Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the youngest person ever to have been admitted, at age five. She was expelled at age eleven for, in her own words, insisting on playing by ear and because of her interest in popular rock music.
Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990βs and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. She is known for her emotionally intense songs that cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality, religion and personal tragedy. Some of her charting singles include Crucify, Silent All These Years, Cornflake Girl, Caught a Lite Sneeze, Professional Widow, Spark and A Sorta Fairytale, her most commercially successful single in the U.S.
As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million records worldwide. Having a history of making eccentric and at times ribald comments during concerts and interviews, she has earned a reputation for being highly idiosyncratic. As a social commentator and sometimes activist, some of the topics she has been most vocal about include feminism, religion, gay rights and sexuality.
When Amos was 2, her family moved from Newton, North Carolina to Baltimore, Maryland, where she began to play the piano. By age five, she had begun composing instrumental pieces on piano and, while living in Rockville, Maryland, she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music (still aged five). Her scholarship was discontinued at age 11 and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock and popular music, coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music. Two years later, she began studying at Montgomery College and began playing at piano bars, chaperoned by her father, who was sending tapes of songs she had written to record companies.
Amos first came to local notice by winning a county teen talent contest in 1977, singing a song called βMore Than Just a Friendβ. As a senior at Richard Montgomery High School, she co-wrote Baltimore with her brother Mike Amos for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles. The song won the contest and became her first single, released as a 7β single pressed locally for family and friends during 1980 with another Amos-penned composition as a B-side, Walking With You. Prior to this period, she performed under her middle name, Ellen, but permanently adopted Tori after a friendβs boyfriend told her it suited her. At age 21, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the East Coast.
That same year, Amos formed a music group, Y Kant Tori Read. The name was a reference to her days at the Peabody Conservatory, where she was able to play songs on her piano by ear but was never successful at sight reading. In addition to Amos, the group was composed of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all her subsequent albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. A year later, Atlantic Records gave Amos a six record contract, and by July 1988, the bandβs self-titled debut album was released to poor reviews. The album is now out of print, and Amos has expressed no interest in reissuing it. After the commercial failure, Amos began working with other artists (including Stan Ridgway, Sandra Bernhard, and Al Stewart) as a backup vocalist. She also recorded a song called βDistant Stormβ for the film China OβBrien; in the credits, the song is attributed to a band called Tess Makes Good. It was the only song recorded by the band, and its only commercial release was in the film.
Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six record contract with Atlantic Records, who in 1989 wanted a new record by March 1990. When she presented them with her initial recordings, they were rejected on the grounds that such piano-based music would not sell in an early-β90s market of grunge, rock, rap and dance music. Extensively reworked and expanded with the help of Steve Caton, Eric Rosse, Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, the record ended up full of raw, emotive songs recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and her sexual assault. The Atlantic executives changed their minds upon hearing the updated version, with the plan to promote her as an heir to Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro, or alternatively as a female version of Elton John. Expecting the traditionally more open-minded UK market to warm to Amos and to create a βbuzzβ with which to return to the US, Atlantic relocated Amos to Britain in early 1991 to play small clubs in preparation for the launch of the new album, which was released under the title Little Earthquakes.
Amos traveled to New Mexico with personal and professional partner Eric Rosse in 1993 to write and largely record her second solo record, Under the Pink. Amos continued to write about the events in her own life, but in a way that was not as lucid as the lyrics found on her solo debut album. Musically, Amos drew from the style of classical composers she had studied during her childhood, and put more focus on her solo piano rather than band instrumentation. The album was received with mostly favorable reviews and sold enough copies to chart at #12 on the Billboard 200, a significantly higher position than the preceding albumβs position at #54 on the same chart.
The end of Amosβs personal and professional relationship with Eric Rosse served as the stimulus for her third solo album, Boys for Pele, released in January 1996. The album was recorded in an Irish church, in Delgany, County Wicklow, Ireland, with Amos taking advantage of the church recording setting to create an album ripe with baroque influences, lending it a darker sound and style. She added harpsichord, harmonium, and clavichord to her keyboard repertoire, and also included such anomalies as a gospel choir, bagpipes, church bells, and drum programming. The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release, with some critics praising its intensity and uniqueness while others bemoaned its comparative impenetrability. Despite the albumβs erratic lyrical content and instrumentation, the latter of which kept it away from mainstream audiences, Boys for Pele is Amosβs most successful simultaneous transatlantic release. It reached #2 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Top 40 upon its release at the height of her fame.
