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One
(Dutch magazine) Nobody sings like Tori Amos. And her
ideas aren’t so ordinary as well. The singer with the laser eyes about rapes,
inner demons, cruel women and frightened men. Tori Amos sits ducked away in her
black coat. No pictures please and actually rather not a conversation as well.
There have been too many journalists today. What does she think about being an
example for a lot of women? A little angry she mutters in her
coat: “The only
thing that bothers me is when women are being cruel to other women. They become
that way when their inner self is wounded. They’re almost not accessible. You
can always seduce a man but a woman will try to break that force. A woman who’s
harsh is like an animal that kills, like a predator.” Tori Amos went through a lot in her
life. She was a piano prodigy, was raped when she was 21 and miscarried two
years ago. All this grief went into her songs. Does she feel like these events
have a purpose? “Sure, in the past
hundred years issues like rape and incest are being critisized for the first
time. Women are allowed to work, have an independent life and can refuse sex. Such
an attitude does have its influence on men as well. Sometimes they can’t get
their penis up for strong women.
( She graps her crotch) But it can turn around in sexual abuse as well. Sometimes after
the show children tell me they’re in an incestuest situation. When they say it’s
Gods will, I can cut the culprit’s throat. Abuse isn’t what God was talking
about. Absolutely not. Fuck God’s will.” Tori co-founded the RAINN (Rape
Abuse and Incest National Network).A help line for victims of sexual abuse.
Since the start a quarter of a million women phoned. In interviews she often
mentions women have to fight like lions. What does she mean by this? “When you’re abused
there’s a time to cry, to be looked after and stop the bleeding. But there will
be a time that you have to look after yourself. I believe women have to get
more powerful. They are always looking for the prince on the white horse or the
dark prince who can lighten their dark sides.” Excuse me, dark prince? By now Tori
sits on the tip of her chair. “Society always
allowed men to do what they wanted to do: drink, fight, rape, screw. Enough
room for the dark side. At the same time women would wait frightened. When will
I be raped, robed or abused? Some of them turn as hard as nails because of that
fear. You can’t reach them anymore. I was like that as well. But physical I’m
in reach of course. I mean, that penis has to get in somewhere. Women shouldn’t
deny their dark side. Sometimes those demons are frightening and sometimes they’re
beautiful. You’ll have to approach them. Drink a glass of wine with them, take
them for a walk on the beach, examine yourself. When you’ll think about
yourself for 15 minutes a day, very honest and without a lot of criticism, you
will get to know your force. Every person is unique. You have to find and
respect that unique part in yourself. You can’t expect others to do the work
for you. I believe a personality is like a labyrinth where you can make a
wonderful journey. And that journey can take a lifetime.” Two years ago Tori married her
British sound engineer Mark Hawley. They live in Cornwall where they have a
studio as well. When she’s so distrustful to men doesn’t she find it hard to
have relationships with them? “No, I don’t find
personal relationships hard. Believe it or not I have a sense of humor. Men
have their own battles. To be honest, their lives spin around women. Take a
look at history. In the end it’s always about who can screw the daughter?” cd’s and themes Little Earthquakes (1992) and Under
the Pink (1994) Boys for Pele (1996) From the Choirgirl hotel (1998) To Venus and Back (1999) |