Barons of suburbia take another piece of my good graces
I'm in my war you're in yours
do we fight for peace as they take another piece of us
but baby I would let your darkness invade me.
You could maybe turn this white light into navy
before you leave
It was a slight miscalculation that my frends
my friends would be waiting on the other side of the bridge
on the other side of this
this mole hill of a mountain
this potion of a poison
they're on the other side of right
we're on the other side of her midnight
When it's all said and done we will lose a piece
to a carnivorous vegetarian
Barons of suburbia I have heard you pray
before you devour her
So baby will you let my darkness invade you
You always liked the wafer sweet in the middle
before you leave
It was a slight miscalculation that our friends
our friends would be waiting on the other side of the bridge
on the other side of this
this mole hill of a mountain
this potion now a poison
they're on the other side of right
we're on the other side of her midnight
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
I'm piecing a potion
to combat your poison
She is Risen
She is Risen
Boys
I said She is Risen
Tori Quotes
I was just sitting at the piano one day and the original part of it was, "baby I would let your darkness invade me, you could maybe turn this white light into navy, before you leave... " And I, it just came through and went like that, completely intact. But it's everything else that I had to chase down and, like a lioness, hunt. So I spent months and months hunting down these barons, these "Barons of Suburbia." [March 10, 2005 - Behind the Beekeeper]
"Barons of Suburbia" is taking on the behavior of the Barons, that they've taken on the patriarchy and their ideology. Whether you're looking at certain governments or certain relationships, we go back to the personal and the political always. [toriamos.com - March 2005]
This song is about takers. We all know them, either as people we have to work with or friends we find out about eventually, and sometimes it's a real shock to realize that when push comes to shove, all these people really care about is what's in it for them. In the end they don't even pretend to care if you're okay. Not if you're okay, or if the friendship is okay, or anything else. Can somebody tell me what is wrong with the idea of a win-win? Why does somebody always have to bite the dust? Jeez. These days it seems as if it's getting harder and harder to get people on the team who really want to show that they value one another. People might say that they want to, but at the end of the day most of them care only about what they get out of it.
I remember a couple of years ago when one of the musicians said to me, "I think music should be free." And I was just not in the mood to deal with yet another genius, but I did, and I said, "Well, you have made the question bout where to send your check easy for me to answer." "Um," said the musician, "what do you mean?" I answered, "We weren't sure whether to send your check to your address or to your girlfriend's address, but now you've answered my question for me." "I'm not quite following you, Tor," he said. "Well, obviously since you believe that music should be free, then we won't need to send you your check." The musician looked at me incredulously, and with shock in his voice said, "But I've just played my heart out." I looked at him very calmly and said, "So you think you should get paid but music should be free?" "Well, yeah," he said. "And so who do you think is going to pay you if music is free?" I asked. And therein lies the problem -- everybody wants free stuff but nobody wants to work for free. The truth is, all the people who have ever told me that music should be free still believe that they should be paid for their job, whatever that job may be. They are completely insulted when I suggest that they work for free as well. People usually get quite defensive at this point and say, "If I don't get paid for a day's work, then basically I'm being cheated." And I look at them and say, "That is basically right." This musician sheepishly looked at me and said, "I guess I sound pretty hypocritical... but Tor, you're kidding, right?" And I said, "You mean about you not getting paid? Of course I'm going to pay you, because I value what you do. But do you want to know what scares me, and I mean really scares me?" And he looked at me completely baffled and said, "No, what
really scares you?" "The fact," I said, "that you weren't kidding." [Tori Amos: Piece by Piece]
Live Versions
"Barons of Suburbia"
June 28, 2005 - Frankfurt, Germany radio broadcast
"Barons of Suburbia"
March 19, 2009 - Austin, Texas SXSW Festival
"Barons of Suburbia"
November 19, 2009 - Adelaide, Australia
"Barons of Suburbia"
July 30, 2014 - Austin, Texas
t o r i p h o r i a tori amos digital archive yessaid.com
