My Top 1000 Songs #865: God

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Tori Amos is one of those artists who's been around forever, I've got a ton of her music, yet I only infrequently find myself pulling out her records... but whenever I do, I end up thinking, hey, I really need to listen to this more often! And while there have been some fine releases all along, she hit an early peak on her second solo record (not counting that initial [IMHO under-appreciated] Y Can't Tori Read business), 1994's Under The Pink. "Cornflake Girl" was the moment I remember her first breaking through into alt.rock radio, and it's also a great song, but I had a slight preference for "God." Some adventurous production gives an almost industrial sheen to her updated spin on Kate Bush vocal acrobatics. It's a stunning assault on the senses, enveloping chaos, and so lyrically rich. "God sometimes you just don't come through, do you need a woman to look after you?" Stirring, reverentially sacrilegious, powerful stuff.

Live on Leno 1994:

Live 2007: