Post by Julie on Jun 2, 2005 16:58:29 GMT -5
THE POWER OF ORANGE KNICKERS
The power of orange knickers
The power of orange knickers
The power of orange knickers under my
petty coat the power of listening to
what you don't want me to know Can
somebody tell me now who is this terrorist those
girls that smile kindly then rip your life to
pieces? Can somebody tell me now am I alone with
this - this little pill in my hand and with this secret kiss
am I alone in this... A matter of complication when you
become a twist for their latest drink as they're transitioning
Can somebody tell me now a way out of this - that
sacred pipe of red stone could blow me out of this
kiss am I alone in this... Shame Shame time
to leave me now Shame shame you've
had your fun Shame shame for letting
me think that I would be the one
Can somebody tell me now who is this
terrorist this little pill in my hand
or this secret kiss am I alone in this
kiss am I alone in this kiss
I think this song is about terrorism in every sense of the word. We can go to the real harshest side of it which is invading a country and knocking down buildings, but yet, we can also go straight to that bully on the playground who enjoys making you cry. Terrorism is the invasion into your space. It's a harrassment, a rape, a tease, an assault, a beating, and sometimes it is as "light" as a smart-ass comment that embarrasses you. But with all these things flying in different directions, trying to knock you over, wearing your orange knickers that no one else knows you have on can give you the self-confidence to endure whatever comes your way with a little more strength and a little luck on your side. It's supersticious, yes, but it's your's.
Here's Tori's description of it:
"I've just finished a song on my new album called The Power Of Orange Knickers and the word that came up was 'terrorist'. Tricky one! What rhymes with "terrorist"? Assonance is your best friend here. I thought about how people are using that word right now - whether it's people who run kingdoms or are killing people, or both. Maybe it could mean domestic terrorism, somebody you let in your house or your room or your body - invasion! Then I put the word "kiss" in there to create a paradox as it's the furthest thing from "terrorist". I've always been a John Lennon person. My husband is a Paul McCartney person but I love a twist in the story. I love the tension of opposites. I love dancing with the devil - but the devil's a dictionary, not a dick!"
-- Tori; Word Magazine (UK), Feb 2005
"You know," Amos explains, "the word terrorist was just ... we'd all had enough of it. And it was just irresistible, I must say, having a guy sing the title words." She says she had the idea for the album's (loose) concept while straddling two wildly different worlds, at home in Cornwall, but with the TV news on. "I had to find an entry point into all this (the post-9/11 world). You've got the big three, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, involved in this war. And I'd be walking around in the garden, watching the relationship between the bee and this organ, the flower, and seeing how it's a win-win; whereas on television, if it's a win, someone has to lose. But the bee takes its nectar, does a little sprinkling and the garden propagates. Then the bee does a dance to her sisters, tells the girls where the hot organ is, and they go."
-- Tori; The Sunday Times (UK), Feb 20, 2005
"It's that 'Take another drop of courage.' It's your double espresso that says, all right, I can drive across the country," says Amos. And do these mythical orange knickers really exist? "Of course they do!"
-- Tori; The New York Post, Feb 20, 2005
Amos also tapped Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice to counter her vocals on one track, The Power of Orange Knickers. "We had great fun," Amos tells Billboard.com of recording with Rice. "If you have a song called The Power of Orange Knickers [then] you've got to have the other. I felt a guy singing that line was exciting."
-- Tori; Billboard.com, Jan 20, 2005
"There is a song called The Power of Orange Knickers that really kind of explores the idea of the word 'terrorist'. So I put on a pair of orange knickers one morning and I decided if I am going to stalk the idea of a terrorist without having an idea of what one was then I am going to need my orange knickers. And as I started to walk over to the piano I started to think about words that rhymed with 'terrorist' and the song kept drawing me in, and drawing me in deeper and deeper and deeper and it said yes it is easy to see the enemy if it is in another country. It's easy to see the enemy in another culture. Find the enemy in your own culture. Then find the enemy in your own being. And she's there. We all have this part of ourselves that will choose to obliterate an idea instead of negotiating with it, because it takes great skill to negotiate with ideas, it doesn't take a lot of skill to obliterate, unfortunately. It doesn't sound like this one the record, but just alone here with us the essence is (plays orange knickers). ..and it goes on and I began to understand how the opposites, if they don't have understanding and a respect for one another, and hold it into balance, then the whole thing begins to bring chaos."
