Talula
he's chasing tornados
I'm just waiting calmly
chasing her, hey
Talula
Talula
you don't want to lose her
she must be worth losing
if it is worth something
It is kind of like the saying, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." That is what Talula's lesson is.Talula
Talula
she'd brand new now to you
Acknowledging the fact that you have lost something but respecting that it happened and that you will genuinely cherish it is something that she has never experienced until now.wrapped in your papoose
your little Fig Newton
say goodbye to the old world
It's time to move on, but have respect for the past. It's like the African symbol, Sankofa, "You must look into your past to look into your future."rain into the Henchman who served
Anne Boleyn
he did it right quickly a merciful man
she said 1 + 1 is 2
but Henry said it was 3
so it was
here I am
Talula
Talula
I don't want to lose it
it must be worth losing
if it is worth something
Talula
Talula
she's brand new now to you
wrapped in your papoose
your little Fig Newton
and Jamaica
do you know what I have done
Mary M weaving on said
what you want is in the blood Senators
I got Big Bird on the fishing line
with a bit of shout a bit of shout
a bit of an angry snout
he's my favourite hooker of the whole bunch
and I know about his only Bride
and how the Russian die on the ice
I got my rape hat on
honey but I always could accessorise
and I never cared too much for the money
but I know right now
that it's in God's hands
but I don't know who the Father is
Talula
Talula
I don't want to lose him
he must be worth losing
if it is worth something
Talula
Talula
he's brand new now to you
wrapped in your papoose
your little Fig Newton
Here's Tori's description of it:
"And it keeps moving into the dance of Talula, and her desperately trying to dance, desperately trying to figure out the whole idea of loss: it must be worth loosing if it's worth something. So if I feel like I am loosing something, at lease I valued something enough to loose it in the first place... it's going back into that train of thought. Talula is very much a riddle. The loss of Eric in my life was... it felt like half of me walked out the door. And Talula came as a nursery rhyme, my little dance that I would do when things were so sad. Because I started thinking 'but God, I have these feelings, which means...' we shared so many moments that I value, I really valued that, so what a gift that I can feel this loss, that I am not so numb, that I haven't cut myself off so much, and once I could feel the loss then I started to feel free. I want to dance and go 'yeah, I want to be with Talula. I want to be able to dance through the people that come in and go out of your life. I want to learn how to dance with the gifts when they come and the gifts when they need to take a different route.'"
-- Tori; B Side, 05/96
“Talula ... when I wrote this, my mother was sitting in a chair, and I’d been playing for a few hours. She was fading in and out of sleep. I’d been going through some of my blood, guts and widow’s tunes. And all of a sudden I needed to breathe. I started playing Talula, and it became like a breath, ‘cause I needed freedom from all these songs that where showing me my monsters. Talula started to show me how to dance. And my mother began to wake up. The song is really a riddle. Talula just came to me, telling me her name. A lot of the times I’m just trying to interpret what I’m seeing on the other side. A name holds an energy, like anything else. Look at Ruby Tuesday. I think Talula became about rhythm and tone an sensuality. It ain’t fuckin’ Catherine. There’s something in there about West Indian dance. And yet it’s a very classic name, too. Talula really just started to represent all women to me - women that let themselves dance - for themselves.” (more lyric interpretation here)
-- Tori; Vox magazine, Apr 1996
"I had to write for my freedom. I was shattered. I had to begin to look at myself. I tried to get energy from different men in my life. I got my vampires license. In Talula I’m begging this concept of ideal woman to come alive in myself, feeling afraid of losing someone. If it matters, it must be something worth losing. Each song began to be a piece of claiming myself.”<br>-- Tori; Making Music, Jan 1996
: Cars & Guitars - Tori Amos
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