"from the choirgirl hotel"
2nd Single: Raspberry Swirl & Jackie's Strength
Updated May 11, 1999
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"from the choirgirl hotel" Updated May 11, 1999 |
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The Choirgirl Pages -
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This Page Could Take A While To Load...Sorry!Raspberry Swirl was to be the new U.K. single, but it was sadly cancelled. However, other places received the Raspberry Swirl single, including Germany and Australia, and the single is readily available as an import in the U.K. & U.S. Look below for the latest on the Raspberry Swirl saga! In the United States & Canada, the second single was "Jackie's Strength.", which was released on September 15, 1998 in the U.S. and on September 22, 1998 in Canada. Find out details about BOTH these singles below (including promo versions), and their respective videos. | |
Raspberry Swirl was the second choirgirl single in Europe and Australia. The U.K version of this single was cancelled (However, there might be a few versions of the cancelled U.K. single floating around out there. Grab it if you see it because it will become quite a collector's item!) The single was released in Germany, Australia, Belgium (Thanks Raffie!) and perhaps France. Toriphiles in the U.S. and U.K. should have a relatively easy time finding this single as an import at many record stores and online vendors.
The remixes of Raspberry Swirl were done by Andy Gray. You can hear sound clips of all three mixes from the Raspberry Swirl single (commonly known as "Strawberry" Swirl) at the Tori World
web site.
Toriphiles Nathan and Alexandra kept me informed about the Raspberry Swirl single in Australia. Alexandra tells me that the single was released in Australia on Monday, September 7, 1998. Nathan adds:
Christoph Viethen and Yves Van Assel informed me that the single was released in Germany on August 24, 1998 (AT0045CD - Cat.no: 7567-84173-2) and contained these tracks (If the U.K. single had made it to market, it also would have had this track listing.):
Christoph describes the release: "'Made in Germany by (warner logo) Warner Music Manufacturing Europe. France EW 773' it says on the sleeve, and 'AT0045CD'. Slim-line jewel case. Take a look at http://www.ljwren.demon.co.uk/paul/FTCGH.html for an impression of what the picture disc and the sleeve look like (on that version, the copyright notices on the sleeve are missing, though, and the text on the disc is a little different)."
Tim Thacher reports, "The lip gloss version seemed to have an extra drum beat with some minor additional mixing in it. Sticky Extended Vocal Mix is a dancy kind of song, but in my opinion better than Professional Widow Dance Mixes, when they came out. The Scarlet Spectrum Feels version is slower, but still very good."
EWF Danica reports that the Lip Gloss version of Raspberry Swirl has a bit more piano and a reverb on her voice at times, but nothing majorly different from the album version. The Scarlet Spectrun Feels mix was heard over the speakers in some venues right after Tori performed during the Plugged '98 tour.
EWF Catja Dralle has this to say about this single:
Lip Gloss Version Sticky Extended Vocal Mix Scarlet Spectrum feels And again, the title fits the song almost perfectly (you could add
Scarlet Space Spectrum feels).
I loved the original Swirl from the very beginning, I was so fascinated
that Tori created something totally different still representing herself
so well. The power is just so impressive, and I don't even know, where
it comes from; the drums, the lyrics or Tori's voice. I guess, it's the
combination.
To me as a woman, the lyrics have a very special meaning. There are just
these days, when every male seems to stare at my body, just because it's
female and not because it's human. It's the days, I'm not sure it's a
good thing to be a girl. And that's also the days, I feel a lot more
attracted to women. Sisterly, but with theoretically unopened doors. Can
you follow me at all? Don't get me wrong; it's not that I'm a dyke and
hate guys or anything, it's just that once in while I'm tired of men
considering their body center as the center of the world. And Swirl is
the song that would tell them that two girls indeed can be enough.
don't have much to add to this one, except that some lines are echoed,
doubled or whatever you would call that.
there's no piano in this one, the beat is heavyweight like in the
professional widow..mix ->dancemix! there are some beautiful "extended
vocals" in here, very tori, crawls your back up and down, soft "swirls"
here, harsh "yeahs" there. If you take your headphones, close your eyes and turn it UP, it's
hynotical and the title really reveals, what the song is like!!!
I've listened many times to it, and it still has the power to make me
cry. It is so strong, there is so much enery in it, it is unbelieveable.
There are hardly any drums in this one and just a handful of piano keys.
It is basically electronic sounds (similar but heavier like the ones in
the hey jupiter-the dakota version) and the vocals. The sounds also
reminded me a little bit of Depeche Mode.
I'm not really sure if it is slower than than the regular one, maybe in
some parts but I think that it only seems to be slower, because the
drums are missing.
This single should be available as an import from several online vendors, including www.sirencd.com.