-- Tori; The Beekeeper Limited Edition Bonus DVD
I: There’s a line in The Power of Orange Knickers about not knowing who the real terrorist is...
TORI: Yeah. I know some artists prefer not to comment, but I’ve followed the US administration and I genuinely believe they’ve emotionally blackmailed and manipulated the American people. We’re living in a frightening time and I wish people would wake up and realize they’re surrendering their civil liberties.
-- Tori; Uncut.com, Mar 2005
"I started to think about the word terrorist. It's a word you hear several times a day now. I started to think about what being a terrorist can mean in different situations. I wanted to explore the realm of personal invasion. Now this would be an invasion by someone you know personally, not a stranger. We all know about strangers being filled with hatred -- strangers who lash out against a government or an ideal. As a result, this stranger kills innocent people, tragically, people you may know personally. But when there is an intimacy between two people and one person starts to feel invaded by the other person, that is personalized terrorism. As we all know, the battleground between two lovers, or two friends, or two coworkers can be vicious. Painful. Heartbreaking. And bloody. I started to think about the weapons that might be used in this kind of battle, and as I kept digging for an answer, I stumbled into the Realm of Assonance. I started to think, Okay, what is the paradox of the terrorist? And Assonance, that beautiful creature, came to my aid and whispered, 'Kiss.' And sure enough, we have all felt invaded by a lingering kiss, for good or ill. But I had to find terrorism not just in a relationship of a couple -- representing two divided Beings -- but within one Being. After all, isn't that the ultimate discovery, the ultimate pain -- division within the self, the soul from the body, the mind from the heart, wisdom from consciousness, the addiction from the cure, the two Marys . . . divided? The lyrics started to come to me quickly..." [Tori Amos: Piece by Piece]
"I was curious about how people were defining what a terrorist was," Amos explains. " undress the word and really crawl inside the definition of it . . . People are using it to get the masses to agree with their agendas . . . [But] it can be a little pill that you're addicted to, or a person. And sometimes, for a woman, it's another woman." [rollingstone.com - February 21, 2005]
"I wanted to write a song about terrorists. It's a word that's been used and misused a lot in the last few years. Therefore, sometimes to emancipate a word, you have to undress it. And as I started to undress it, I found a lot of things there. And if you start exploring it, all the correlations and just the word associations, you might get certain images in your mind."
That seems simple enough: undress a terrorist and you might find something as amusing as a pair of orange knickers, right? But no, it's more complicated than that. "Orange is a color that intrigues me, not just because of Guantnamo Bay," she explains, referring to the orange prison uniforms inmates wear. "But William of Orange came over to Ireland, and you've got people over there who understand terrorism in a way that we don't. We're just learning about it because of what happened a few years ago to us. But the Irish and the British have been in this now for quite a long time. So, having lived in Ireland -- I have a house there, and I live in England and I live in America -- I see it from different perspectives. But I wanted to free up the word so that people can reclaim it and therefore won't just have a kneejerk reaction to it every time the terrorist button gets pushed -- so that you won't immediately get a picture in your mind of a guy in a turban every time the alert level goes from orange to amber. Instead, maybe you should get a picture in your mind of a guy with a suit. Or maybe it's a woman who's a teacher. Or your boss, who keeps coming onto you and embarrasses you every time you have your marketing meeting, because she wants you and you're just not into her. So she emasculates you in front of people. Now, that would be pretty invasive. And maybe that's your terrorist. I think it started when my daughter Tash was asking me, 'What's a terrorist?', because she heard the word on the news. So I tried to explain. Finally she looked at me and said, 'Mommy, you mean like the bully on the playground?' And I said, 'Yeah, that's what I mean, but that bully can be inside, too.' It can be anywhere." [The Boston Phoenix - April 8, 2005]
The power of orange knickers
The power of orange knickers
The power of orange knickers under my
petty coat the power of listening to
what you don't want me to know Can
somebody tell me now who is this terrorist those
girls that smile kindly then rip your life to
pieces? Can somebody tell me now am I alone with
