Tori Amos: HEREINMYHEAD.COM

she’s a girl
rising from a shell
running to spring
It is her time
it is her time
Watch her run
with Ribbons undone

she’s a rose
in a Lily’s cloak
she can hide her charms
It is her right
there will be time
to chase the sun
with Ribbons undone

she runs like a fire does
just picking up daises
Comes in for a landing
a pure flash of lightening
Past alice blue blossoms
you follow her laughter
And then she’ll surprise you
arms filled with lavender

Yes my little pony
is growing up fast
She corrects me and says
‘you mean a thoroughbred’
A look in her eye says the Battle’s beginning
From school she comes home
and cries
I don’t want to grow up Mom
at least not tonight

you’re a girl
Rising from a shell
Running through Spring

Quotes

“Ribbons Undone is a song that really I guess explains a mother’s love, and a fathers love for their daughter. They see their little girl running in the field with their ribbons flying and they’re like little flashes of lightning that go by especially when you are in the back field her and you can run and run and run and run and catch butterflies thinking that you can fly like one.

I was watching Tash run and I started to remember something my mother said to me, she told me years ago. We would look in a mirror and she said ‘this woman that I see that you see, this old woman, wrinkled woman, is a stranger to me.’ I said ‘You are the most beautiful woman I know’ and she said that’s, don’t get distracted by what I am telling you. She said ‘That is a stranger to me. Inside I’m running. Inside my legs can carry me. I don’t have a heart condition I’m not someone who is in a wheelchair. I am someone who catches the butterflies in my minds eye.’ And when I watched my daughter running, I saw my mother. And I began to understand that this case is a distraction sometimes and it tricks us because it can start making us believe that we are old of sprit, not just that the violin case is beat up, but you can begin to believe that the violin has no music to play anymore and that is where you have to go to the tree of knowledge and I tasted my mothers wisdom looking in that mirror. And I see her running now. And my mother will always be running, next to Tash, together hand in hand, and Ribbons Undone is something that I can see myself running along side them.”
– Tori; The Beekeeper Limited Edition Bonus DVD

Ribbons Undone was obviously inspired by your daughter. Did having a child change your music?

It’s hard to put my finger on it. I think that there is a playfulness that has emerged since I became a mom. I love being a woman and I must say I’ve never loved being a woman as much as I do now. I’m 41, and I’m loving it. Being a mom healed a lot of wounds. Natashya kicked a lot of demons away when she came out. Kids are able to strike where no-one else can, with the things they say, but they are also able to mend and heal where no-one else can.

So, would you like more kids?

No.

No more demons to kick?

The demons can come and visit me. I’m open for business. But no more children. I can’t.
– Tori; ExBerliner Magazine (German), Feb 2005