The U.K. version of the Raspberry Swirl CD single was cancelled, but German imports of the single are readily available in the U.K. Many people who bought the single in the U.K. don't realize they are getting an import. Others would like to know how to tell the German import from the actual UK single that was cancelled (because of few of these were leaked out before the CD was officially cancelled. Toriphile Burak posted to the Precious-Things mailing list a description of the cancelled UK single so that collectors could tell it apart from the German import:
The RS singles which have import stickers on them are imported from germany... i don't have the german release but i was lucky enough to find one of the withdrawn UK ones so maybe i should tell what it looks like so you can find the unimportant small differences which makes the german one import. The UK one, probably like the german one, comes in slim line jewel case and it is a picture CD: face of Tori which is more shiny than the pic on the promo CD (it's like the difference between the pics on the Spark cd1 and cd2). It doesnt have a fold out sleeve, just one page, track names and running times written on it and it doesn't state where it was made in. The only real difference would be the DISCTRONICS label behind the CD so this small detail makes it worth over 30 pounds(however I'm sure you can get it for a more reasonable price)
Mike Gray says the Catalogue number of the cancelled U.K. single was WEA 578968.
EWF Paul Wren stumbled across a copy of the U.K.Raspberry Swirl CD single, as well as the 12" promo vinyl as well, even though these items are not being officially released now. The 12" promo, while not common, has been available from time to time from various vendors, though they tend to sell out quickly. Here is Paul's report on the cancelled U.K. RS single and the 12" promo:
Art work and disc are the same as the promotional 2-track. The catalogue number is AT0045CD and 756 841732. Both Atlantic and EastWest Logo's are on the disc only. There are no label logo's on the sleeve inserts at all.
Track list:
1. Lip Gloss Version (3:38)
2. Sticky Extended Vocal Mix (7:50)
3. Scarlet Spectrum Feels (8:10)
The 12" promo. has :
1. Sticky Extended Instrumental (9:34)
2. Sticky Extended Vocal (7:50)
I have included an image of the important part of the 12" promo front cover. (Pictured to the right)
The 'Scarlet Spectrum Feels' mix is fantastic. It is slow and soothing and unlike any 'Dance' mix I've ever heard before. This is the one that is not on the 2-track promo. I think. It is slow and has Tori's vocals floating around fading in and out. It is probably the best version (other than the original). I will put up a RealAudio clip on my page at :
Raspberry Swirl was apparently being played in the clubs in the U.K. On August 10, 1998, you could find a blurb about Raspberry Swirl on the Dotmusic Web Site in the Club Chart commentary section. (Thanks Giovanni Mantilla.) It said:
A U.K. promotional CD single for Raspberry Swirl did make it out for a while, and you can sometimes find the promo single for sale at various vendors and sometimes at the eBay auction site. Mike Gray sent me the artwork for that promo single as well as a scan of the disc (See below.) The promo CD has these 2 tracks:
The Catalogue number is 3333000092, and it's on east/west. The CD itself doesn't give away the fact that it's a promo - however, it has no barcode (a dead giveaway), only 2 tracks, and inside the sleeve (on the reverse of the cover) it does say, in tiny lettering "for promotional use only, not for sale".
U.K. Raspberry Swirl Promo Artwork
U.K. Raspberry Swirl Promo Disc
I went insane trying to understand the deal with Tori's second single in the U.K.. First we heard it was going to be Jackie's Strength. Then we heard it was going to be a 2-CD release for Raspberry Swirl. Then we were told that it would be a 1 CD release. Then the U.K. Raspberry Swirl single was cancelled! This situation was both bizarre and frustrating. Some say EastWest did not think the single would sell well, and so they pulled it. Others say that EastWest is going through some major restructuring that caused all this.
Back in 1998, U.K. Toriphile Mike Gray posted to the Tori mailing lists a detailed account of what happened with the second single plans in the U.K. It is an accurate and funny account which also shows how unorganized Tori's record company in the U.K. must be! Mike's account is below:
First, Jackie's Strength was announced, 2 CD set, including "Merman" - general joy and merriment, everyone hands over money to CD stores around the world in order to secure their copies. E/w kickstart their promotion machine with adverts in the trade press, and indeed in-store promotional CDs including Jackie. So far, so good.
- evaluation : good start -
Second, Jackie is "postponed" for a further 2 weeks... much grumbling, but no real problem.
- evaluation : wheels have begun to fall from wagon, yet it trundles on -
Third, Jackie is cancelled, no reason given, despite there being both a video, possibly even CDs pressed. (Or if they had *ever* planned on meeting either release date, CDs should have been pressed).
- evaluation : horses have bolted, both wheels have fallen off wagon, and cargo is spoiled -
Fourth, Raspberry Swirl is announced, and the video makes an appearance on "The Box". Promotion is minimal to say the least, yet they manage to release a promotional CD in the UK (2-tracks, "Lip Gloss Version" and "Naked") the release date on the promo is August 3rd.
- evaluation : new horses and wheels, cargo is spoiled, but still saleable -
August 3rd comes and goes, reviews appear in the press and on Channel 4 teletext (last week, sorry I forgot to report it at the time!)... everything looks ready for the August 10th release..
