"Tear In Your Hand" interpretations

[Julie14]

edit: {pics removed by daturaangel812, they were linked to hereinmyhead.com}




TEAR IN YOUR HAND all the world just stopped now
so you say you don't wanna stay together anymore let
me take a deep breath babe if you need me me and
neil'll be hangin' out with the DREAM KING Neil says
hi by the way I don't believe you're leaving case me
and Charles Manson like the same ice cream I think it's
that girl and I think there're pieces of me you've never
seen maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen
well all the world is all I am the black of the blackest
ocean and that tear in your hand all the world is
DANGLIN' . . . danglin' . . . danglin' for me DARLIN' you
don't know the power that you have with that tear in
your hand tear in your hand maybe I ain't used to
maybes smashing in a cold room cutting my hands up
every time I touch you maybe maybe it's time to wave
goodbye now time to wave goodbye now caught a ride
with the moon I know I know you well well better than
I used to HAZE all clouded up my mind in the DAZE
of why it could've never been so you say and I say
you know you're full of wish and your "baby baby baby
babies" I tell you there're pieces of me you've never
seen maybe she' just pieces of me you've never seen
well . . .

Tori's description of "Tear In Your Hand":
"I have a really good friend named Rantz, and he is a comic freak. And he, about three years ago, turned me on to Neil's work. He turned me on to other things, too, but I was drawn to Neil's work. The first thing I ever read was Calliope (Sandman #17).... Tear in your Hand...I think that, because all of the things I just told you, those stories meant a lot to me, and I made a reference to him [Neil Gaiman], because of that."
"Ok, i didn't do this, but i'm doing it now, because i've never been able to do this before. and the reason is, my friend Rantz is here, and my friend Rantz is from this place. and um he's like my brother. he's probably the closest blood kin to me though we're not blood kin. and um, he turned me onto the sandman comics and for that i'll be forever grateful. anyway, he was with me uhh watching me go through all this drama. and i just have to thank him..."
"Emotionally, all these songs come from experiences that trigger them. I haven't chosen to talk much about that side of the songwriting - the seed for all these songs. On the technical side, I heard the music as a steady motion, no change really from verse and chorus, only the bridge that leads straight back like a loop to the same toll booth where you threw in some change to go around only to end up surrounded by the place you left. The only difference is by taking the loop ride you can see the place you left exactly as it is; some sadness, a whole lotta corn field, and a puddle."
...Tori Amos

My interpretation of "Tear In Your Hand":
"In my interpretation of "Tear In Your Hand" I feel like she broke up with this guy and now he's with some other girl who you think you could easily be just like and he'd want you back, and every time he gets affectionate with her you see your tear in his hand that he can do just about anything to. So, you start thinking that he just HAS to love you so there must be pieces of you in her and pieces of you that he's never seen before."
...Julie H.

My experience with "Tear In Your Hand":
Ok, so there's this guy that I met last year and I was completely infatuated with him and it was just unstoppable, and it still is. Anyways, he could do the littlest thing to make me feel rejected and I always wanted the attention from a girl on me. Well, he asked me out, which you would think I would be like, "Hell yeah!" about but, the truth is, he's not for me. He's so different from me in a really bad way. So yeah, he's with this girl now and I keep thinking, I could be her...but do I want to be her...I guess sometimes. So maybe she's just pieces of me that he's never seen before. It's very hard to explain in my case..."
...Julie H.

orefeo +'s interpretation of "Tear In Your Hand":
"He's coming up with lame excuses rather than saying he wants to dump her for "that girl".
This is one of my favourite Tori songs lyrically. Even starting with the first line - "all the world just stopped now". Let's face it, the guy in this song is a bit of a heartless bastard"
orfeo +

[veela]

(getting the ball rolling for jenni, lol)

this is one of my absolute favorite tori songs. to me, it's about a break-up most definitely. it's like her whole world just stopped because this guy left her (and i agree with orfeo that he is giving lame excuses). she knows there is another girl and she's pissed off because maybe the things he sees that he likes in this girl are just pieces of her that he's never seen.

i used to think my boy would like me better if i were more this or more that (like he has one old girlfriend that is an amazing writer and whenever he mentions it i always think of that line, that maybe i am too, you've just never seen it).

to me, the "tear in your hand" line has always meant power. the power you must have over someone to make them cry. when someone can do that to you, they can affect you in such strong ways, there's no telling what else they might be able to do to you.

the 'maybes' part i think is saying that she isn't used to things being in such limbo and so unsure. she wants to know where he stands really and she doesn't like the questions and the wondering and all the 'maybes' - like maybe if she were more this or more that he would still want her, etc.

then she finally realizes that maybe it is time to say goodbye, she would be hurting herself if she was to stay with someone who didn't feel the way she did.

and i think the rest is just kind of self explanatory, going along with the rest of it. this is my most ultimate angry break up song -aaaahhhh... LOVE it...

