She\'s a girl
rising from a shell
running to Spring
It is her time it is her time
Watch her run with Ribbons undone

she\'s a rose in a Lily\'s cloak
she can hide her charms
Is it her right there will be time
to chase the sun with Ribbons undone

she runs like a fire does
just picking up daises
Comes in for a landing
a pure flash of lightening
Past alice blue blossoms
you follow her laughter
And then she\'ll surprise you
arms filled with lavender

Yes, my little pony is growing up fast
she corrects me and says
\"you mean a thoroughbred\"
A look in her eye says the Battle\'s beginning
From school she comes home and cries
I don\'t want to grow up Mom at least not tonight

you\'re a girl
Rising from a shell
Running through Spring
with Summer\'s hand in reach now
It is your time It is your time
so just run with Ribbons undone
It is your time yes my angel
It is your time
so just run with Ribbons undone
run run darlin\'
Ribbons undone




Lyrics submitted by merchantpierce

Track duration: 04:30


Ribbons Undone song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I really love playing this song, but heres an unusual thing, I learnt the song first from the sheet music before hearing the recording. When I first heard Tori Amos' recording I realised I had been playing it much faster than she intended. I find the recorded version very slow and lethargic, almost like an obituary. I had originally interpreted ribbons undone as quite a lively folk song.
    I enjoy the Beekeeper album very much overall. I know a lot of people criticise it for being happy and therefore supposedly shallow.... I tend to the viewpoint that people who value angst over happiness probably haven't had much trouble in their life? While I like the album however, I still find it difficult to engage with this song in the slow (deadpan?)way that Tori sings it.
    The song lyrics are more straightforward than the average Tori Amos song. For her, ribbons undone is for her daughter. For me, it belongs to my niece sarah who is four. She dances around me, and hammers along on the top notes. I hope it makes her feel like she is a jewel, because she is.
    I am going to try playing my faster version to some friends to see what they think, it may just be that the song is more enjoyable to play faster than to listen to!
    Flag LauraEmilyon February 01, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Incredible song. So intense, sensual, emotional... When Tori is singing "I don't want to grow up Mom at least not tonight" I am always about to cry.
    Flag raspberryswirl9on April 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I read a damning review that said Tori had become all bland since she had become a mother! THIS song is just perfect -so happy/sad.The man (has to be a man) has no humanity! Beautiful image as well -ribbons undone- like perfection tussled with.love it
    quartz 2007
    Flag quartz2007on October 25, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've been listening to Tori Amos since I was 15 and now I'm 30. I'm going to ask my fiancee if she'd like to have this song to be played at our wedding next year. I think it's befitting.
    Flag ymjp100on August 03, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:& to add to that, i think this song fits in with the flow and context of the album. her voice is beautiful. as well as the new-at-the-time little piano riffs. im not a crazy over the top fan, but honestly... get over yourself. that was just really distasteful, and you can save that for a community/site that actually cares about your issue with the song.
    Flag clushon May 11, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:yea, because that was even necessary.. oh my ass, get over yourself.
    Flag clushon May 11, 2009   Link
  • -1
    My Opinion:With the subjective nature of music appreciation, I'm usually able to accept the usual differences in opinion, but in this case, I cannot stop myself from commenting:

    The idea that this is in Tori Amos's five best songs as one commenter above posted is one of the most truly insane opinions I've ever encountered in my entire life. Literally psychotic. This piece of utter treacle, this gooey piece of saccharine, if this was the first song I ever heard of Tori Amos's, I may have never listened to another. That this trite and boring near nursery rhyme came from the same woman who gave the world albums like Boys for Pele and from the choirgirl hotel is nearly unfathomable - that someone would rank this as her best work against the staggering power of her early, passionate work, goes beyond that.

    Undoubtedly among the worst five songs she's ever composed.
    Flag dhaturaon May 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I am a mom, to a beautiful little girl who is growing up. When I realized I was pregnant with my baby girl, I wrote the words to theis song down, and saved it in a place where she will find it when she is older.
    The first two verses are like the mom who is playing with her little girl, watching her pretend to be a princess or a fairy, or whatever is her current fancy. She's watching her little girl play and living it through her eyes.
    The third verse is a mom's amazement at how many things her child can be all at once, and how proud she is to be her mother because of all the things she can and will do.
    Fourth verse is hard. Mothers and daughters fight as most strong women do. The lines "She corrects me and says" along with "The look in her eyes says, the Battle's beginning." are the tell-tale signs.
    The final verse, is the toughest. After all the fighting and the discipline and the teaching and the laughter and the tears and the playing and the fighting, a mother has to let go, and let her daughter become the woman she is meant to be.
    Flag luvinmusicon March 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:can it be a song for her child, Tash? so beautiful :D
    Flag blisseryon January 18, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Impossibly beautiful, finest thing on "The Beekeeper," and easily among her five best songs. No appearances on the current tour, among the other 134 songs she's played, but hope springs eternal.
    Flag raffishtenant2on December 05, 2007   Link

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