- evaluation : destination neared, nothing can possibly go wrong -
Then it gets cancelled? I'm sorry, but that makes no sense at all. It's a suicidal move for a record company to constantly break their release dates, and then expect the fans to be happy when they finally decide to throw a product out. I suppose now they'll start promotion for "Playboy Mommy" (which I guess will be the fourth single?), release a promo, shoot a video, send the singles to stores and then tell them not to sell them...
- evaluation : driver has gone insane, dismounted, shot both of the horses and set fire to his own wagon -
The promotion here in the UK for this album, and these singles has been nothing short of appalling, it has been mis-managed from the outset, radio-play has been minimal (to the point that I have never heard either JS or RS on the radio), and to be quite frank, members of the public who might be casual Tori fans would never have known that RS was due to be released next week. Simple as that.
Of course, when a single does get launched, and it doesn't sell, it's not e/w who will take the blame, it'll be the artist. I'm sorry, but Tori is still producing consistently good music - and it isn't her fault that the marketing monkeys can't do their job here.
So where does that leave the Toriphiles in the UK? I mean, granted, the US has only had one single, in Spark, and it didn't have all the tracks that the UK version did, but Tori is in the US, has been making prominent TV appearances, and has a very promising new single with new tracks on the way. Here, she is being forgotten after the tour, there is no chance of new appearances, and unless e/w do something to remind people, the audience will find itself dwindling.
However, I've still not been able to contact anyone who I usually try and contact when these things arise to find out if it has been re-scheduled, etc, etc, etc... so let's hope that they see sense and it is released on Monday. The CDs *MUST* have been pressed, so all we need is to find them.. they'll be in a distribution warehouse somewhere.
Anyway, I'll stop ranting now, and let everyone else disagree with me... ;)
There never was a second U.K. single for choirgirl released in 1998. There were indications in the Spring of 1999 that the Jackie's Strength Remix might be released as a single during the summer in the U.K. You can read about that on my Jackie's Strength Remix Page. If this happened it would be a year after the original plans for the second single fell through. Very odd indeed! Below you will find a few other comments that were sent to me in 1998 about the cancelled second single in the U.K.:
September 16, 1998 - Thought I might let you know about the latest Raspberry Swirl release/cancellation info. I subscribe to the UK fanzine Take To The Sky and they have recently sent out their latest issue with a amendment which overwrites what they say in the mag. The amendment says that 'Swirl' WILL be released in the UK but has been postponed until the autumn (no specific date). The reason it was postponed is that Tori could not come to the UK to do the necessary promotions (interviews etc.) for the single as she was too busy touring in the US, and East West feared that it would not make much of an impact if Tori did not promote it properly. Hope that clears things up. [Note from Mikewhy: It appears that info was not true!]
August 12, 1998 - I work at a fairly large, yet independently owned, record store so more often than not you receive the latest information before we do. I have a few thoughts on the "second single seige" as I like to call it. I was very glad to see so much commentary from fans about this today. Here's my take on it: E/W recently regretted its decision to release Raspberry Swirl in the UK (obviously). But even so the cd's have been pressed (there's NO way they could not have been with so many orders and a release date so close). IMHO they are now planning to stick to their original plan to release Raspberry Swirl in Germany (and possibly other markets) but release the much stronger (pop-wise) single, Jackie's Strength to the US and UK. Since the cd's are already made, the August 17 release in Germany may very well be met. Like I said, this is just an opinion, but I think it makes a little sense. As for the ever conflicting listings on internet record companies, this is because of a VERY delayed update system upon which we rely on for release information. Amazon was still listing the orginal 2CD Jackie's Strength info from months ago, and I wouldn't be surprised if they soon list a 2CD Raspberry Swirl realease. It's just delayed reaction, nothing more. One last thing, the Jackie's Strength will certainly be a 2CD release in the US (that is, a cd/cassette 2-track single, and a 3+ track maxi single). I wouldn't worry yeat about the cdnow listings not including the other b-side or enhanced features reported. These will probably be on the maxi-single as the prices and format listed on cdnow are for the cd-mini/cassette single. I hope this puts the whole mess into a little perspective.
August 12, 1998 - So, I've been talking to a few people today about the non-appearance of Raspberry Swirl.
Fact : E/w promised stores that it would be with them *today* for release Monday.
Fact: The stores paid for it.
Fact: It was listed as *2* CD Singles, and *1* Cassette Single.
Fact: It never arrived. No reason was given, and no subsequent date has been given. Nice.
So that's it. Nobody is any the wiser - they paid for it, E/w promised it, and it didn't arrive. It was pulled sometime yesterday, apparently, with no reason given.
