you for a while

Music and Lyrics by: Tori Amos

Instrumentation: Vocal, Acoustic Piano, Backgrounds, Programmed Keyboard, Percussion, Dulcimer.

Category: Commentary

Brief Summary: Happy Phantom boasts some of the most fun lyrics on Little Earthquakes…although it would have to fight with others for top spot for the most fun of all the Tori songs. (Hoochie Woman, anyone?) There is some amount of consensus that the song is about death (esp. given Tori’s quote below)…what it is like to be dead, what it is like to not be alive, the pros and cons of having passed on. One one hand she thinks it would be fun (i.e. never needing umbrellas, waking up in strawberry fields, having nothing to bitch about). However, on the other hand, she ponders how quickly she will be forgotten, especially by those who supposedly loved her with all of their heart.

Tori’s Comments: (from the Little Earthquakes songbook) “When the songs began showing up I wrote their names on separate envelopes and made a faery ring in the middle of the house. I’d sit in the middle of the ring to focus on a song’s direction. All of the songs seemed to work toward the completeness of the other. They decided we needed to hang out with death for awhile.”

Fan Comments/Interpretations: Fans like the image of the “phantom”…how Tori paints an ever-so-fun portrait of death–that is, until the face-smack that is the “or will I see you dear and wish I could come back…” line. As for specific lines, I’ve seen some good catches regarding references to “The Phantom of the Opera” and the meaning of the “Confucius doing crosswords with a pen” line–i.e. he’s so smart he doesn’t need a pen, or he’s dead just like Tori, or there is no such thing as time when you’re dead.

China2Ny’s Comments: I think Tori demonstrates superior lyric and song writing in Happy Phantom. She knows just how to make us smile or think “She’s so cute” or “Hey, it might not be so bad to be dead…and then BAM! “Or do we soon forget the things we cannot see?” She sobers us up right quick. The dulcimer is an excellent addition, making Happy Phantom one of the most unique songs on the album (imho).