Tori Amos - Angels

Angels

Lyrics

and with a wink
and a smile
you toss your instructions on
how to catch a train
while it's moving
you always were the one
that kept us all guessing
how you could survive
the fall you had

from Medicine Men
to my DJ friends
they all have said
"he's got to watch his back"

They're Trapping Angels
by the Potomac
but it's not how you think
you'd be surprised
they Liberate
your Dreamscape
till you can't remember
to recall
where your wings
have gone
tell me where they've gone

from Jordan to Chicago
another child is born
trusting that we'll get it
right this time
I should've worn my glasses
you said just to trust
then you chose
to sign the dotted line

from Modern Magdalenes
to my DJ friends
they all have said
"he's got to watch his back"

They're Trapping Angels
by the Potomac
but it's not how you think
you'd be surprised
they Liberate
your Dreamscape
till you can't remember
to recall
where your wings
have gone

Before I close my eyes at night
I can still see you smilin'
Before the Truth was
Buried Alive
did we prize it
Before you change the world
maybe boy you should change
your girl

They're Trapping Angels
by the Potomac
They're Trapping Angels
Lord I know this
They're Trapping Angels
by the Potomac
But we're getting closer
I said we're getting closer
to where they've gone
tell me where they've gone
now it won't be long

Tori Quotes

Tori describes "Angels" as being more situated in the present, the culmination of having played in piano bars for "that whole Washington set" since she was a teenager. "It's a commentary on now. The world after what we've been through the last two years and the state of play." [rollingstone.com - September 5, 2003]

"My take on this time." [Los Angeles Times - September 21, 2003]

You've got a new song on the album, "Angels," and the chorus in there is "they're trapping angels by the Potomac." Can you tell us what you mean by that line?

"Well, I've been touring the last couple years around the world and a lot of it in America. I have heard something over and over and over again. And that has been that people feel that they haven't been told the truth by our leaders in the world and I felt the truth has been trapped in some way. And sometimes we get pulled in and don't even realize how we're being manipulated. That's what I've seen. And that's what that means." [The Biz (CNN Fn) - November 12, 2003]

"The line about the man that better watch his back could be about anyone in America who thinks they won't be involved (by the current political administration). I guess you could say that the angels represent the missing votes during the last presidential election. People still found it difficult to understand that they were unable to undo the result. It's getting better by the day, but it's been a tough two years. I think about the war in Iraq, too, and the depressing fact that we're still in it. People warned us about this situation, but if you try and speak out in America, people say you're not supporting the country, but it's the administration you're not supporting. It's funny because Christians talk about people being possessed, but they're attempting to possess the voice of the land. So 'Angels' is partly about the 'lost' votes, and partly about a mass of people who could not see that they had the strength to stand up to everything that followed. And what is an angel? According to my opinion it's someone who is able to stand above something." [la musik (Swedish magazine) - #6, 2003]

Were you angry at the way the US sleepwalked into another Iraq war?

"That's what 'Angels' is about. The people that went along with this were not horrible, at least most of them weren't - they were just frozen, they'd forgotten that they had the power to stand up. There were protests but you didn't see how many people were out there. They made sure that was kept from the public." [Uncut (UK) - January 2004]

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