The second North American single was "Jackie's Strength". The release date in the U.S. was September 15, 1998 for the special enhanced CD-5 single (though some copies of the single leaked to some stores a little early!) The single is an enhanced CD (Atlantic 2-84163). A cassette single (Atlantic 4-84163 ) was also released. Tori revealed the b-sides that should be on this single in an online chat with TVGEN on August 5, 1998. They are 2 songs that were written for the 1996 Boys For Pele album but never made it on that release. The b-sides are on both the enhanced CD single AND the cassette single. Here is the track listing for this single:
Various Toriphiles, including Chris Johnson and Emilica, have informed me that the bside Never Seen Blue has been heard before in an early form. Track 8 (listed as "Unreleased Song") on a bootleg called "Goddess" is actually a portion of "Never Seen Blue". It served as an introduction for "Sugar" when Tori was playing live at radio station WNEW on February 5, 1996. The lyrics are a little different and were:
spoken: "My B's stuck so I have to change keys, hang on."
(there's some vocal improv here)
Some boy you are
And you said girl if you think
And I've never seen blue
Some boy you are
And, sugar
To take me by the hand
In an elevator
In a dream
Maybe where you know the razor's been
You can change that violator
You'll finally be that woman
Yes, finally be that woman that's been frozen
In that Pretty silver girl
Like the blues he drives
In and around and through me again
I've never seen eyes
Like the blues he drives
In and around and through me again
Through me again
You are
He brings me sugar...
To read guessed lyrics for the Jackie's Strength b-sides, Never Seen Blue & Beulah Land, look below.
Jackie's Strength was released in Canada on September 22, 1998.
On September 15, 1998, I bought both the CD enhanced single and the cassette single in a local store in Louisville, KY, though I had to check a few places before I found it. I have included scans of the cover and back-side of the case, as well as scans of the CD disc itself. I did not include a photo of the front of the cassette single, since it is the same as the CD, but I did scan the BACK of the cassette single, since it is different from the CD. The scans/photos are below (If they look a little blurry, it is because they are that way on the single, likely because they were taken from the Jackie's Strength video). After the scans, I have various details & reports about the enhanced CD single!
Front & Back Covers: Click To Enlarge
The CD Disc For The Jackie's Strength Single
The Back Of The JS Cassette Single
Here are some reports on the single from people who either have an advanced copy of it or have been given reliable information.
From Mikewhy:
I just want to comment on the videos on the enhanced CD. They are wonderful! Raspberry Swirl is a quirky, strange, and wonderful video and Tori looks so cool in it! The first time I saw this video was on the enhanced CD, so I am grateful they included it. You can read details about both videos below. The videos played with no problem on my Macintosh. You place the CD in and then click on the little projector icon that says Tori. Then you get some introductory graphics with some intrumental clips from the album "from the choirgirl hotel," followed by a really cool concert photo of Tori that serves as a background to the videos and a place to show the credits at the end of the 2 videos. You can see that background photo below (the writing that you can barely make out in the photo in the black part says "from the choirgirl hotel."
Click to enlarge this photo
I also tried to run this on an IBM Thinkpad laptop that they make me use for work. (I HATE Windows 95....) Anyway, despite the fact that Quicktime 3.0 was installed on the Windows machine (and Quicktime is a requirement) I would get the message that Quicktime was needed along with a URL on where to get it everytime I clicked on the little Tori.exe icon. However, there were two seperate icons for the JS & RS videos, and clicking on them enabled me to watch the videos just fine...I simply could not see the little background photo or credits you see above. Also, the windows version had a short sound file with various short, instrumental clips from the album that you could hear if the tori.exe program worked (and I am assuming that it will work for some Windows users.)
From Amanda M.:
hey guys :) the EASIEST thing to do if you're still havin' problems is to do this:
go into the windows explorer directory the problem is that some people don't have that quicktime thing or just
don't have a recent version...but why waste time downloading when all you
wanna see initially is the VIDEO!! :) you can always download it later to
get to see the kewl intro thingee...but other that that, that's all there is
to it :) sorry if i'm repeating, but this seems to be a common problemo!
click on your CD ROM drive
you'll see that it has some application and a read me file in there
go up to VIEW...then OPTIONS (down at the bottom of that menu)
select "SHOW ALL FILES"
and then, you should see the two videos pop up: Rasp and Jackie (i think)
when you double click on those, they'll run themselves! :)
From Ken Tapia:
Just sending you some troubleshooting info in case other readers have the problems I did with the enhanced CD.Ý It seems to really work better with Quicktime 3 than earlier versions, I saw on your page when one person said it incorrectly stated Quicktime wasn't installed on his pc, this may be the reason. Ý I was getting popping sound which made me crazy but found if you change the audio setting in Quicktime from Direct Sound to Wave sound, it fixed it.Ý I have a pentium, but only 16M, so that may be why, but in case lots of other fans don't have state of the art PC, there is a way to get around the situation. Ý The videos are beautiful, very worth releasing, and the artwork for the intro is excellent also, they did a nice job.
