you for a while

Talula

Lyrics, Music, and Commentary by Tori Amos

So this was filmed in Battersea Power Station in London. I guess you could say its a performance video more than a story video. Clearly there are elements of investigation. I was investigating Southern culture with this song, Talula. So, I think the idea of, um, being checked over, and weighed up, and put under the microscope was, I guess, you know, a good opportunity for somebody to put me in a box again. I do like acrobats. I’ve always had a, I don’t know, incredible respect for them. I’m not afraid of heights but at the same I can’t say I’m daring.

So I sort of, um, trusted the director and let him just bring in these very abstract elements. Do I know what this video is about? Absolutely not, I have no idea. But I don’t really mind that. He had something in his head and I, it made sense to me while he was telling me. Um, I kind of, you know, I like a good caper and I like it when you bring the science in with music.

So I did my bit and I guess Karen and Leslie Chilkes, the glam squad at the time, were really about, um, not too many tricks, just you know “Go play the harpsichord.” So I said, you know, okay. I can’t do a lot but I think I can do that.

~ Tori Amos on Talula (from Fade to Red)