I've only been listening to Tori for a few weeks, but the more I do, and discover new songs, like Icicle, the more I become convinced that Tori was sexually abused by her father. The constant juxtaposition of Christian and sexual images, and her clearly tortured state in reference to same, e.g. "Crucify". In "Icicle", a phallic symbol, we have "greeting the monster (phallus) in our Easter dresses, father says, 'Bow your head (submit), like the good book says', Well I think the good book is missing some pages, Gonna lay down." And at the end she says "I could have, I should have flown, you know, well I could have, I should have, I didn't so..." She blames herself. In the song "Winter" which is about her dad, you also have the the cold imagery, like the icicle. She has a bond with her dad, but it is cold. Sexual abuse of any kind traumatizes, but incest and with a minister no less, truly would throw one into total disorientation. Hence the need for cryptic lyrics. One doesn't talk about incest in polite society, but she needs to exorcise her demons. In "Precious Things" we see that she has sexualized herself in an attempt to get love from those Christian boys, those beautiful boys, but her rage is still there and she wants to smash their faces and spit in their faces. Having been sexualized as a child, that's the best way she knows to try to get love and approval, by giving sexual favors to people who are only using her. This theme runs through many of her early songs. And she sings them so poignantly. It's heartbreaking when you realize what she is really talking about.
I've only been listening to Tori for a few weeks, but the more I do, and discover new songs, like Icicle, the more I become convinced that Tori was sexually abused by her father. The constant juxtaposition of Christian and sexual images, and her clearly tortured state in reference to same, e.g. "Crucify". In "Icicle", a phallic symbol, we have "greeting the monster (phallus) in our Easter dresses, father says, 'Bow your head (submit), like the good book says', Well I think the good book is missing some pages, Gonna lay down." And at the end she says "I could have, I should have flown, you know, well I could have, I should have, I didn't so..." She blames herself. In the song "Winter" which is about her dad, you also have the the cold imagery, like the icicle. She has a bond with her dad, but it is cold. Sexual abuse of any kind traumatizes, but incest and with a minister no less, truly would throw one into total disorientation. Hence the need for cryptic lyrics. One doesn't talk about incest in polite society, but she needs to exorcise her demons. In "Precious Things" we see that she has sexualized herself in an attempt to get love from those Christian boys, those beautiful boys, but her rage is still there and she wants to smash their faces and spit in their faces. Having been sexualized as a child, that's the best way she knows to try to get love and approval, by giving sexual favors to people who are only using her. This theme runs through many of her early songs. And she sings them so poignantly. It's heartbreaking when you realize what she is really talking about.