Tori Amos - Interviews Archive

Los Angeles Times (US)
Sunday, July 1, 2001

Tori Amos Offers a Woman's-Eye View of Songs by Men

by Steve Hochman

It may seem as if everyone has weighed in on the debate about Eminem, from politicians attacking the Detroit rapper to Elton John singing with him on the Grammys.

But when Tori Amos listened to Eminem's "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" - the notorious narrative of a man who has killed his wife - she thought one voice was missing: that of the song's murdered woman.

Amos decided to address the issue with her own version of the song, sung in character as the victim. It's a chillingly calm account that, while not defending the brutal husband, has empathy for him.

It's one of a dozen gender-reversal performances on Amos' upcoming album, "Strange Little Girls." In it, she's taken songs written and originally sung by men and, without substantial rewriting, created a female character for each. The album includes photos of Amos portraying each woman.

"Bonnie and Clyde" may be the most provocative track, but others are also striking, from a dynamic reworking of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" (sung as twin girls "into economic espionage," she says) to Slayer's "Raining Blood" (a girl in the French Resistance) to 10cc's "I'm Not in Love" (a girl addressing Satan). Other songs on the album, due from Atlantic Records on Sept.18, include the Velvet Underground's "New Age", the Stranglers' "Strange Little Girl", Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence", Llyod Cole's "Rattlesnakes", Tom Waits' "Time", Joe Jackson's "Real Men", and the Beatles' "Happiness is a Warm Gun."

"I've always found it fascinating how men say things and women hear them," Amos says. "In 'Bonnie and Clyde,' that was Eminem - or one of the many people living inside him - and he killed his wife. She has to have a voice. What intrigued me in the way he told the story was this rhythmic kind of justification. You have to have empathy for him. I did when I heard it, but I always chase what's on the other side of the camera."

While she is neither supporting nor condemning Eminem, she feels that many of his defenders minimize the effect of lyrics. That, she says, in large part fueled her desire to make this album.

"I would hear a lot of people say, 'They're only words, what is everyone going on about?'" says Amos, whose catalog includes "Me and a Gun," in which a woman seeks revenge after being raped.

"That's where I said I could pick up the gauntlet. I believe in freedom of speech, but you cannot separate yourself from your creation. We go back to the power of words, and words are like guns... Whether you choose the graciousness of Tom Waits or the brutality of 'Bonnie and Clyde,' they're equally powerful, and that's what drove me."

Representatives of Eminem said they have heard about Amos' version but not actually heard it and have no comment.

Atlantic Records general manager Ron Shapiro acknowledges that some may react negatively to these interpretations.

"When you do songs that are beloved by many people you almost always strike a nerve, and hopefully it will be positive and enlightening," he says. "But Tori's always been brave enough not to be afraid of extreme reactions. In fact, she provokes them and God bless her for doing so."

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