Fueled by the desire to have her own recording studio to distance herself from record company executives, Amos had the barn of her home in Cornwall, England, converted into a state-of-the-art recording studio, Martian Engineering Studios. Amos enlisted principal band mates Steve Caton on guitars, Jon Evans on bass, and Matt Chamberlain on drums, with whom Amos would record her next two studio albums and embark on world tours.
From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back, released in May 1998 and September 1999, respectively, differ greatly from previous albums as they are flush with musical technology. Amosβs trademark acoustic piano-based sound largely replaced with arrangements that include elements of electronica, dance music, vocal washes and sonic landscapes. The underlying themes of both albums deal with womanhood, Amosβ miscarriages and marriage. Reviews for From the Choirgirl Hotel were mostly favorable and praised Amosβs continued artistic originality. While not her highest chart debut, debut sales for From the Choirgirl Hotel are Amosβs best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week. To Venus and Back, a two-disc release of original studio material and live material recorded from the previous world tour, received mostly positive reviews and included the first major-label single available for sale as a digital download.
Inspired by the songs she heard on the radio while looking after her newborn daughter, Amos hatched the idea to produce a cover album, recording songs written by men about women and reversing the gender roles to show a womanβs perspective. That idea grew into Strange Little Girls, which was released in September 2001. The album is Amosβ first concept album, with artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song. Amos would later reveal that a stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic without giving them new original songs. She felt that since 1998 the label had not been properly promoting her and had trapped her in a contract by refusing to sell her to another label.
With her Atlantic contract fulfilled after a 15-year stint, Amos signed to Epic in early 2002. In October, Amos released Scarletβs Walk, another concept album. Described as a βsonic novelβ, the album explores Amosβs alter ego, Scarlet, and her cross-country trip following 9/11. Through the songs, Amos explores the history of America, American people, Native American history, pornography, masochism, homophobia and misogyny. However, the political nature of the album is often tempered by the classic production and songwriting style, recalling the likes of Fleetwood Mac.
Not long after Amos was ensconced with her new label, she received unsettling news when Polly Anthony resigned as president of Epic Records in 2003. Anthony had been one of the primary reasons Amos signed with the label and as a result of her resignation, Amos formed the Bridge Entertainment Group, a company devoted to helping musicians in various ways during a time when the music industry is changing. Further trouble for Amos occurred the following year when her label, Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, merged with BMG ENTERTAINMENT as a result of the industryβs decline. Later, Amos hinted in interviews that during the creation of her next album, those in charge at the label following the aforementioned merger were interested βonly in making money.β The resulting effects on the album have not been disclosed.
Amos released two more albums with the label, The Beekeeper (2005) and American Doll Posse (2007). Both albums received mixed reviews, some of which stated that the albums suffered from being too long. The Beekeeper was conceptually influenced by the ancient art of beekeeping, which she considered a source of female inspiration and empowerment. Through extensive study, Amos also wove in the stories of the Gnostic gospels and the removal of women from a position of power within the Christian church to create an album based largely on religion and politics. The albumβs debut at #5 on the Billboard 200 is a milestone for Amos, placing her in an elite group of women to have secured five or more US Top 10 album debuts.
American Doll Posse, another concept album, was fashioned around a group of girls (the βposseβ) who are used as a theme of alter-egos of Amosβs. Musically and stylistically, the album saw Amos return to a more confrontational nature. Like its predecessor, American Doll Posse debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200.
During her tenure with Epic Records, Amos also released a retrospective collection titled Tales of a Librarian (2003) through her former label, Atlantic Records. She also released a two-disc DVD set Fade To Red (2006) containing most of her solo music videos. Rhino also released a five-disc box set titled A Piano: The Collection (2006), celebrating Amosβs 15 year solo career through remastered album tracks, remixes, alternate mixes, demos, and a string of unreleased songs from album recording sessions. Numerous official bootlegs from two world tours, The Original Bootlegs (2005) and Legs and Boots (2007).
