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Taratata (France, TV)
March 8, 1994

Tori Amos interview and live performance

"Past the Mission"



interview



"China" (duet)



transcript by Andria Lishka

(Tori performs "Past the Mission")

Int: (Starts out by complementing her style of piano playing, she says 'Thanks')

Int: So what does the title of your latest album Under the Pink mean? Under the skin? Behind the girl?

Tori: You got it. You said it.

Int: Huh?

Tori: It's sort of the whole concept of woman.

Int: Your words [lyrics] are very strong, where do you get them?

Tori: Well...

Int: (sort of cutting her off- he's been translating between the English of his questions and french for the audience) You seem to have a lot of trouble with religion-

Tori: Yeah, well a lot of the lyrics are about religion and sex- I got a letter recently, from a guy who wanted to marry me-

Int: (interrupts and translates for the audience, then asks her to go on)

Tori: The guy wanted to marry me, and tie me to a chair and read the Lord's word to me, 18 hours a day, until I understood God.

Int: (tries and fails to understand all of this, and gets someone else, to try to tell her answer in French, and this person got most of it, except the part about it being God's word the guy wanted to read to her, then they invite viewers to call in if they understood it differently)

Int: So your father is a priest?

Tori: Yes, a pastor.

Int: Does he agree with your words [lyrics].

Tori: Oh no. Not at all.

Int: Does that cause problems for your family? Do you hate your father?

Tori: No, we're still friends, but when we're together there are certain subjects we don't talk about...

Int: What's your big problem with religion, and your dad, what was it that bothered him?

Tori: Well, when I was little, we were taught to be like Mary, the virgin, and I always said, but what about the Magdalene? We know she was a single mother and liked to have fun. I always wanted to be like her, not Mary the virgin.

~ ~ ~

At this point, they wrapped it up, saying two of the other singers that had been on the show really liked her singing, and they brought out those two, and Tori played piano, and they (all three of them) sang an abridged version of "China," which sounded really good, actually, then her spot was over.

They had her on for maybe ten or fifteen minutes total. Incidentaly, this edition of this particular show, Taratata, happened to feature only women artists (usually there's guy artists too, and mainly only French artists).


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