Tori Amos - Interviews Archive

Dallas Observer (US)
August 11, 1994

Into the Pink

Tori Amos insists she's not a depressed 'new-age fruit loop'

By Robert Wilonsky

When Tori Amos' publicist breaks in on the phone line to announce the interview's termination with a feeble "hi," the singer-songwriter ignores her and finishes with a rambling discourse on the art of "living in the measure." At first, it seems Amos is just ignoring the publicist to finish a thought, but the longer she continues talking -- "A record is a body of work, and the order where we're going is hopefully always a journey," she is saying -- the more she seems oblivious to the third party.

[ . . . ]

For Amos, no question was unanswerable because, as she now says, "I just find the truth inspiring."

"Yeah... I think... um... I really like the inner workings of a person's feelings, and... um... 'cause it's not so simple," she says, choosing her truth carefully. "I think that there are layers, there's always an agenda if we're honest. It's going, 'Do you like him, Tori, because of what he does and the attention he gets or the person he is or because he pushes you away or makes you doubt yourself? Why are you drawn to this person?' That's what excited me as a writer, not just, 'What's happened? Why doesn't he love me anymore?' That's a snooze. I'm putting the Tabasco sauce on the vanilla beans and giving it to the children. Let's get a reaction!"

[ . . . ]

"I'm very, very -- I think -- logical, even though sometimes I use strange metaphors to express a thought," she says. "I think my thoughts come from an airy, fairy place, but a very concrete place. Although I do believe in fairies, it's a very concrete belief.

"The English press treats me like a New Age fruit loop. The American press treats me like I'm this really depressed singer-songwriter. I think I'm... I don't know... I think that I have a lot of laughs in my work, and I think that... I think that sometimes it doesn't take itself seriously, and when it does, that people kinda hate me because I get self-righteous. And the truth is, yeah, of course I get self-righteous because that's part of being a human being. But then there are times when I'm just righteous, and there's a difference.

"And then there are times when I'm laughing at myself, so... I don't think any of it's bad. I think as a writer I try and show different sides... and sad doesn't depress me. Sad is a really fantastic place to be."

Tori Amos performs August 14 at the Majestic Theatre.

original article

[scan by Sakre Heinze]
[excerpts transcribed by jason/yessaid]

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