I think it's perfectly clear
we're in the wrong band
Ginger is always sincere
just not to one man
She called me up and she said
you know that I'm drowning
It's the dog trainer again
He says that he thinks
that she needs more hands
I think it's perfectly clear
we're in the wrong band
Senator let's be sincere
as much as you can
He called her up and he said
the new prosecutor
soon will be wanting a word so
She's got a soft spot
for heels and spurs and
and there's something believin'
in her voice again, said
there's something believin'
instead of just leaving
instead of just leaving
instead of just leaving
and she gets her cigars
from the sweet fat man
I think it's perfectly clear
we're in the wrong band
Heidi says she'll be sincere
as much as she can
I called her up and I said
you know that I'm drowning
I put on your raincoat again
cause even the sun's got a price on it
and there's something believin'
in her voice again, said
there's something believin'
instead of just leaving
instead of just leaving
instead of just leaving
She said it's time I open my eyes
Don't be afraid to open your eyes
Maybe she's right
maybe she's right
Maybe she's right
maybe she's right
Tori Quotes
Sex is only safe for men... "The Wrong Band," that's what it's about. "The Wrong Band," with Heidi and Ginger and me, we're all professionals in "The Wrong Band." My character, although I say she, who's really written about a woman that I knew that had to leave for Japan. She left to be protected, because she was involved with somebody in the house years ago. This was years ago. She got in too deep. She just knew too much, and she was really afraid they that they were going to kill her, they were going to ser her up and kill her. She went to Japan to be protected by another powerful man, but she didn't have too many choices at that point, and he was powerful enough to hide her in Japan. I never heard from her again. I don't know what happened. And I knew her for three years. You just get in too deep, and when the Heidi [Fleiss] thing came out -- whatever you do to open your mouth or cause it or whatever it is, it's just kind of a shame that, again, it's that control of the Patriarchy. That goes back to "God" again. [Baltimore Sun - January 1994]
This is for all my friends who are whores. Well, this is a true story. When I worked in clubs in D.C., I became friends with a whore. And she'd come in a few times a week for a few years. She was a hooker, but you wouldn't know. She looked like an assistant to some- body on Capitol Hill. That's what all the good ones look like. Anyway, she was involved with a Congressman. And she got in over her head, and she knew too much, and she had to flee. The hooker had to leave. She was, let's say, rescued by a big Japanese underworld magnate. She fled, and he protected her, and I never heard from her again. [BAM - March 11, 1994]
In "The Wrong Band," the hooker's saying "I have a voice here that's worth believing. I got in over my head." [B-Side - May/June 1994]
There was this hooker in D.C. that I knew, and she'd been having a fling with one of the governors. She got in too deep and thought her life was threatened, so she fled to Japan where she was protected by one of the hierarchy over there. I never heard from her again. It just all came back to me when the Heidi Fleiss thing hit and I started thinking about what that world is about. People don't think of hookers as people, but I quite like them. I find their story really interesting, and when people start judging [them], they should just shut up because they have no idea what it's like to be on the other side. [Illinois Entertainer - August 1994]
I and so many Christian women were taught to despise Mary Magdalene, because she was a prostitute. Because of that we had great problems coming to terms with the prostitute in ourselves, which again, is something the Church teaches us to deny, and something the song "The Wrong Band" is about when I sing, "Ginger is always sincere, just not to one man." [1994]
When it comes to my love of hookers, I go back thousands of years. I have respect and compassion for those women, and there's always both -- if you just have compassion, it can be seen as pity and it's not that. Pity is not a gift, it's a poison, and I respect those women too much for that. Playing in piano bars in hotels and seeing women having to work in a certain way, I didn't judge their choices or their circumstances. They're part of the sisterhood. It becomes personal, and it's not just a hooker out there, but a hooker in here. Then she becomes human and she has a name and it's about, can you hug her? Would you hug her? [Under the Pink Deluxe Edition liner notes - 2015]
Live Versions
"The Wrong Band"
May 2, 1994 - Wolverhampton, England
"The Wrong Band"
November 2, 1996 - Tulsa, Oklahoma
"The Wrong Band"
December 5, 2011 - Washington, D.C.
"The Wrong Band"
November 21, 2014 - Brisbane, Australia
"The Wrong Band"
July 15, 2023 - Omaha, Nebraska
t o r i p h o r i a tori amos digital archive yessaid.com