this - this little pill in my hand and with this secret kiss
am I alone in this... A matter of complication when you
become a twist for their latest drink as they're transitioning
Can somebody tell me now a way out of this - that
sacred pipe of red stone could blow me out of this
kiss am I alone in this... Shame Shame time
to leave me now Shame shame you've
had your fun Shame shame for letting
me think that I would be the one
Can somebody tell me now who is this
terrorist this little pill in my hand
or this secret kiss am I alone in this
kiss am I alone in this kiss
I think this song is about terrorism in every sense of the word. We can go to the real harshest side of it which is invading a country and knocking down buildings, but yet, we can also go straight to that bully on the playground who enjoys making you cry. Terrorism is the invasion into your space. It's a harrassment, a rape, a tease, an assault, a beating, and sometimes it is as "light" as a smart-ass comment that embarrasses you. But with all these things flying in different directions, trying to knock you over, wearing your orange knickers that no one else knows you have on can give you the self-confidence to endure whatever comes your way with a little more strength and a little luck on your side. It's supersticious, yes, but it's your's.
Here's Tori's description of it:
"I've just finished a song on my new album called The Power Of Orange Knickers and the word that came up was 'terrorist'. Tricky one! What rhymes with "terrorist"? Assonance is your best friend here. I thought about how people are using that word right now - whether it's people who run kingdoms or are killing people, or both. Maybe it could mean domestic terrorism, somebody you let in your house or your room or your body - invasion! Then I put the word "kiss" in there to create a paradox as it's the furthest thing from "terrorist". I've always been a John Lennon person. My husband is a Paul McCartney person but I love a twist in the story. I love the tension of opposites. I love dancing with the devil - but the devil's a dictionary, not a dick!"
-- Tori; Word Magazine (UK), Feb 2005
"You know," Amos explains, "the word terrorist was just ... we'd all had enough of it. And it was just irresistible, I must say, having a guy sing the title words." She says she had the idea for the album's (loose) concept while straddling two wildly different worlds, at home in Cornwall, but with the TV news on. "I had to find an entry point into all this (the post-9/11 world). You've got the big three, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, involved in this war. And I'd be walking around in the garden, watching the relationship between the bee and this organ, the flower, and seeing how it's a win-win; whereas on television, if it's a win, someone has to lose. But the bee takes its nectar, does a little sprinkling and the garden propagates. Then the bee does a dance to her sisters, tells the girls where the hot organ is, and they go."
-- Tori; The Sunday Times (UK), Feb 20, 2005
"It's that 'Take another drop of courage.' It's your double espresso that says, all right, I can drive across the country," says Amos. And do these mythical orange knickers really exist? "Of course they do!"
-- Tori; The New York Post, Feb 20, 2005
Amos also tapped Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice to counter her vocals on one track, The Power of Orange Knickers. "We had great fun," Amos tells Billboard.com of recording with Rice. "If you have a song called The Power of Orange Knickers [then] you've got to have the other. I felt a guy singing that line was exciting."
-- Tori; Billboard.com, Jan 20, 2005
"There is a song called The Power of Orange Knickers that really kind of explores the idea of the word 'terrorist'. So I put on a pair of orange knickers one morning and I decided if I am going to stalk the idea of a terrorist without having an idea of what one was then I am going to need my orange knickers. And as I started to walk over to the piano I started to think about words that rhymed with 'terrorist' and the song kept drawing me in, and drawing me in deeper and deeper and deeper and it said yes it is easy to see the enemy if it is in another country. It's easy to see the enemy in another culture. Find the enemy in your own culture. Then find the enemy in your own being. And she's there. We all have this part of ourselves that will choose to obliterate an idea instead of negotiating with it, because it takes great skill to negotiate with ideas, it doesn't take a lot of skill to obliterate, unfortunately. It doesn't sound like this one the record, but just alone here with us the essence is (plays orange knickers). ..and it goes on and I began to understand how the opposites, if they don't have understanding and a respect for one another, and hold it into balance, then the whole thing begins to bring chaos."
