them is uh, I was writing it for somebody else actually. Because I was trying to get some of my songs placed with people, I wrote something for Cher. And uh, it got turned down, of course, and then I wrote something for Tina Turner….So finally I needed to like get work. I decided, wow, I met this new person who was really nice to me because um he looked at me and said “You’ve never had good wine.” And I went, “Oh my god! How do you know!” And he was just like, “I can just tell. It like oozes from you, you just don’t know it.” And I went, “Oh.” You know what I mean, you just go..it gets a little nerve-racking. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong. And so, Al Stewart, um you know (plays a short tune on the piano) took me to a restaurant and showed me wine like I’d never seen wine before. And so I wanted to write a song for him. And I started to do this thing. And I went to Eric, who I was with and who partly produced Little Earthquakes, and he didn’t produce this bit so he was totally objective. And he looked at me and said, “You’re out of your mind. That’s your life story.” And I went, “Oh.” So needlesstoay, Al Stewart didn’t get that song.” (Begins playing song)
– Tori; VH1 Storytellers

“With this record, a song like Silent All These Years has a certain story line going on musically that’s really the antithesis of what’s going on verbally. It’s counterpoint, pure and simple. But instead of French horns and cellos or something, it’s words and music. And I find it very exciting when an acoustic instrument has its knife out. It can take on these different roles. The idea of being a woman … you come over to my house and I’m serving a fruit plate. That’s not always going to happen. Especially if somebody isn’t being polite, or if somebody’s being a dick. Then I’m going to put the peelings on the floor and watch you trip, and giggle. And that’s the same with the acoustic instrument. It’s not always just about, ‘I’m vulnerable, I’m sad.’ There are many different sides, and the beauty comes in exploring them.”
– Tori; interview by Greg Rule

“So um, i never liked my grandmother. she was pretty me–she was actually very mean person. not all grandmothers are nice, you know pllbtt.. so um, the town where she comes from – it’s really makes kinda sense that she wouldn’t play, she wouldn’t be into this anyway, but they wouldn’t play this song. they said it, they quoted, they said…it’s shit. so it gives me great pleasure to always play this song as much as I possibly can. thank you.”
– Tori; Festival du Jazz de Montreux 1992

“Some things haven’t changed, which is my relationship with my grandmother. she’s on the ‘other side’…hi grandma!. we didn’t get on very well – i hated her. the interesting thing about my grandmother is uh…she loved virgins. now you know the thing is that if that’s your choice, i totally respect that. and that was my choice…for a while. and uh..but i knew that there was something else in store — i was six. so she and i just didn’t work this one out very well. you know, she’d see a picture of Jim Morrison and it just…she didn’t get it. so um…naturally i was sent to pray in the corner. i said all the psalms and all…the whole thing. and i’d spit in her jello when she wasn’t looking. and so this went on and on and on. and she died. long time ago. now i got a letter this year. one letter from a town. they all got together – true! – in America! – “Land of the free”. and they wrote me a letter. now they don’t know that my grandmother’s from there. made no mention of it. and they can’t possibly know that she was born there. anyway, it just went “nininini” (to the tune of Twilight Zone) – It makes total sense. ‘Dear Miss Amos we’re very sorry we can’t play this song in our town. But in our opinion, it is shit.’ — Actually “perfect”!, you know…so there you go.”
– Tori; Toronto, Canada 1993, l’affaire d’amoreuse bootleg

“The bumble bee piano tinkle came first. This one evolved slowly but it stayed an obsession until it was finished. I entered boxer occupation – part of me not wanting to hear what ‘I’ was saying, the other part fighting off ‘The Brain Drain.’ I finally distracted The brain Drain with the task of filing chocolate cake recipes.”
– Tori; Little Earthquakes Songbook