[Koalapupu]

Heheh here I am...

Yesss this is a great song. I like your interpretations!

My overall idea of this song is that, like you guys have said before too, that it's a story of a girl who's been basically dumped and she's not in the acceptance-stage yet, more in the denial stage... If the relationship was just starting then I read the "there are pieces of me..." part as her being mad that the guy didn't stick around long enough to see all sides of her. If it was a longer relationship ( I can see this in both ways, always comparing it to my life or my friends'...), then I see it as her trying to convince that there's still more to her, but what can you do if you haven't shown those sides yet...

Oh and I never thought of the Manson-bit being an excuse - I've read that bit totally wrong, now it makes sense! Thanks guys! I always thought it was her saying like "No you can't leave me - I mean, I like the same ice cream as Manson, isn't that cool?" So I guess I was looking at it from the 'in denial' stage-way, like she wants to give all these reasons why he won't be able to leave him.

Then the 'maybes' part. Here I think she comes to realize that after all, they weren't really that good together anyway. "maybes smashing in the cold room" then would be her having all these thoughts about the relationship and questions in the air, but having no answers. Then she realizes, it's best to leave it all behind.

After that, the mood in the song seems to - to me - change into more cheerful beat - telling she's free now of all that thinking, and even turns the situation upside down in a way, looking at her loser ex (I know you better than I used to, you're so full of wish...) and leaving the situation as a winner.

[Julie]

TEAR IN YOUR HAND all the world just stopped now
so you say you don't wanna stay together anymore let
me take a deep breath babe
All of a sudden he tells her that it's over and she is startled.

if you need me me and
neil'll be hangin' out with the DREAM KING
She needs comfort in something light like a comic.

Neil says
hi by the way I don't believe you're leaving case me
and Charles Manson like the same ice cream I think it's
that girl and I think there're pieces of me you've never
seen maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen
She is rationalizing that even though he dumped her, she is still the one he wants, he just hasn't seen the different personalities that she can bring out that this new girl has but she herself already posesses but hasn't shown.

well all the world is all I am the black of the blackest
ocean and that tear in your hand
I think the metaphor for 'tear in your hand' is that someone can control your emotions anyway they like when they have this kind of attachment to you.

all the world is
DANGLIN' . . . danglin' . . . danglin' for me DARLIN' you
don't know the power that you have with that tear in
your hand tear in your hand
Everything seems warped and wrong now that the relationship is over and she is upset that he doesn't even know what he does to her when he's with other people.

maybe I ain't used to
maybes smashing in a cold room cutting my hands up
every time I touch you
She wants his touch so bad that when she does touch him, it hurts because she can't do it again and feel his returned emotion.

maybe maybe it's time to wave
goodbye now time to wave goodbye now
She is considered really trying to move on.

caught a ride
with the moon I know I know you well well better than
I used to HAZE all clouded up my mind in the DAZE
of why it could've never been so you say and I say
you know you're full of wish
She now knows that he wasn't for her because now that she is looking at the relationship from a more clear-headed prespective she can truly understand the content it had.

and your "baby baby baby
babies" I tell you there're pieces of me you've never
seen maybe she' just pieces of me you've never seen
well . . .

Here's Tori's description of it:
"I have a really good friend named Rantz, and he is a comic freak. And he, about three years ago, turned me on to Neil's work. He turned me on to other things, too, but I was drawn to Neil's work. The first thing I ever read was Calliope (Sandman #17).... Tear in your Hand...I think that, because all of the things I just told you, those stories meant a lot to me, and I made a reference to him [Neil Gaiman], because of that."
-- Tori; Interview by Brian Hibbs

"Ok, i didn't do this, but i'm doing it now, because i've never been able to do this before. and the reason is, my friend Rantz is here, and my friend Rantz is from this place. and um he's like my brother. he's probably the closest blood kin to me though we're not blood kin. and um, he turned me onto the sandman comics and for that i'll be forever grateful. anyway, he was with me uhh watching me go through all this drama. and i just have to thank him..."
-- Tori intro to song; Seattle, WA 05/06/92, Afterburn bootleg

"Emotionally, all these songs come from experiences that trigger them. I haven't chosen to talk much about that side of the songwriting - the seed for all these songs. On the technical side, I heard the music as a steady motion, no change really from verse and chorus, only the bridge that leads straight back like a loop to the same toll booth where you threw in some change to go around only to end up surrounded by the place you left. The only difference is by taking the loop ride you can see the place you left exactly as it is; some sadness, a whole lotta corn field, and a puddle."
-- Tori; Little Earthquakes Songbook

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: Putting The Damage On - Tori Amos

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