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Teenage Hustling

Pip

Lyrics by Tori Amos

You think you can come around here
All up in his face
All up in my world

You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your door
You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your

You gotta right you gotta right to know
You gotta right you gotta right to know
me and my Teenage Hustling

I've been workin' it
since I'z fourteen
me and my Teenage Hustling
It's gonna save me
Save me save me save me save me save me
from your dirty dealings
you're a Dirty Girl
you're such a Dirty Girl

You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your door
You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your

Maybe the riddle of this accident
goes back to your gossip
With a ferocious strategy
you play wounded in his cockpit
But I think that you forgot my days
of Teenage Hustling
You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your door
You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your

You gotta right you gotta right to know
You gotta right you gotta right to know
You gotta right you gotta right to know

me and my Teenage Hustling
I've been workin' it
since I'z fourteen
me and my Teenage Hustling
I've been workin' it
since I'z fourteen

But you been skankin' around
with your talentless trash
You only shoot blanks
at your cocksure best
me and my Teenage Hustling
me and my Teenage Hustling

It's gonna save me
Save me save me save me save me save me
from your dirty dealings
Now I don't mind a Dirty Girl
I don't mind a Dirty Girl

You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your door

You better know you better know you better know
I'm at your door I'm at your door I'm at your door


Tori Quotes

For a while during the '00s, you were fond of performing as various characters. Did you find that this enabled you to access pieces of yourself that, for whatever reason, you felt unwilling or unable to "as" yourself? The raw anger of this song -- and the others performed as Pip on American Doll Posse -- strikes me as an example of that.

Working with archetypal myths pushed me out of my comfort zone. Exploring the Greek goddess pantheon was important for me in order to grow as a woman and as an artist. Checking in with the Posse from time to time is something I try and do and bring them into the creative process. Pip lives on and I guess I have changed by knowing them. I had read a book that talked about the idea that each woman carries with her a different amount of the mythical archetypes within her personality. And I thought to myself, then if I am, as Tori, more of a Demeter archetype and less of the others, than I need to allow each of the other archetypes of the Greek pantheon to crawl under my skin. This exploration was channeled into music and story.

Of all of them I enjoyed learning from Pip, who carried the Athena myth. She has an intense energy and although is not warm and fuzzy, carried an integrity of mind, which attracted me to her. Also, she did not swoon over men and was tough to impress on that front. She saw through male and female agendas like a hunting dog. She taught me to observe people's intentions. She could be unforgiving. [The Quietus - June 19, 2014]


Live Versions

"Teenage Hustling"
June 15, 2007 - Seinajoki, Finland
Provinssirock Festival



"She's Your Cocaine" / "Teenage Hustling" (as Pip)
July 21, 2023 - Los Angeles, California




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