From Ookami aka Phillip Tesar:
I noticed a few people couldn't get the Tori.exe file to work on the recently released Jackie's Strength Enhanced CD Single... I also could not got it to work on my PC even after downloading the newest Quicktime 3.0.2 and un-installing Windows Media Player 5.2 (just in case it was messing it up) Ý The exact error is it cannot locate Quicktime and refers people to www.apple.com/quicktime/ Ý Anyways to bypass the excutable file to get to what everyone want to see that is Jackie's Strength & Raspberry Swirl videos.... Ý All one has to do is in Windows Explorer go to View > Folder Options then View out of the 3 tabs then look at the Advanced Settings and change Hidden files to Show all files Ý The CD will now show Jackie.mov NEW-Audio.wav Rasp.mov Readme.txt Tori.exe Ý They can be played using the new Windows Media Player 5.2 or Quicktime 3.0.2 (and probably some of the lower ones too)... Ý Hope this helps alot of people without having to waste time getting it to work.
From Tripp Gwyn:
After talking to Camelot and Blockbuster today, all my JS questions were answered.
Now they're showing ONLY 1 version set for release on the 15th. The CD is enchanced and has 2 B-sides (NEver Seen Blue and Beulah Land). It is VERY cheap, Blockbuster is saying $2.99 while Camelot says $3.25. They told me that a lot of artists were releasing CHEAP ENCHANCED singles lately. They also told me the release date was the 15th.
Now, there will be a tape version. It's two tracks, with Never Seen Blue as the B-side.
From Sandy:
The CD comes in a plastic tray, which slides out of a cardboard sleeve (just like the 1997 RAINN SaTY single). On the front and back, and the CD itself, are photos of Tori from the JS video. The back of the sleeve contains the following information:
Atlantic CD single 2-84163
(under the black-and-white photo of Tori on the back)
From the video directed by James Brown and photographed by Greg Copeland.
"Jackie's Strength" is from the Atlantic album #83095 from the choirgirl
hotel available on double-LP, CD and cassette.
This enhanced CD is also playable on your computer! Just pop the disk in your CD-ROM drive!
Minimum Requirements: Win95/NT 486 with 2x CD ROM and 8MB RAM, Quicktime 2.1.2
Recommended: 100MHZ Pentium with 4x CD ROM and 8MB RAM, Quicktime 3, Monitor set to THOUSANDS OF COLORS (or higher).
Macintosh 8MB Ram and 2x CD ROM, Quicktime 2.5.
Recommended: PowerPC computer with 4x CD ROM, Monitor set to THOUSANDS OF COLORS (or higher), Quicktime 3.
The single was $3.99, and it had a sticker on it which read...
Enhanced CD
Includes videos of "Jackie's Strength" and "Raspberry Swirl"
84163-2
I haven't seen the videos because I don't have a CD-ROM drive (yet).. *pout*
Jackie's Strength sounds like the album version to me. The only difference is that the first 9 seconds or so of piano is cut out before the "ah Jackie ah" intro.
Never Seen Blue is a softer, slower song.. reminiscient of some of her previous work. Just Tori and piano! :) In a way, I hear several other Tori songs coming through this one. A lot of the piano reminds me of some UTP b-sides, and parts of the song sound like the "never seen light but I sure have seen gold" part of Muhammad My Friend. It's really a beautiful song.
Beulah Land sounds almost gospel-choir-ish, with the vocals (choir?) in the background. Again, the band is left out of this song. I can only describe it by saying that it sounds like Frog on My Toe, with a little more behind it. It's refreshing to hear Tori without the band again.
From woj:
o...i wandered into my local record store today (non-chain, indie outfit) to see if they had any copies of the "raspberry swirl" import single. while perusing the tori section (which was quite large), i came across the "jackie's strength" enhanced single! whoa! i held it up and said to the owner, "hey, this isn't supposed to be out yet." he just smiled puckishly in reply.
so, here i am listening to the b-sides, "never seen blue" and "beulah land", for the first time. tasty. two solo piano pieces. the former is very "cooling"-ish. so is the latter, for that matter, though it also has a nice, slow piano cascade opening and choir-like backing vocals (whoever it was who mentioned the hymn with the same name was defintely spot on, this song is a pastiche there of).
as for the enhanced part of the single, it has the "jackie's strength" and "raspberry swirl" videos as quicktime movies. quicktime does not appear to be on the disc, though, so you'll have to download it from the apple.com website if you don't already have it installed on your machine. there also is some sort of shell for playing the videos, but i haven't gotten that part to work yet (the app incorrectly insists that quicktime is not installed).
the packaging sucks -- i really don't like the new style of single packaging with the wimpy, slide-out plastic tray and the flimsy, light cardboard sleeve. the pictures are the same ones that are on the promo "js" single, which you can find on the dent at http://www.thedent.com/raspjack.html#jacksingle.
so, it looks like this single will *finally* (officially, anyways) hit stores in america next week. huzzah!
after listening to these two songs a few times, "never seen blue" makes me think springsteen and "beulah land" reminds me of emmylou harris. go figure.
From Melanie:
Just wanted to give you the scoop - got the single today due to some connections... It's Jackie's Strength, Never Seen Blue, and Beulah Land - both songs are GORGEOUS. Why Tori continues to release all the really poppy stuff and make the pretty stuff b sides and non released stuff is still beyond me. :P It's an enchanced CD with the videos for Jackie's Strength and Raspberry Swirl on them - wow! The RS video is beyond incredible... geez I wish she'd release it here... it's got her dancing in an elevator... weird and dark imagery but beautifully done.
