Post by *Herry* on Mar 17, 2005 0:37:56 GMT -5
This is the first part of my Beekeeper review. I'm gonna type up some more over the weekend 
Exploring The Beekeeper
PARASOL:
‘When I come to terms with this’ ~ a great opening because the scope of ‘this’ is so huge. There are many relationships being explored in the songs, including her own, so it’s a lot for her and her audience to take.
To me, the lyric, ‘I have no need for a seaview’ is very confronting, as a seaview has been so important to my mum for as long as I can remember, and as I’ve grown up, I’ve come to understand this and share my mother’s desire. It seems as if there is something very dark about this song that needs to come to light - not just the betrayal references. I don’t always hear the hammond; sort of like it’s betraying itself by being audible in parts of the song. I know this sounds like too much, but I really feel like it’s telling its own little story underneath...
The second ‘When I come to terms’ seems a bit whiny, but nothing serious!
I am still soaking up the lyrics to this song, and enjoying doing so immensely.
SWEET The STING:
I’ll admit I really didn’t like this at first. Perhaps because I feel it has been wrongly placed on the album. I sort of lost my groove a bit after Parasol -especially since I felt like I was trapped in a Santana song! Thank heavens Santana is wearing off now. I thought I was going to be in some deep trouble with this one, but now I’m singing along to it like no-one’s business. It’s a very sexy-sultry-sweaty-Sunday-sunset kinda song which isn’t bad at all The scorpion lyric just kills me, and the bridge, oh the sweet bridge, gets me up and snaking around the dancefloor It really reminds me of honey being poured -you know that motion of a honeypot slowly being upturned?
This song includes the first of a few references to her earlier songs too. Here, it’s Cruel, with the line ‘Shake shake shake me sane’.
Oh, and the ‘cinnabar juice’ part has recently been melting me....*must find out what cinnabar juice actually is*
The POWER OF ORANGE KNICKERS:
What IS the power of orange knickers?! I really wanted Tori to explain this, either in the book, or on the bonus DVD. But alas, terrorism won over. And I very much like that Tori explores this. It takes us back to oldies like Cornflake Girl, Bells For Her, and Blood Roses. I feel that with the ‘pill’ lyric, Tori is reminding us that terrorism can be present in the smallest of places.
This song is also my first introduction to Damien Rice’s voice (shame shame on me!) and I really loved it in this song -especially towards the end when it really kicks in! There are times, though, when I feel like Tori’s backing vocals and Damien’s vocals are fighting it out.
JAMAICA INN:
Haha - I love it when Tori brings in pirates!
There seems to be a lot going on in this song - Peggy-Ann, Rebecca, the pirates, the captain and ‘he’. Plus, I don’t know too much about Jamaica Inn the place and Jamaica Inn the Daphne Du Maurier novel. I’d like to do some more research so that I can properly appreciate this song. Musically, it’s quite a pretty tune, and reminds me of tiny waves washing up against the shore.
BARONS OF SUBURBIA:
I close my eyes and feel like I’m being pushed around like a rag doll in a circle. I love the driving tune of this. Sort of a cross between Carbon and Siren My ears are delighting in the guitar work here, too. Lyrically, I really think she is referring to ‘those who are they’ (name for the Atlantic head honchos Tori talks about in Piece By Piece). The line ‘take another piece of my good graces’ makes me think of the part in the book about the controversy surrounding the Strange Little Girls album. There were other record companies that were so taken by the album that they wanted to buy it from Atlantic. Atlantic said no, forfeiting a gracious ending to the contract.
The fact that ‘poison’ and ‘potion’ are only one letter off reminds me of the conversation between Tori and her mum in the song canvas for Take To The Sky. This song is definitely in my Top 5.
SLEEPS WITH BUTTERFLIES:
This is another song placement I’m having trouble with. I lose my groove again after Barons. However, after reading Piece By Piece, and and an article in Women Who Rock magazine, I am beginning to think that this song was actually strategical move. I wouldn’t be surprised given Tori’s strength, wit and humour!
Getting back to the song, I do think it has a very catchy chorus and I think that most women (and men?) can relate to it. I know that I have slept with butterflies on many occasions -particularly in Japan. In my last 18 months or so of my time in Japan, many of my female co-workers left and I was eventually the only female teacher left at my school. I suddenly found myself in a boys’ locker room, which wasn’t very pleasant to say the least. Consequently there were many Boys’ Nights, and my boy would go along to them. I’d sit at home thinking about how him and I were the only serious couple around, and what the hell was he doing with me? Why not some gorgeous Japanese chick? And I wanted to ‘kiss away night’. But then at 5am, when blokey waltzed in the door, the butterflies scattered.
I love the line, ‘I don’t hold onto the tail of your kite’ -it might also be referring to Tash. The acrobat part also reminds me Mother
General Joy:
I am in mad love with this song...everything about it.
The piano, the driving beat, the vocals -they’re all so addictive I’ve been singing this all week, but it’s bloody hard!
The ‘response’ vocals and some of the piano parts also remind me of Space Dog, one of my dearest Tori songs, and that’s a very good thing, lol. I like to think that General Joy is Space Dog’s owner
The explanation Tori gives on the DVD about this song is great. I can appreciate the song so much more, and understand the song’s sadness.
Heh, I love most of the political songs! I’m an easy target! But I’m glad Tori could see that the song could fit on the album. I’ve really come to appreciate the way Tori puts in relevant and current issues in her music. Although I wasn’t too keen on the sound of ‘Angels’, I was still glad Tori put it out there, as the lyrics were very clear to me then since I’d just started reading ‘Stupid White Men’ (also where I learned exactly what the Potomac was!).
