Crucify

When I was thirteen I was put into a mental hospital. I was given this song by a member of the staff there because I said I really like Tori Amos(but I had never heard of this song). When I played it I started crying almost hysterically because I could relate to it in every way, and I was really happy that the staff member had been so considerate to give me the cd. This song gets me through hard times.

Sorry for the personal story, I felt like I had to share it.

When I listen to this song, I can't help but latch onto its religious undertones. It's about more than feeling inadequate and suffering from low self-esteem: it is about the inherently oppressive forces of religious doctrine. "Just what God needs, one more victim." Thus, the title itself suggests the Biblical crucifixion. We crucify ourselves daily because we feel as if we have failed not only our own expectations and those of the people we value, but also those imposed upon us by society at large and religious institutions.

beautiful beautiful song, i think everyone's felt the insecurity expressed in this song at one point or another, but i dont think anyones expressed it as good as this. "i know a cat named easter he says will you ever learn you're just an empty cage girl if you kill the bird"

To me, it's about how life, society and religion all make you as a person and the things you do seem wrong, and so we're always feeling guilty. But she's saying, why should we? To Crucify is to persecute; because of societies expectations of us we persecute ourselves for being/acting a certain way, but we shouldn't. I don't think the song is anti-religious, really, although it's saying religion is responsible for some of the rules made up by society that make us "crucify ourselves". However, I think Tori's generally just using religion and crucifying as symbols for other struggles in life.

I think to a large degree this song is about the harmful psychological effects of literalist/strict ("fundamentalist") religion. Specifically, the way it saddles people with guilt for being human (being imperfect and having deisres and drives), especially with regards to sex (IE the lines about dirty sheets, etc.), which results in people beating themselves up over things they often know (but have yet to convince their subconscious) that they shouldn't even feel bad about (crucifying). Furthermore, it inspires a spiteful, judgemental, "holier than thou" attitude (the lines about pointed fingers and a kick for a dog begging for love) which tends to destroy interpersonal bonds, especially between parent and child, and hence often results in children from these families looking for love (or a cheap, easy substitute) elsewhere...like in irresponsible sex (looking for love between dirty sheets again), though they may feel very guilty...

"Got enough guilt to start My own religion"

That's such a beautiful line. It made me think, maybe that's what religion is. Guilt? It makes a lot of sense.

In Tori's book, she explains how her first crush was on Jesus. There are a lot of references in this song toward masturbation. "Looking for a savior beneath these dirty sheets." We crucify ourselves when we do things that every human does, we try to punish ourselves for doing these things because they're 'sinful.' And "Nothing I do is good enough for you" is a line that everyone can relate to. It's a cry out to God. I cry this out all of the time. How can someone expect us to do (or not do) all of these things? "Every finger in the room is pointing at me," meaning she feels accused and insecure. "I gotta have my suffering so that I can have my cross," is what made me think about masturbation. But I mean, it's not JUST masturbation, it's everything that comes in the package labeled Temptation. We shouldn't be so hard on ourselves, is what Tori is basically saying.

This is an amazing song <3

I usually see it from the point of view of someone who is gay or bisexual. "My heart is sick of being in chains" means they can't love freely, they can't love who they want to.

It's easy to see it from many different points of views though. Like, someone who's being tried as a witch, the first verse describes that quite well "every finger in the room is pointing at me"

I don't think this song is anti-religion, really. You can find that in it if you want to, but to me the religious metaphors are just that--metaphors. It's a bigger song than that--it's about society and everyone around you, and the feelings of inadequacy that only you can control. The religious metaphors are very powerful, but the song is not inherantly anti-Christianity. At least, that's my opinion--if you want it to be, I suppose it could be about religious oppression, but I don't think that's the point of the song.

this is about her rape and coming to terms with it. i saw her play this on top of the pops just before megadeth on the next stage :-)

Tori Amos says in her interview on Fade to Red that her song "Crucify" was inspired by Anne Boleyn. “I’ve always had a fascination with the beheading of Anne Boleyn. It’s haunted me. Of course, because the Protestant Reformation is entwined with Queen Elizabeth’s mother {Anne Boleyn}…I guess I’ve always seen Anne Boleyn as the elicit mistress of the Protestant Reformation. I’ve also really been able to see what a POWERFUL force that she was...To be part of a group that broke away from the Catholic church.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Boleyn_in_popular_culture