The single will be publicly out Tuesday [Sept. 15.] Go get it! The photo on the cover and back of the single are the same as on the promo version.
From Joey:
Thanks to a VERY good friend in the record industry, I got my copy yesterday of the Jackie's Strength CD single that is scheduled to come out Tuesday [Sept. 15], So it definitely WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The enhanced CD is actually the CD single, it has an edit of JS, Never Seen Blue (which is absolutely gorgeous), and Beulah Land... Then if you pop the CD into your CD-ROM, and have quick time movie player capability, you can watch JS and RS videos in their entirety! It really is wonderful! I'm quite pleased with this single, especially for the price, $2.99!!!!!!!!!
So EVERYONE rush out and buy this CD on Tuesday [Sept. 15], you won't regret it!
From zenn@erols.com:
Hi! We got our new release shipment in today and among the many Marilyn Manson albums was the long awaited Jackie's Strength singles! It is available on cassette and cd. Both conatin both B-sides, Never Seen Blue and Beulah Land. They are beautiful songs. Never seen Blue is pure Tori, her voice and her piano. Beulah Land hasa bit of a gospel feel at times with some background vocals. The cd is priced as a single ($3.49 suggested retail). It's a real treat, I haven't watched the videos yet but I can't wait!
From ryan:
yeah, i got the jackie's strength single on the 8th (aren't i the lucky duck!), it was the enhanced cd - i have all the requirments for it to play on my PC, but it won't work - could there be something wrong with the cd? maybe you should talk to other EWF when they get their copies. i was really excited to see the R. Swirl Video, too. oh well, Nevel Seen Blue and Beulah Land are two beautiful songs. If you haven't heard it yet, Never Seen Blue is a "file under Cooling" type song - were dreamy and wispy and very light piano work. Beulah Land reminds me a bit of Wayt Down, because the Black Dyke Mills Choir (i think) is accompaning her on the choruses. it is very nice - also got the raspberry swirl single - the remixes are wild - much better than the monotonous Prof. Widow remixes were. anyway.
From Benjamin Mobley:
I got the Jackie's Strength single today (a day early I do believe). It is not a jewel case, but a plastic slip case like the Silent All These Years single reissue around the
RAINN time. It has the picture of tori in the wedding dress in the cab on
the front, and the close-up of her face on the back. The tracks are as you
and others suspected: Jackie's Strength, Never Seen Blue, and Beulah Land.
I had heard some people speculate if Never Seen Blue was the same as *For
Mark* which tori played live at some point during Boys For Pele (I have seen
it on the blood roses bootleg). I hear nothing similar between the two,
except maybe the subject - mark. Never Seen Blue is a longer version on the
single of the clip that Danica has on her *Realm of MP3's* Never Seen
Blue/Sugar. Beulah Land is sort of a gospel-sounding song - makes me think
of Way Down because of the same backing choir. The enhanced side of it
contains the full videos for Jackie and Raspberry Swirl. It is a very basic
enhanced cd..not very complex like some others out there. Nonetheless, the
videos are great.
Atlantic News Item About The "Jackie's Strength" Enhanced CD
There was a great news item at the Atlantic Web site as well as on www.tori.com. I will simply repeat the Atlantic news item here:
Tori Amos is set for a special MTV unveiling this weekend with the debut of "Jackie's Strength," the companion video to her new from the choirgirl hotel single. The striking black-and-white clip, directed by James Brown (Finley Quaye, Apollo 440, Mansun), is particularly noteworthy for its clever integration of documentary footage of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis -- a lyrical inspiration for the song -- during the 'Camelot' years. The video is slated to make its MTV debut Sunday night, August 16th, during the network's 120 Minutes program. Then, on September 8th [Note from Mikewhy: This has been delayed until the 15th], a special "Jackie's Strength" Enhanced CD single will hit retail outlets nationwide. The disc, which also includes the previously unreleased tracks "Never Seen Blue" and "Beulah Land," contains the Brown- directed "Jackie's Strength" video and the rare companion clip to "Raspberry Swirl" (previously released overseas only) for the enjoyment of CD-ROM users.
Keep up with the latest on this single by checking these online vendor's web sites:
Billboard Magazine had a small review of Jackie's Strength in their August 8, 1998 issue.
I did notice during the online chat that Tori did not mention that Merman would be a b-side for that single, though in earlier interviews she did. At this point, the fate of Merman as a b-side is unknown. It would be a pity if it did not get released officially!
Toriphile Christa met Tori during a meet & greet in Los Angeles and presented Tori with her guess as to the lyrics of the b-side Beulah Land. Tori actually looked at the lyrics and made corrections! Read all about this fascinating Plugged '98 tour story on Christa's site On All The World Tours. You can see what the lyrics to Beulah Land truly are according to Tori below.