Exploring The Beekeeper
PARASOL:
‘When I come to terms with this’ ~ a great opening because the scope of ‘this’ is so huge. There are many relationships being explored in the songs, including her own, so it’s a lot for her and her audience to take.
To me, the lyric, ‘I have no need for a seaview’ is very confronting, as a seaview has been so important to my mum for as long as I can remember, and as I’ve grown up, I’ve come to understand this and share my mother’s desire. It seems as if there is something very dark about this song that needs to come to light - not just the betrayal references. I don’t always hear the hammond; sort of like it’s betraying itself by being audible in parts of the song. I know this sounds like too much, but I really feel like it’s telling its own little story underneath...
The second ‘When I come to terms’ seems a bit whiny, but nothing serious!
I am still soaking up the lyrics to this song, and enjoying doing so immensely.
SWEET The STING:
I’ll admit I really didn’t like this at first. Perhaps because I feel it has been wrongly placed on the album. I sort of lost my groove a bit after Parasol -especially since I felt like I was trapped in a Santana song! Thank heavens Santana is wearing off now. I thought I was going to be in some deep trouble with this one, but now I’m singing along to it like no-one’s business. It’s a very sexy-sultry-sweaty-Sunday-sunset kinda song which isn’t bad at all
The scorpion lyric just kills me, and the bridge, oh the sweet bridge, gets me up and snaking around the dancefloor It really reminds me of honey being poured -you know that motion of a honeypot slowly being upturned?This song includes the first of a few references to her earlier songs too. Here, it’s Cruel, with the line ‘Shake shake shake me sane’.
Oh, and the ‘cinnabar juice’ part has recently been melting me....*must find out what cinnabar juice actually is*
The POWER OF ORANGE KNICKERS:
What IS the power of orange knickers?! I really wanted Tori to explain this, either in the book, or on the bonus DVD. But alas, terrorism won over. And I very much like that Tori explores this. It takes us back to oldies like Cornflake Girl, Bells For Her, and Blood Roses. I feel that with the ‘pill’ lyric, Tori is reminding us that terrorism can be present in the smallest of places.
This song is also my first introduction to Damien Rice’s voice (shame shame on me!) and I really loved it in this song -especially towards the end when it really kicks in! There are times, though, when I feel like Tori’s backing vocals and Damien’s vocals are fighting it out.
JAMAICA INN:
Haha - I love it when Tori brings in pirates!
There seems to be a lot going on in this song - Peggy-Ann, Rebecca, the pirates, the captain and ‘he’. Plus, I don’t know too much about Jamaica Inn the place and Jamaica Inn the Daphne Du Maurier novel. I’d like to do some more research so that I can properly appreciate this song. Musically, it’s quite a pretty tune, and reminds me of tiny waves washing up against the shore.
BARONS OF SUBURBIA:
I close my eyes and feel like I’m being pushed around like a rag doll in a circle. I love the driving tune of this. Sort of a cross between Carbon and Siren
My ears are delighting in the guitar work here, too. Lyrically, I really think she is referring to ‘those who are they’ (name for the Atlantic head honchos Tori talks about in Piece By Piece). The line ‘take another piece of my good graces’ makes me think of the part in the book about the controversy surrounding the Strange Little Girls album. There were other record companies that were so taken by the album that they wanted to buy it from Atlantic. Atlantic said no, forfeiting a gracious ending to the contract. The fact that ‘poison’ and ‘potion’ are only one letter off reminds me of the conversation between Tori and her mum in the song canvas for Take To The Sky. This song is definitely in my Top 5.
SLEEPS WITH BUTTERFLIES:
This is another song placement I’m having trouble with. I lose my groove again after Barons. However, after reading Piece By Piece, and and an article in Women Who Rock magazine, I am beginning to think that this song was actually strategical move. I wouldn’t be surprised given Tori’s strength, wit and humour!
Getting back to the song, I do think it has a very catchy chorus and I think that most women (and men?) can relate to it. I know that I have slept with butterflies on many occasions -particularly in Japan. In my last 18 months or so of my time in Japan, many of my female co-workers left and I was eventually the only female teacher left at my school. I suddenly found myself in a boys’ locker room, which wasn’t very pleasant to say the least. Consequently there were many Boys’ Nights, and my boy would go along to them. I’d sit at home thinking about how him and I were the only serious couple around, and what the hell was he doing with me? Why not some gorgeous Japanese chick? And I wanted to ‘kiss away night’. But then at 5am, when blokey waltzed in the door, the butterflies scattered.
I love the line, ‘I don’t hold onto the tail of your kite’ -it might also be referring to Tash. The acrobat part also reminds me Mother
General Joy:
I am in mad love with this song...everything about it.
The piano, the driving beat, the vocals -they’re all so addictive
I’ve been singing this all week, but it’s bloody hard!The ‘response’ vocals and some of the piano parts also remind me of Space Dog, one of my dearest Tori songs, and that’s a very good thing, lol. I like to think that General Joy is Space Dog’s owner
The explanation Tori gives on the DVD about this song is great. I can appreciate the song so much more, and understand the song’s sadness.
Heh, I love most of the political songs! I’m an easy target! But I’m glad Tori could see that the song could fit on the album. I’ve really come to appreciate the way Tori puts in relevant and current issues in her music. Although I wasn’t too keen on the sound of ‘Angels’, I was still glad Tori put it out there, as the lyrics were very clear to me then since I’d just started reading ‘Stupid White Men’ (also where I learned exactly what the Potomac was!).
