A Bouvier till her wedding day
shots rang out and the police came
mama layed me on the front lawn
and prayed for Jackie's strength
feeling old by 21
never thought my day would come
my bridesmaids getting laid
I pray for Jackie's strength
make me laugh
say you know what you want
you said we were the real thing
so I show you some more and I learn
what black magic can do
make me laugh
say you know you can turn
me into the real thing
so I show you some more and I learn
stickers licked on lunch boxes
worshipping David Cassidy
yeah I mooned him once on Donna's box
she's still in recovery
sleep-overs Beene's got some pot
you're only popular with anorexia
so I turn myself inside out
in hope someone will see, will see
make me laugh
say you know what you want
you said we were the real thing
so I show you some more and I learn
what black magic can do
make me laugh
say you know you can turn
me into the real thing
so I show you some more
and I learn
I got lost on my wedding day typical
the police came
but virgins always get backstage
no matter what they've got to say
if you love enough you'll lie a lot
guess they did in Camelot
mama's waiting on my front lawn
I pray I pray I said I pray
for Jackie's Strength, Strength
make me laugh
say you know what you want
you said we were the real thing
so I show you some more and I learn
Tori Quotes
"Jackie's Strength" is really... I was asked to get married, right? And I was quite nervous because I never thought I'd get married before. It just wasn't something that I was gonna do. Even though I believe in monogamy, just having the church and state condone my union wasn't important to me. And in fact, I really didn't want that. So, when he asked me, it brought up, obviously, a lot of things. And I started going back in my little movie in my head, different moments of my life. And I remember my mother telling me that the day Kennedy died, John F. Kennedy, that she put me down, she had to lay me down because her heart started to slow down and she couldn't breathe. And um, all she thought of was Jackie and the strength that it would take Jackie to lead the nation.. which she did. And I really knew that I was gonna need some kind of strength because I'm made up of like two personalities. There's one side of me that could very easily have ended up at the 7-Eleven sitting outside drinking a Slurpee in my wedding dress and just missing the whole thing. And then there's the other one that did make it to the church. So, this song is about the one that drank the Slurpee. She's still out there somewhere. [VH1 Storytellers - October 24, 1998]
This wonderful boy had asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes, but I was shocked. You know, there was a part of me that had sworn that would never happen. You fantasize about what it would be like on that day, and then you fantasize about never having that day. Then you're a vigilante and you will never have it. Then, all of a sudden, there it is, and you're wondering, "Are we going to make it? Half of all marriages end in divorce. Is that us?" That was all going on as I got lost on my wedding day. [Alternative Press - July 1998]
We I knew I was getting married, and all those feelings were coming up, sort of flashbacks of your life. So when I saw this tiny book on Jackie's life at a book store in an airport I just picked it up, and when I saw the picture of her as a bride... and then turned the page and saw the picture of her when JFK got shot, it really spoke to me about how fast your life can change, at the turn of a page. I really didn't know how I was going to react on my wedding day when I wrote this song. A part of me could see myself getting lost, going to a 7-Eleven and having a Slurpee all day... This song is about a girl getting lost on her wedding day. I happened to show up at the church for mine in real life. But a 7-Eleven did cross my mind. [Yahoo Online Chat - August 5, 1998]
She [Jackie Onassis Kennedy] had a kind of grace and inner strength that few people have. More than anything, it was her sense of grace, which I didn't think I would have as I was coming nearer to my wedding day. A part of me really wanted to do it; another part of me could see myself in flashback to my whole life having said I would never do it, because I would never go in front of church and state and do such a thing. In the end, it didn't become about that; it became about, "this is somebody that I love"... A part of me could see myself in this wedding dress sitting at 7-Eleven on the curb, having a Slurpee and missing the whole thing. Not because I wanted to, but just because I'm still frozen in a piece of film somewhere when I was 18 and that was my outlook on life. So "Jackie's Strength" was written about the girl that went to the 7-Eleven; I went and got married... It's a pretty sacred day, and yet it can go so horribly wrong. Mine went right, but I think because I wrote the song. I let my alter ego go exist and live and be [in the song], so she didn't have to do it in front of everybody else. That's where songs come in handy: You don't pretend that this side doesn't exist, so it doesn't have to become so vulgar, in 3-D. [New Orleans Times - October 9, 1998]
Live Versions
"Jackie's Strength" (with octet)
October 8, 2012 - Norfolk, Connecticut Infinity Hall
"Jackie's Strength"
November 27, 2017 - San Diego, California
t o r i p h o r i a tori amos digital archive yessaid.com
