Putting The Damage On

[*Herry*]

This expression has always fascinated me, and I was wondering what you lovely people thought about it as well.

For me, it could mean two things:

1. That the boy Tori is talking about is just about to break up with her, and she can tell by his face, his movements, body language, etc.
In my experience, the two boys that broke up with me had a very genuine, almost innocent look to their faces. For a moment, they looked like very sensitive, feeling people and that look really got to me. It may well be my own weirdness, but there was a look...

2. The boy Tori is talking about did break up with her and now he is in damage-control.

I'm still a bit fuzzy about this because I'm not thinking about it in terms of the whole song, so I will get back to this. I think about that line a lot though. And the song is definitely in my Top 20. Definitely.

Thankyou!

[Ame]

hmm, "putting on" made me think about acient greece theatre and the masks that were used to show the emocions of character.
It has connecion to the boys that you were mentioning- they had mask to show that they want to broke up. Putting themselfs in position of a hurted animal showing that they had been damaged becouse of that...
to, maybe, not feel giulty about it. It's like having a big mask to let everyone know that you feel hurt.


on toriphonia is a nice commentarie about all the text

www.yessaid.com/talk/17puttingthedamageon.html

I haven't got any interpretations of the whole text, so i'm wating for your thoughts;)

[*Herry*]

Ame said:

hmm, "putting on" made me think about acient greece theatre and the masks that were used to show the emocions of character.
It has connecion to the boys that you were mentioning- they had mask to show that they want to broke up. Putting themselfs in position of a hurted animal showing that they had been damaged becouse of that...
to, maybe, not feel giulty about it. It's like having a big mask to let everyone know that you feel hurt.


on toriphonia is a nice commentarie about all the text

www.yessaid.com/talk/17puttingthedamageon.html

I haven't got any interpretations of the whole text, so i'm wating for your thoughts;)

Thanks Ame! It's funny that you say that, because my father is Greek! Maybe I should ask him too!
Tori uses the word 'mask' in interviews a lot.
I guess the music in the song is very theatrical too - all of the instruments used, as well as the loud/soft parts and the 'ghost' part.
And also, the 'don't make me scratch on your back door' part is very theatrical!
Ok Ame, I'm gonna go to that link you gave. Thankyou very much!

[orfeo]

A little from option 1, a little from option 2...

I say he HAS broken up with her... but even though he's just emotionally devastated her by leaving with another woman, he still looks good to her. She can't switch her love off that fast. Yikes, I'm heading for my interpretation of "Cooling" here!

[elizabeth]

I agree with Orfeo...I love when she sings "Boy, you still look pretty to me". This song has always reminded me of this boy I loved in college. Whenever I saw him, it was like he was putting the damage on;it hurt in some way, yet he still looked pretty to me. We had a beautiful thing, but it also hurt, and plus you do a lot of damage to yourself going back over and over to him when its pretty clear he's gone,ya know? But the song is beautiful, one of my favorites.

[*Herry*]

Thanks everyone!
I'd love to be able to use that expression somewhere in my writing, or just in everyday conversation with friends. Unfortunately, my friends might look at me very strangely.

Oh Orfeo, don't stop! Though it is funny you mention Cooling because I think Cooling was written in the BFP era.
I can't believe how much more that song means to me now, just because of this forum.

;D

[♥Mary♥]

elizabeth said:

I agree with Orfeo...I love when she sings "Boy, you still look pretty to me". This song has always reminded me of this boy I loved in college. Whenever I saw him, it was like he was putting the damage on;it hurt in some way, yet he still looked pretty to me. We had a beautiful thing, but it also hurt, and plus you do a lot of damage to yourself going back over and over to him when its pretty clear he's gone,ya know? But the song is beautiful, one of my favorites.

Beautiful, yes. I can relate to your story, too.
And I agree with some of the other things stated.
My favorite parts are "I'm trying not to move, it's just your ghost passing through", because in a way she knows what was there is NO longer (ghost=dead)....and even though she may want to be able to do something about it, she can't.
And the "I've never seen a light move like yours can do to me" part gets me everytime.

Tori said somewhere that this song was about learning 'graciousness'.
That's exactly what I FEEL when hearing it, what I want to remind myself.
This song means a lot to me.

[elizabeth]

What Mary said made me think, it's sort of like that thing of being able to witness someone else's beauty and light and not having to possess it, a kind of graciousness. It is hard not to want it, especially if you know what its like to have it, but if you can just be a witness to it, that's sort of overcoming or whatever.

[*Herry*]

Mary, elizabeth, you've made me all squishy! But in a good way
It's all too relevant to me at the moment, and even though I think I've been extremely gracious, this song brings about a whole new meaning to the word, and something more for me to learn.

The 'ghost passing through' bit is especially beautifully interpreted, thankyou. I once thought the same thing - that the ghost was something no longer. Now I know it.
Thankyou for sharing

It's pretty cool that Tori started writing the song in Australia too! (according to an article in toriphoria)

[♥Mary♥]

elizabeth said:

What Mary said made me think, it's sort of like that thing of being able to witness someone else's beauty and light and not having to possess it, a kind of graciousness. It is hard not to want it, especially if you know what its like to have it, but if you can just be a witness to it, that's sort of overcoming or whatever.

I most definitely understand what you mean by this.

