Tori Amos

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Tori Amos

body: Tori Amos And Her Archetypes

The lyrics of Tori Amos are some of the most complicated in music

today. They remain the primary focus of her dedicated fans, as well

as her detractors, despite the media's fixation on her past history of

rape and abuse. They are complicated on many levels, and Tori Amos'

lyrics demand a mythological approach to scratch the surface of her

artistic vision. In several interviews, she has admitted to being much

influenced by numerous books of symbology and others of Jungian

psychology and their archetypal insights. "I don't fall in love much.

I mean, I fall in love every five seconds with something but I don't go

from boy to boy. I go from archetype to archetype" (Rogers 33). Most

dominantly, her lyrics rely on concept of the archetypal woman in all

of her aspects. Motifs of creation and destruction are also

represented in her work. Her ideals of balance for herself and

femininity in general have propelled her into stardom; her uses of

archetypes have led the way.

The allusions to Christian mythology and obscure references in "Father

Lucifer" delve deeper than the casual listener may recognize. Even

Toriphiles, her avid fans like to affectionately refer to themselves in

this way, are pushed to the edge of their comprehension in attempting

to come up with a meaning for every image. Applying a critical

mythological approach works best with "Father Lucifer's" imagery

because the archetypes lurk just below the surface. The title of this

song aids the audience in being able to place the situation -as does

the song's tranquil melody; the speaker treats the Lucifer character

with compassion and appreciation. Lucifer represents more than just

the idea of the Christian Devil; he is the Jungian shadow. "The shadow

is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him" (Guerin

180). He is not unlike other symbolic representations of this

archetype in literature, namely Milton's Satan. "Father Lucifer"

begins with questions and infe! rences from the speaker that seem

encouraging: "Tell me that you're still in love with that Milkmaid/

how's the Lizzies/ how's your Jesus Christ been hanging" (Amos, Boys

for Pele). Toriphiles and new listeners alike might concede that

picking out who or what "the Lizzies" are is a daunting task. It is

clear that they represent something and that their connection is more

than likely appropriate, however, the reference is just not available.

Who "the Milkmaid" may be remains another reference on the same cryptic

plane. We might just be able to expect that the Milkmaid was simply a

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