In May 2008, Amos announced that she had negotiated an end to her contract with Epic Records and that she would be operating independently of major record labels on future work. In September of the same year, Amos released a live album and DVD, Live at Montreux 1991/1992, through Eagle Rock Entertainment. By December, Amos signed a βjoint ventureβ deal with Universal Republic Records where Amos would have artistic independence over her work.
Abnormally Attracted To Sin, Amosβs tenth studio album and her first album released through Universal Republic, was released in May 2009 to mostly positive reviews. The album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, making it the artistβs seventh album to do so.
Amos' twelfth album, Night of Hunters, was commissioned and released by classical label Deutsche Grammophon on September 20, 2011. The Night Of Hunters Songfacts says it is the American singer-songwriter's her first collection created as a song cycle-a series of songs designed to be performed together and in sequence and was inspired by 400 years of classical music. The collection tells of one life-changing night in the life of a woman who is nearing the end of a troubled relationship.
Some of her other concurrent project include writing the music for Samuel Adamsonβs musical adaptation of the George MacDonald story, The Light Princess, for the Royal National Theatre. Additionally, she recorded a duet with David Byrne, former lead singer of Talking Heads, for his album Here Lies Love, on which he primarily collaborated with Norman Cook of Fatboy Slim fame.
Amos also released a collection of Solstice and winter songs entitled Midwinter Graces on 3 November 2009.
Released in conjunction with The Beekeeper, Amos co-authored an autobiography with rock music journalist Ann Powers entitled Piece by Piece (2005). The book delves deeply into Amosβs interest in mythology and religion, exploring her songwriting process, rise to fame, and her relationship with Atlantic Records.
Image Comics released Comic Book Tattoo (2008), a collection of comic stories, each based on or inspired by songs recorded by Amos. Editor Rantz Hoseley worked with Amos to gather 80 different artists for the book, including Pia Guerra, David Mack, and Leah Moore.
Other publications include Tori Amos: Lyrics (2001) and an earlier biography, Tori Amos: All These Years (1996).
Tori Amos is married to British Sound Engineer Mark Hawley, has one daughter, and the family divide their time between their homes in Florida, and Cornwall, England.
Additionally, Amos and her music have been the subject of numerous official and unofficial books, as well as academic criticism.
Me and You
Tori Amos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
to you
when I can’t be there
and I can’t hear you
you turn and (turning)
through the singing oh
face you
and we ride in circles
ride in circles
you and me
ride in circles
ride in circles
putting on my makeup
hiding my burns
putting on my makeup
so you won’t see
underneath the weight of it
underneath it all
i’m with you here
ride in circles
ride in circles
we do
and I can’t even face you (come here and face you)
even face you (here and face you)
And you tell me
that it’s me
Taking us down
Taking us down
And I tell you
tell you down
taking us down
we ride in circles
ride in circles
we do
we gonna ride in circles
ride in circles
me and you
underneath it all
underneath the weight of it
I’m underneath the weight of your
i don’t hear you
finally
finally
i’m here
i’m here for you
in all your glory you
you know you’re dirty
you know you dirty yourself
(until you go I’m gonna)
ride in circles
ride in circles
with you
I got my famous raincoat that I borrowed torn
with blue
underneath the weight of it
underneath the weight of it all
underneath it all I can hear you
ride in circles me
underneath the weight
and underneath the wings
I don’t want them for myself
they hide too many things
underneath the weight of it all
and underneath the wings
you know bouvier always said
those wings can hide too many things
hide too many things
it’s you
and I’m here yeah
underneath the wings
"Me and You" by Tori Amos is a song that expresses the concept of true friendship and the moments in which we all need someone to be there for us. The song is a representation of the bond that exists between two people when they are experiencing difficult times in their lives. It is the support that we need from someone who is always there for us, through thick and thin, the person who we can lean on when everything seems to be falling apart.
It is a song that is full of symbolism, where the idea of riding in circles is used as an analogy for the cyclical nature of life, where we are constantly going through ups and downs. This is complemented by the line "putting on my makeup so you won't see" which expresses the idea of hiding our vulnerabilities and insecurities from the world. Even though we might be dealing with problems, we often put on a facade of happiness, to avoid showing our true selves to others. Therefore, the song reflects the importance of having that one person who you can be completely honest with and who accepts you for who you truly are.