Here are some guessed lyrics to the new b-sides from the Jackie's Strength single!
From Michelle:
Was checking out the lyric guesses you have posted....and would like to share mine. :-) It's a little different than most of those posted.
And that my be due to my overall interpretation of the song. I see Beulah
Land as somewhat of a euphemism for Christianity. So....the "wasted gown"
puts me in mind of baptism. "Licorice men" - men of the cloth - "some you
are thumbs on" - some, not all, seem to be striving for enlightenment.
And....seeing Beulah Land as "Christianity"....you're beautiful whole....seems
to fit. I've seen lots of "guesses" as to what the word following rubber
is.... and I can't be absolutely certain myself, *but*, if you listen to the
voices in the background, they seem to be saying boat, so I'll go with that
one. Also....you are in a fairly precarious position if you are in a rubber
boat with a crocodile, hmmm? Thanks for letting me share. :-)
Beulah Land
Beulah Land
got some candy
Beulah Land
said that
so Beulah Land
got a wasted gown
licorice men, some you are thumbs on
got something in that saying
Beulah girl, you been hitchin' me up
and a sweet saying:
"give me religion
and a lobotomy"
you're beautiful whole.
Tell me when I don't need you anymore
somewhere you're gonna get something
Here
so you ride in the middle and then
I'm You.
Something is coming back again
I said, "Yoohoo.
Maybe I don't wanna go
to where you're not."
gonna find me a warm place
to bathe this body on down
got a rubber boat and a crocodile
gonna float on past your home
and say when
just say when
just say when....
From Woj:
Never Seen Blue
Some boy you are
You said, girl if you think
And I've never seen blue
Some boy you are are
I've never seen blue
Said [Sad?] now that I am Beulah Land
Beulah Land
Got some candy
Said that somewhere
Beulah land
And say when, just
To take me by the hand
Through an elevator
Gotta a little red light
That tells you, boy, where the razor's been.
You can turn that violator
You'll finally be that woman, yes
Finally be that woman
That's been frozen in the pretty silver girl
Like a bluesy drives [?]
In and around
And through me again
I said I've never seen eyes
like a bluesy drives [?]
In and around and through me again
Through me again
Through me again
To wear my color red
To wear it very proudly
And wear it like a lady
Knows how to cross her legs
Whether [purty's been?]
Like the bluesy drives [?]
In and around and though me again
Said i've never seen eyes
like bluesy drives [?]
In and around and through me again
Through me again
Through me again
Say goodbye to the rosewood
Said...
Got a wasted gun
Liberation man
Some you are
Sometimes
Got something in that saying
Beulah girl
You better hitch me up
And sweet saying
Give me religion
And a lobotomy
Beulah land
Beautiful home
Tell me when
I don't need you anymore
You're gonna get something
You're so
You're right in the middle
And then I'm you
Something is coming back again
I said
You
Maybe I don't wanna go
To where you're not
So...
Find me one
Place to be
Is by your [?]
Gotta rubber ball
And a crocidile
Gonna float
And pass your home
Say when, just
Say when...
From Matthew A. Arigo:
Just one pretty important correction I could hear in the chorus...
Never Seen Blue
And I've never seen blue This is it as far as I can hear. By the way, this song kills me. Strong
feelings...I'm sure anyone pursuing large dreams feels this way about home.
At least that's how it gets me. A place you couldn't wait to leave but STILL
need.
Beulah Land
Got some candy
Said that somewhere
Beulah land
Like the blues he drives
In and around
And through me again
I said I've never seen eyes
Like the blues he drives
In and around and through me again
Through me again
Through me again
Beulah Land
Got a wasted gun
Licorice man
Some you are
Sometimes
Got something in that saying
Beulah girl
You better hitch me up
And sweet saying
Give me religion
And a lobotomy
Beulah land
Beautiful home
Tell me when
I don't need you anymore
You're gonna get something
Here so
You're right in the middle
And then I'm you
Something is coming back again
I said
You
Maybe I don't wanna go
To where you're not
So...
Find me one
Place to be
Is by your (?-I agree!!)
Gotta rubber bat
And a crocodile
Gonna float
Right past your home
And say when, just
Say when, just
Say when...
From Natalie Grammer:
Never Seen Blue
some boy you are
you said, girl if you think you can turn that violator
and i've never seen blue
some boy you are
never seen blue Beulah Land
beulah land
got some candy
beulah land
said that somewhere
so beulah land
to take me by the hand
through an elevator
got a little red line that tells you, boy,
where the razor's been
you'll finally be that woman, yes,
finally be that woman that's been frozen
in that pretty silver girl
like the blues he drives
in and around and through me again
said i've never seen eyes
like the blues he drives
in and around and through me again,
through me again, through me again
to wear my colour red
to wear it very proudly
wear it like a lady knows how to cross her legs
where the birdy's been
like the blues he drives
in and around and through me again
said i've never seen eyes
like the blues he drives
in and around and through me again
through me again, through me again
said now
say goodbye to those left
say...
