had me a trick and a kick and your message
you'll never gain weight from a doughnut hole
then thought that I could decipher your message
there's no one here dear
no one at all
and if I'm wasting all your time this time
maybe you never learned to take
and if I'm hanging on to your shade
I guess I'm way beyond the pale
and southern men can grow gold | you can tell me it's over
can grow pertty | it's over
blood can be pertty | you can tell me
like a delicate man | over, over your
shoulder copper to steel to a hinge that is faltered | you can tell me it's over, it's over
that lets you in lets you in lets you in | come
in Houston
and if I'm wasting all your time this time
I guess you never learned to take
and if I'm hanging on to your shade
I guess I'm way beyond the pale
something's just keeping you numb
you told me last night
you were a sun now
with your very own devoted satellite
happy for you
and I am sure that I hate you
two sons too many too many able fires, hey, yes
and you've been wasting all my time this time | you can tell me it's over | I saw you
I said you never learned to take | you
can tell me, over, over your shoulder
and if I'm hanging on to your shade
I guess I'm way beyond the pale
I guess I'm way beyond the pale
had me a trick and a kick and your message
you'll never gain weight from a doughnut hole
Tori Quotes
There were so many things that I didn't allow myself to do when I was in this relationship, and I think Eric would tell you the same. All sorts of things you see which you can be finally honest about. Like "Doughnut Song," the last I worked on. There's a bitter sweet quality about it There's a sweetness to becoming a woman that the virgins don't have. They have a physical sweetness, but once you claim the woman... Yes I want to wring their [men's] necks sometimes -- those I fall in love with -- yet there's much more of an understanding. [Making Music - Jan 1996]
With Caton [the guitarist], we talked about "Doughnut Song" and the swirling, the idea of girls on hands of men and underneath men are slates of material that open up and there are women underneath them on the backs of cattle and above the girls that are on top of the hands of men there's something pouring into their water jugs. Those are the pictures I get when we're trying to find a sound, and it's funny because the guys go, "Here we go again -- Tori-speak." [Spin - March 1996]
"Doughnut"... that's so much to me the ache of... I think one of the most important lines in the entire record for me was, "you told me last night you were a sun now with your very own devoted satellite, happy for you and I am sure that I hate you, two sons too many too many able fires..." There's the Cain and Abel reference, there's the idea that you can't have two whole beings together. And I couldn't live like that, and it made me really sad, that whether it's a female relationship or a male relationship, we're not supporting each other to make a whole. When I am not happy when you are taking you as far as you can. I can't support that or I withhold from you because the truth is I am afraid you aren't going to need me anymore. [B-Side - May/June 1996]
The Ballywilliam House is an old Georgian house on a tall hill over the river. It feels like you can see forever, and sometimes when the fog rolls in, you can stand on the precipice and thing there are people standing around you on those hills from two thousand years ago, lighting those fires for the summer solstice. I was drawn into this hypnotic space, where you wouldn't know if you were in the 20th century. It was disorienting, but instead of my guard going up, I was open to whatever was out there. And this song romanced me. [Boys for Pele Deluxe Edition liner notes - 2016]
Live Versions
"Doughnut Song"
January 21, 1996 - MTV 120 Minutes
"Doughnut Song"
March 18, 1996 - Paris, France
"Doughnut Song"
June 23, 1998 - Frankfurt, Germany radio broadcast
"Doughnut Song"
October 3, 2001 - Nahville, Tennessee
"Doughnut Song"
April 27, 2003 - Houston, Texas
"Doughnut Song"
October 8, 2011 - Rome, Italy
"Doughnut Song"
September 18, 2017 - Geneva, Switzerland
t o r i p h o r i a tori amos digital archive yessaid.com
