when I come to terms to terms with this
when I come to terms with this
when I come to terms to terms with this
my world will change for me
I haven't moved since the call came
since the call came I haven't moved
I stare at the wall knowing on the other side
the storm that waits for me
the Seated Woman with the Parasol
may be the only one you can't Betray
if I'm the Seated Woman with the Parasol
I will be safe in my frame
I have no need for a sea view
for a sea view I have no need
I have my little pleasures
this wall being one of these
and the Seated Woman with the Parasol
may be the only one you can't Betray
if I'm the Seated Woman with the Parasol
I will be safe in my frame
when I come to terms to terms with this
when I come to terms with this
when I come to terms with this whip lash
of Silk on wool embroidery
and the Seated Woman with the Parasol
may be the only one you can't betray
if I'm the Seated Woman with the Parasol
I will be safe in my frame
and the Seated Woman with the Parasol
may be the only one you can't betray
if I'm the Seated Woman with the Parasol
I will be safe in my frame
I will be safe in my frame
in your House
in your frame
Tori Quotes
I saw a painting by Seurat -- Seated Woman with a Parasol -- in a book on Impressionism. I was drawn to it and I started to think about Victorian women and then some women today, the type of women who don't want to intimidate their partner and so allow themselves to become reduced so the other person can feel confident. [Tori Amos: Piece by Piece]
I was drawn to this woman in this painting, even though we're so different in so many ways as far as, now if you're a woman in 2005, if you're in the west, then you don't have to um, be told who to marry and you can go work and you can have a child without being married and all those kinds of things. But still, I was relating to her because she seemed to be able to weather the storm. And the character in "Parasol," our female character who, I sing from that point of view, is trapped. Whether she's going through a divorce or what's happening to her, there is an end of a relationship, that's how the whole album starts. It starts with the end, the end of a relationship. And she knows that in order to survive this relationship so that she's not completely erased -- there are parts of herself that she's had to leave behind in order to stay in it -- and she realizes that she has to confront it. So she looks to the Seated Woman with the Parasol, this Victorian woman, for clues on how to not be erased. So she looks to the painting and the painting helps her to see that she has to shape-shift, she has to be able to walk in and out of paintings in such a way that he won't be able to reach out and control her anymore.
In "Parasol," she was a possession for him, and he could not see her independent, he wanted to destroy her. If he couldn't control her and have her all to himself and decide what she would or wouldn't do, then nobody else would get to enjoy her...
I enjoy that melody a lot, and she wraps herself around me. [Behind the Beekeeper - March 10, 2005]
Live Versions
"Parasol"
April 10, 2005 - Hartford, Connecticut
"Parasol"
June 2, 2007 - Paris, France
"Parasol"
December 22, 2011 - Dallas, Texas
"Parasol"
April 29, 2014 - New York, New York SPIN Sessions [watch on youtube]
"Parasol"
May 17, 2014 - Paris, France
"Parasol"
April 22, 2023 - Lille, France
t o r i p h o r i a tori amos digital archive yessaid.com
