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Tori's Strange Little Girls album was reviewed in the October/November 2001 issue of Ms. Magazine in the U.S.. Thanks to Raspberry Swirl Girl, Jill and Dale Folan for telling me.
Tori Amos has always been outspoken about gender politics, but this time she
lets men do the speaking for her. Well, sort of. In Strange Little Girls,
she covers 12 songs originally written by men, and though she doesn't change
the words, Amos manages to change their meaning just because she's the one
singing them. The most outrageous cover is of Eminem's infamous "'97 Bonnie
& Clyde," sung from the point of view of a father explaining to his young
daughter how he killed her mother. Originally rapped in a boastful, snide
voice, Amos whisper-speaks her version, never showing emotion, even when
describing "that little boo-boo on [Mommy's] throat." Backed by an eerie
piano, the song becomes heart-stoppingly frightening, a far cry from
Eminem's intent. Other songs on the album explore themes of love, violence
and masculinity from a woman's point of view, and Amos ends with Joe
Jackson's "Real Men," challenging listeners with the line "Now and then we
wonder who the real men are."
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