Sometimes the lessons we learn in graciousness come best not when we stop to think about what we could be gaining, but when we can let go (or never even grab hold) and then not only feel like we are NOT losing anything by doing so....but feel like we've gained something beautiful after all; just by letting that thing stay out of hand and enjoying it from a distance, without ownership or responsibility.....or regretting that it couldn't be anything else.
Things don't need to be right in front of us to touch us.
I think that's the most meaningful part about the "I've never seen a light move..." line for me. Some lights can be felt from a million miles away.....

[♥Mary♥]

Helen said:

Mary, elizabeth, you've made me all squishy! But in a good way

LMAO! When I read the first 2 words of this line, I got all panicky and thought I was in trouble!....

I think I heard my Dad's voice:
"Mary Elizabeth, what on earth have you done to my car?"

[sweetsangria]

elizabeth said:

What Mary said made me think, it's sort of like that thing of being able to witness someone else's beauty and light and not having to possess it, a kind of graciousness. It is hard not to want it, especially if you know what its like to have it, but if you can just be a witness to it, that's sort of overcoming or whatever.

¢¾Mary¢¾ said:

I most definitely understand what you mean by this.

Sometimes the lessons we learn in graciousness come best not when we stop to think about what we could be gaining, but when we can let go (or never even grab hold) and then not only feel like we are NOT losing anything by doing so....but feel like we've gained something beautiful after all; just by letting that thing stay out of hand and enjoying it from a distance, without ownership or responsibility.....or regretting that it couldn't be anything else.
Things don't need to be right in front of us to touch us.
I think that's the most meaningful part about the "I've never seen a light move..." line for me. Some lights can be felt from a million miles away.....

I read this thread a couple days ago and wasn't able to respond because of traveling and such, but I just wanted to say that these words in particular really hit home for me. It's something I've had to learn and accept more than once, but I always thought it was just sad and unfortunate to know how beautiful someone is yet being unable to actually hold or touch them. It's the greedy, human part of me, I guess. Recently though, I realized that beauty is beauty, and sometimes you learn more just watching from afar. And if you really love someone, just knowing that beauty, even it's just a few words across a great distance, is so much better than missing out completely.

[♥Mary♥]

sweetsangria said:

I read this thread a couple days ago and wasn't able to respond because of traveling and such, but I just wanted to say that these words in particular really hit home for me. It's something I've had to learn and accept more than once, but I always thought it was just sad and unfortunate to know how beautiful someone is yet being unable to actually hold or touch them. It's the greedy, human part of me, I guess. Recently though, I realized that beauty is beauty, and sometimes, you learn more just watching from afar. And if you really love someone, just knowing that beauty, even it's just a few words across a great distance, is so much better than missing out completely.

I like when I hit your home.

[Mary]

[Mary]

Yay!

[♥Mary♥]

LOL, Haullie.... a bit sleep-deprived when you were posting on this?!

[lemonmerchant]

I've always thought "putting the damage on" was relating to her watching the boy perform on stage in some way. Plus the line "i've got a ticket to your late show". That's how I always see it when I hear the song.

[*Herry*]

lemonmerchant said:

I've always thought "putting the damage on" was relating to her watching the boy perform on stage in some way. Plus the line "i've got a ticket to your late show". That's how I always see it when I hear the song.

Yeah, that line always threw me. Might also be that she's gonna go off into the night and sort of 'spy' on him. She still clings to him, but the gracious thing to do would be to cling from afar. Just watch. But then, if she's actually admitting to him that she's got a 'ticket', maybe I'm wrong.
Curious!

[Julie]

Putting the Damage On

glue
stuck to my shoes
She cannot dettach herself from this burden that this man has left on her after they broke up.

does anyone know why you play with an orange rind
you say you packed my things
and divided what was mine
It makes it official when the other half kicks you out.

you're off to the mountain top
He's moving away.

I say her skinny legs could use sun
His new girlfriend has flaws that she wants to show him.

but now I'm wishing
for my best impression
of my best Angie Dickinson
She wants to act like she doesn't care. The acting from Angie Dickinson.

but now I've got to worry
cause boy you still look pretty
when you're putting the damage on
But even when this man is hurting her, he still looks wonderful.

don't make me scratch on your door
She craves for him and she doesn't want to.

I never left you
for a Banjo
I only just turned around for a poodle
and a corvette
and my impression
of my best Angie Dickinson
but now i've got to worry
cause boy you still look pretty
when yu're putting the damage on

I'm trying not to move
it's just your ghost
passing through
Again, she is trying to pretend she doesn't care about him anymore, but her heart always thumps for him.

I said
I'm trying not to move
it's just your ghost passing through
it's just your ghost
passing through
and now
I'm quite sure
there's a light in your platoon
I never seen a light move
like yours
can do to me
He has a lot of affect on her.

so now I'm wishing
for my best impression
of my best Angie Dickinson
but now I've got to worry
cause boy you still look pretty
to me
but I've got a place to go
I've got a ticket to your late show
and now I'm worrying cause even still
you sure are pretty
when you're putting the damage on
yes
when you're putting the damage on
you're just so pretty
when you're putting the damage on

Here's Tori's description of it:
"And of course Damage speaks for itself. The song, being herself damaged, it's trying to teach myself about graciousness, and I have such a hard time with that. I have a very hard time. Damage was so essential for me to sing, it's one of the most difficult ones for me. I can look and have love and feelings for some of these people but... "
-- Tori; B Side, 05/96

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: Father Lucifer - Tori Amos

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