Tori Amos - Virginia

[jnsash003]

After this album, it's gonna be hard to find anything that can compare to it's artistry. I thought I knew depth, musicality, lyricism and raw musical emotion - after Scarlet's Walk, I feel like the saying says: "A man who knows something, knows that he knows nothing at all".

[g1v3m3s0und]

This song brings goosebumps to my skin, and tears to my eyes... It's so beautiful.

[4torigirl]

it's utterly difficult to pick a fave Tori song but I will say that this one is in my top FIVE. love ya Tor. :)

[1973johnathan]

she sounds like an angel crying...absolutely breathtaking ...

[dangpet]

@1973johnathan yeah, she really does sound like an angel to me....friend as well

[1973johnathan]

@dangpet --- i also love her live version of "cooling" and "garlands" is another breath taking song.....but my ultimate fave is "hey jupiter" the dakota version truely a masterpiece !!!!

[merc3desah]

this is so much better than the album version

[SupernalOne]

A woman to admire -

I interacted with her once, I'm proud to say - at her most recent concert in DC, summer before last - during the intro of Strong Black Vine, she held a synth chord for 8 beats, and I got in a long howl, you can hear it on the vid clip - trying to fire things up, give some audience response, and she went on to give an particularly rousing rendition, with an especially furious rant at the end - yes, we worked together very well, casting the evening's spell :) viva Tori!

[deftoniano1]

uno de los mas preciosos temas de Tori Amos...el mejor creo yo

[biulactress]

MARAVILHOOOSSSAAAAAA

[higgay]

absolutely beautiful

[BugAMartini]

This album is the antithesis of all music out there; this album moves me with every song and is a Masterpiece!

[coolgirly08]

she gives me chills down my spine :D!!x

[sowideawake]

This is from a show called Music Planete on Arte, a French/German TV station. All the songs from this show were piano only and some of the BEST live performances of the songs from Scarlet's Walk.

[clitorides]

This video is amazing..one of my favorites of all time on youtube & definitely in the top ten of favorite Tori songs. I'm going see her tomorrow & I'm spazzing & wishing the day would go by faster!

[sexysebastian]

i hope you had such a great time

[Karolcia1993]

just amazing, Tori is incredibly talented

[slivertoe]

Wow. I love the original version of this song, but when it's just the piano, the truly complex compositional structure really comes through!

[clitorides]

soooo beautiful with just her and the piano. i see every song that way with her..the natural, pure beauty shines through.

[longlonggone]

I just had to buy my second copy of Scarlet's Walk cause my old one was so shagged out from being played and played. When I got it home I had to play this first. It's masterful. It kinda encapsulates everything I love about Tori's music. The playing, the lyric, the whole mood of "Virginia" is so quintessentially Tori.

[twinkiefly]

she looks absolutely ethereal here... sounds it too ;)

[avalon9276]

to me shes talking about the land the earth mother earth the godess and she really conveys and perrsonalises the idea of really seeing the earth as mother so beautiful !!

[spinyopaat]

I Just discovered "Scarlets walk" and i CRIED...it was so intence and then this song...there is no word for this feeling...

[altf4likeohmygawd]

@spinyopaat ...welcome to the wonderful world of being an 'ear with feet' as Tori likes to call us. she'll make you feel things and bring about new perspectives and when it happens, baby, you won't know what hit ya.

[analogR]

the tentive it makes completely sense!!!she is my soul guide i simply adore her music.

[es1132]

I have to agree!! She's defintiely my muse!!

[cindylauper]

Truly...a Goddess.

[liquidrunning]

Don't worry, I feel the same way. Tori, and noise rock both! :)

[theTentative]

i discovered tori in '96 when i bought "boys for pele" by mistake really. i thought it was something completely different. i've been in love with her music ever since. everytime i hear her voice it feels like home.. in a weird way. does that make sense?

[TragedienneValaryia]

I actually don't care for the studio recording of this song. But I'm in love with the song live. There's a purity in just the piano and her voice that really brings out the emotion. Strange how much I adore this version versus my sort of "ehh" opinion on the studio recording.

[nohumid]

one of my favorite songs by tori!

[charlesrosevear]

First time listening to her...i thought she was like cheesy eighties music...boy was i wrong! some of her music is a little too estrogen heavy for me...but i still like it. And she is gorgeous too and in a very unique way.

[sirsniffy]

If I had not gone away to college, I would have never discovered Tori...I'd still be listening to corporate R&B. Thank God for her music!

[Smoohah]

Me too!!! I have been saved by her since about96 or so.

[Chocolateluvr1987]

On another note, when was this recorded? She looks very different there from what she looks like now.

[ENeithneYA]

I guess it was something like 2002.

That's when Scarlet's Walk released.

[frailure]

This song give me goosebumps. So amazing.

[wakingribbons]

one of my favs from scarlet's walk. it always gives me goosebumps.