-- Tori; The Beekeeper Limited Edition Bonus DVD
I: There’s a line in The Power of Orange Knickers about not knowing who the real terrorist is...
TORI: Yeah. I know some artists prefer not to comment, but I’ve followed the US administration and I genuinely believe they’ve emotionally blackmailed and manipulated the American people. We’re living in a frightening time and I wish people would wake up and realize they’re surrendering their civil liberties.
-- Tori; Uncut.com, Mar 2005
"I started to think about the word terrorist. It's a word you hear several times a day now. I started to think about what being a terrorist can mean in different situations. I wanted to explore the realm of personal invasion. Now this would be an invasion by someone you know personally, not a stranger. We all know about strangers being filled with hatred -- strangers who lash out against a government or an ideal. As a result, this stranger kills innocent people, tragically, people you may know personally. But when there is an intimacy between two people and one person starts to feel invaded by the other person, that is personalized terrorism. As we all know, the battleground between two lovers, or two friends, or two coworkers can be vicious. Painful. Heartbreaking. And bloody. I started to think about the weapons that might be used in this kind of battle, and as I kept digging for an answer, I stumbled into the Realm of Assonance. I started to think, Okay, what is the paradox of the terrorist? And Assonance, that beautiful creature, came to my aid and whispered, 'Kiss.' And sure enough, we have all felt invaded by a lingering kiss, for good or ill. But I had to find terrorism not just in a relationship of a couple -- representing two divided Beings -- but within one Being. After all, isn't that the ultimate discovery, the ultimate pain -- division within the self, the soul from the body, the mind from the heart, wisdom from consciousness, the addiction from the cure, the two Marys . . . divided? The lyrics started to come to me quickly..." [Tori Amos: Piece by Piece]
"I was curious about how people were defining what a terrorist was," Amos explains. " undress the word and really crawl inside the definition of it . . . People are using it to get the masses to agree with their agendas . . . [But] it can be a little pill that you're addicted to, or a person. And sometimes, for a woman, it's another woman." [rollingstone.com - February 21, 2005]
"I wanted to write a song about terrorists. It's a word that's been used and misused a lot in the last few years. Therefore, sometimes to emancipate a word, you have to undress it. And as I started to undress it, I found a lot of things there. And if you start exploring it, all the correlations and just the word associations, you might get certain images in your mind."
That seems simple enough: undress a terrorist and you might find something as amusing as a pair of orange knickers, right? But no, it's more complicated than that. "Orange is a color that intrigues me, not just because of Guantnamo Bay," she explains, referring to the orange prison uniforms inmates wear. "But William of Orange came over to Ireland, and you've got people over there who understand terrorism in a way that we don't. We're just learning about it because of what happened a few years ago to us. But the Irish and the British have been in this now for quite a long time. So, having lived in Ireland -- I have a house there, and I live in England and I live in America -- I see it from different perspectives. But I wanted to free up the word so that people can reclaim it and therefore won't just have a kneejerk reaction to it every time the terrorist button gets pushed -- so that you won't immediately get a picture in your mind of a guy in a turban every time the alert level goes from orange to amber. Instead, maybe you should get a picture in your mind of a guy with a suit. Or maybe it's a woman who's a teacher. Or your boss, who keeps coming onto you and embarrasses you every time you have your marketing meeting, because she wants you and you're just not into her. So she emasculates you in front of people. Now, that would be pretty invasive. And maybe that's your terrorist. I think it started when my daughter Tash was asking me, 'What's a terrorist?', because she heard the word on the news. So I tried to explain. Finally she looked at me and said, 'Mommy, you mean like the bully on the playground?' And I said, 'Yeah, that's what I mean, but that bully can be inside, too.' It can be anywhere." [The Boston Phoenix - April 8, 2005]