The lyrics of "Me and You" by Tori Amos tackle the themes of friendship, vulnerability, and acceptance. It is a song that reminds us of the significance of having someone to rely on when we are facing challenging circumstances. It is also a song that encourages us to be accepting of ourselves, and to understand that it is okay to have flaws and be vulnerable. True friendships are built upon honesty and vulnerability, and they can provide us with the support and encouragement that we need to navigate through life.
Line by Line Meaning
to you
Addressing the person being spoken to
to you
Repeating the address
when I can't be there
When physical presence is impossible
and I can't hear you
Communication is impossible
you turn and (turning)
You make a physical gesture
through the singing oh
Amidst the music
face you
Make eye contact
face you
Repeated for emphasis
and we ride in circles
Metaphor for repetitive, cyclical behavior
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
you and me
Emphasizing companionship
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
putting on my makeup
Performing daily routine
hiding my burns
Concealing personal pain
putting on my makeup
Performing daily routine
so you won't see
Hiding pain from companion
underneath the weight of it
Burdened by something
underneath it all
Despite everything
i'm with you here
Present in spirit
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
we do
Repeating metaphorical behavior
and I can't even face you (come here and face you)
Unable to confront companion
even face you (here and face you)
Repeated for emphasis
And you tell me
Companion speaks
that it's me
Blaming oneself for something
Taking us down
Metaphor for negative situation
Taking us down
Continuation of metaphor
And I tell you
Speaker responds
tell you down
Not clear meaning
taking us down
Continuation of metaphor
we ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
we do
Repeating metaphorical behavior
we gonna ride in circles
Variation of metaphor
me and you
Emphasizing companionship
underneath it all
Despite everything
underneath the weight of it
Burdened by something
I'm underneath the weight of your
Suggesting companion's weight is part of speaker's burden
i don't hear you
Metaphorical inability to hear companion
finally
After a period of time
finally
Repeated for emphasis
i'm here
Now present
i'm here for you
Now present to help companion
in all your glory you
In full view of speaker
you know you're dirty
Aware of one's own negative qualities
you know you dirty yourself
Aware of causing one's own negative situation
(until you go I'm gonna)
Not clear in meaning
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
ride in circles
Continuation of metaphor
with you
Companion present
I got my famous raincoat that I borrowed torn
Details of speaker's attire
with blue
Further detail of attire
underneath the weight of it
Burdened by something
underneath the weight of it all
Despite everything
underneath it all I can hear you
Metaphorical ability to 'hear' companion despite burden
ride in circles me
Continuation of metaphor, focus shifts to speaker
underneath the weight
Continuation of metaphorical burden
and underneath the wings
Not clear in meaning
I don't want them for myself
Metaphorical rejection of something
they hide too many things
Negativity associated with 'wings'
underneath the weight of it all
Despite everything
and underneath the wings
Continuation of metaphorical imagery
you know bouvier always said
Referencing external source
those wings can hide too many things
Continuation of negative association with 'wings'
hide too many things
Repeating negative association
it's you
Speaker addressing companion
and I'm here yeah
Present and supportive
underneath the wings
Continuation of metaphor
Lyrics Β© O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@editor5875
This is unbelievably beautiful, a true gem. Thank you for posting
@jch91875
This woman is a writting machine. I have everything from L.E. To A.A.T.S., dozens of singles, and several of the bootleg series, but never heard this before. Wow.
@DonLuzman
Never heard of this before, and now I'm in love with it.
@danielleturnbill5133
seriously, this woman never ceases to amaze me. Something new I recieved I never knew of before.. figures.. something this good an true I wait this long for but it's so worth it.
@toriphile1989
Wow! never heard this one before; It's amazing! I like it a lot!
@Ultrios
Thank you very much for sharing this video ! I did'nt know this song, but it's a wonderful discovery !!!!
@litlannybelle3382
I love tripping across these hidden gems. Thank you Tori, you true Shammeness. You keep on healing US. Much love and gratitude for you sharing your limitless gifts.πππ―π»π¦ππππ©·π©΅ππ©·ππ©΅π©·
@Asisya18
Is this a b-side from something? Beautiful! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video <3
@wildcliffe4712
Asisya18 it was for a movie called Hand of Fate a documentary about clairvoyants ...i have no idea how one would see the movie
@jenpostawa
Love Love this song:)