[jamesgov]

Thanks for posting. My favorite from Scarlet's Walk

I love & appreciate all the takes on the song. Just to add a more contemporary flare, the strong sense I get from this song is about identity. Things are created & named to signify something, & over time things (wants,desires,power,etc) compromise the glory of what they originally were. "Virginia" was meant to be all that. Listening to the last minute of the song, "Even you, Virginia" Tori connects with that loss, & transcends all views

[Vamphaery]

I was totally about to post something akin to that. I agree. It gives me chills because it makes me feel the loss myself of so many aspects of my larger human identity that I'll never know now because they're lost irretrievably to history, greed, and other seemingly eternal forces.

[Traffordgirl111]

speechless.

[MartinB1979]

great!

thanks for sharing!!

[klistarf]

Beautiful! Both the music and the vision... (:o)

[Isaksen]

I wish she would do more songs with just the piano . This version is so much more moving than the band version

[ToriAnneSchriver]

I completely agree!!! This song is one of my very faves and this is a GREAT acoustic version!

[Chocolateluvr1987]

I agree! I prefer her piano versions over the hyped up radio/album songs. Tori is amazing live, why distort that?

I wish American Doll Posse went more by that principle.

[metalgirlxxx]

Just perfect, I love Tori and I love this song. This performance was great but I think it sounds much better with the band.

[rockprincess1712]

i love tori amos shes the best singer of all ♥

i wanna play the piano like her.!!

[izabellizima]

Thanks for posting it.

Tori does it best ALONE.

I wish she'd tour witihout the boys.

[razycrandomgirl]

my first concert by her she didn't have the band (I was a little let down cause I wanted to hear all of "She's Your Cocain") ... I like it when it's split. Some songs need the extra support and engery she gets from her band mates. I'm glad she does both.

[higgay]

this gave me goosebumps...thanks for posting it

[meadowsleigh]

BTW, this was the Jools Holland show.

[velvetjosephine]

this is from 2002 - she performed for ARTE (french/german tv)

[meadowsleigh]

OH! Do'h! I meant to leave that comment on a Joanna Newsom video drrr....... nevermind.

[prl1973]

Thanks! A unique version, I love it

[meladorimagpie]

great song

[Kross14]

the best song of scarlet's walk...love it!

[clitorides]

DEFINITELY!

[writer4peace]

Thanx ... wow!

[8Eyleen8]

ooohhh virginiaaaa... so magic... wonderful...

[clitorides]

And yes..that part of this song is one of the most beautiful things these ears have ever had the pleasure of listening to :-)

[cranberryboi]

Sigh... My mother is decended from the Shawnee people of the Ohio valleys (though i am the image of my Irish father) and this song has always touched me on a deep personal level. Thank you Tori, and Thank you poster.

[wolfnwren]

I agree, cranberryboi. My mother is Acadian-Mi'kmaq (Eastern Canada and US, but who's countin' borders?). I too take after my Irish father. My mother's native history is all but forgotten, but I remember... This is the saddest song I have ever heard. It also touches me on a personal level. I bawl every time I hear it. Welalin Tori. Peace to all nations.

[seraphale]

This is the song of every woman. Hang on to your lip gloss, girls.

[Longbow1978]

Awesome and magic

[nefariumXX]

She is really channeling the power in this one. Strikingly beautiful. I love the look in her eyes, and the expression.

[onassis73]

Thank you so very much for posting this clip!

It is by far , my favorite Tori Amos song.

[vwingate]

One of my favourite songs ever and a really nice understated performance. Not loud or wild just dignified.

[lfg210]

I agree that it's allegorical, yes, but it's not quite so tightly wrapped around one figure. Tropes are not so easily pinned down. There are many figures who blend into each other in this song.

[zebralicious]

The song also has allusions to the Indian woman who is popularly known as Pocahontas, although her real name was  Matoaka. She's used as an allegory to what happened to the native people of North America. After converting to Christianity (soul trading), she changed her name to Rebecca. Check out the film The New World by Terrence Malick. The movie is this song put to film.

[lfg210]

Virginia is about the alienation of Native peoples from their culture & lands. Virginia (a person? The land now marked as a U.S. state?) is a figure with a european name whose original 'name' is unknown & perhaps inaccessible. Her symbols have been alienated & reassigned. Nevertheless, we are haunted by this historical process, 'covered' by it all the same--'from her sunrise to clockwise, to soul trading.' This video is amazing & is one of my all time fav's.

[lhomville]

oups... I was wrong for the show : it's "music planet tonight" !

[lhomville]

Yeah... wish to see it again for years! It was on french-german Tv : Arte. On a show called rock'n'roll circus.... Love this song !

[Jolinare]

this is such an excellent song!

[natashaclaire]

chillingly powerful. breathtaking. thank you so much for posting, and thank you Tori for writing a song about prostituted women. I think her CDs are sadly overproduced now, just the piano is so much better . . .