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A negative article about Scarlet's Walk appeared in the September 24, 2002 edition of the New York Press newspaper. They will not even give the record a fair chance... Thanks to Nancy (Bansheei) and Marco for being the first to tell me about this. You can read it at the New York Press web site or below:
And You Thought Mr. Roboto Was Bad
By William S. Repsher
Tori Amos—good witch or bad witch? Sprinkle the following fairy dust on your psyche and decide yourself. Promoting her new album, Scarlet’s Walk, which deals metaphorically with post 9/11 America, Amos had this to say to MTV News: "After the Twins went down, it was a time the masks were down for people, and people were asking questions that they haven't asked in a while. I was asking questions."
Fair enough. According to MTV News, "Amos sings from the perspective of Scarlet …Scarlet's Walk loosely traces Scarlet's path as she travels 3,000 miles to come to the aid of a friend, an aging porn star named Amber Waves. Her name is a metaphor for America, complete with its myths, misconception and sub-surface beauty."
All right, now we’re getting into sophomore creative writing class. Just heard the skatepunk tearfully read his thinly-veiled narrative about an abusive father, and now we get the mousy, wild-eyed girl in a shawl telling us about an aging porn star named Amber Waves who represents so much more than that.
Let’s keep moving. Amos again, as Scarlet: "Events happen that make me question what I believe in and make me question what my country has been up to, and I start searching out answers: Who are the good guys? Because it doesn't seem like the ones that are calling themselves the good guys are doing the things I thought they were in the country's name."
And here’s where the tornado drops a house on Tori while the munchkins cower in the technicolor bushes. One of her most famous songs is "Me and a Gun," in which she details being raped, with lyrics like, "Yes I wore a slinky red thing/Does that mean I should spread/For you, your friends/Your father, Mr. Ed?" Well, to use Amos’ logic with her new album, the answer to that question is yes, Mr. Ed, unless she seeks to draw no comparison between the personal and political, which seems odd as that’s her whole point in using metaphorical characters. But to use her mindset now, America was "asking for it" the same way she was by wearing "a slinky red thing"—right? Substitute sexual imperialism for cultural, and that poor rapist who had a go at her was simply responding in the only way he knew how to years of intimidation and repression, the same way the terrorists did on 9/11. Sounds screwy? I hope you’re nodding in agreement. If not, Tori Amos’ new album, Scarlet Walk, is in stores on Oct. 29!
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