got a wasted gun
licorice man, sum you up
some don't got something in that saying
beulah girl, you been hitching me up
and a sweet sin
give me religion
and a lobotomy
your beautiful home
tell me when i don't need you anymore
you're gonna get something here
so you're right in the middle
and then i'm you
something is coming back again
i said you
maybe i don't wanna go
to where you're not
gonna find me a warm place
to bathe his body on time
got a rubber boat and a crocodile
gonna float on past your home
and say when just say when
From Ryan:
ok, its just a guess, but judging from the context and tori's frequent use of the 3rd person feminine pronoun - i think she is singing:
well i never seen blue i think i've got a valid guess for the lyrics in Beulah Land which everyone is
unsure about
Beulah Land
like the blue she drives.
find me a warm
place to bathe
his body down.
From Nick Raafe:
Here are my guesses as to the lyrics of Tori's two newest B-sides...
NEVER SEEN BLUE:
Some boy you are to take me by the hand
CHORUS:
Some boy you are to wear my color red
CHORUS
Said now lah lah BEULAH LAND:
Beulah Land got a wasted gun
Got some candy and a sweet saying:
Said that somewhere you're gonna get something
Beulah Land gonna find me a warm place
And say when, just
Through an elevator
Got a little red line that tells you boy
Where the razor's been
You said girl if you think you can turn that violator
You'll finally be that woman, yes, finally be that woman
That's been frozen in that pretty silver girl
Yes...
And I've never seen blue like the blues he drives
In and around and through me again
I've never seen eyes like the blues he drives
In and around and through me again
Through me again
Through me again
To wear it very proudly and wear it like a lady
Knows how to cross her legs where the pertty's been
Say goodbye to those loved
Said...
Licorice Man, I'll sum you up
Sometimes got something in that saying
Beulah Girl you better hitch me up
"Give me religion and a lobotomy"
Beulah Land beautiful home
Tell me when I don't need you anymore
Here so you're right in the middle and then I'm you
Something is coming back again I said
You
Maybe I don't wanna go to where you're not so...
To bathe his body on down
Got a rubber board and a crocodile
Gonna float and pass your home
Say when, just
Say when...
From sadistic@hotmail.com:
Never Seen Blue
Some boy you are
you said girl if you think
some boy you are
said now learn Beulah Land
Beulah Land, got a wasted gun
Got some candy and a sweet sayin'
said that somewhere you're gonna get somethin'
Beulah land gonna find me a warm
and say when, just say when
to take me by the hand
through and elevator
got a little red line that tells you, boy
where the razor's been
you can turn that violator
you'll finally be that woman,yes
finally be that woman
that's been frozen in that pretty silver girl
to wear my color red
to wear it very proudly
and where it like a lady knows
how to cross her legs
where a birdy's been
say goodbye to (the rosewood?)those would (wounds?) say (hey?)
licorice man, some you are
some don't got something in that sayin'
"beulah girl, you been hitchin' me up"
"Give me religion and a labotomy"
Beulah land, your beautiful home
Tell me when I don't need you anymore
here so your right in the middle and then I'm you
something is comin back again said you
maybe i don't wanna go to where you're not so
place to bathe this body on down
got a rubber board and a crocodile
gonna float past your home
just say when
From John Norville:
ok...the last stanza goes,
Beulah Land,
gonna find me a warm
place to bathe
this body on down
got a rubber BOAT
and a crocodile
gonna float on past your home
From Caroline in Virginia:
Beulah Land
OK, for those of you in the UK trying to guess the lyrics to Beulah Land
(about the American South), listen very carefully to Tori's singing (not
the choir), and it sounds like "Got a rubber bullet, and a crocodile."
Not as nonsense as you might think given the South's history of Civil
Rights demonstrations, with police shooting rubber bullets to disperse
the crowds.
From c0ri:
i always heard this in "Never Seen Blue"...
some boy you are
to wear my color red
to wear it very proudly
where it like a lady knows
how to cross her legs
with a pretty spin
A promo CD was sent to U.S.radio stations on July 28th and since then, the song has popped up on several U.S. alternative radio stations. You can see the front cover and inside sleeve for the promo CD below. Click on the image to see it larger. The photos are scenes from the Jackie's Strength video. Special thanks to Giovanni and Patrick for sending this info to me. This promo single has also been seen on the eBay auction web site.
The tracks on the promo CD are:
Jackie's Strength Promo Artwork - Click For Larger Image
You can hear RealAudio and MP3 sound clips of the video mix of the song at the Tori World web site.
There is also a video for Jackie's Strength. Go here for reports about this video and screen shots/photos!. The promotional Jackie's Strength CD pictured above contains photos from this video. The video also appears on the enhanced CD single for Jackie's Strength that was released in the U.S. on September 15, 1998. The video has appeared a few times on MTV 120 Minutes and has also been spotted ob VH1.
Please give me feedback, comments, or suggestions about my site. Email me (Michael Whitehead) at mikewhy@iglou.com