Tori Amos - "Silent All These Years"

Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full scholarship to the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University at the age of five, the youngest person ever to have been admitted. She was expelled at the age of 11 for what Rolling Stone described as "musical insubordination". Amos was the lead singer of the short-lived 1980s pop group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving her breakthrough as a solo artist in the early 1990s. Her songs focus on a broad range of topics, including sexuality, feminism, politics and religion.

Her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", "Flavor" and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date. Amos has received five MTV VMA nominations, eight Grammy Award nominations, and won an Echo Klassik award for her classical crossover album. She is listed on VH1's 1999 "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll".

Her style has always been unique. Behind the unusual cord progressions, though, were intense lyrics and incredibly artistry. She’s been a staple in my musical sphere since I was 16, when she earned a place in my heart for eternity.

This song came on KCRW the other day, and it reminded me of the genius that she found when she tapped into the divine. This was the beginning of her breaking open, and she’s continued to grow and bloom ever since. A little painful, mostly pleasurable, and certainly incredible.

So today, with my hands no longer holding the thorns for the rose, I choose Tori Amos’ "Silent All These Years" as my, burst the bubble, let the cookie crumble, remember the honey and not the stings, song for a, broken things can be beautiful too, put yourself back together the way you see fit, begin to bloom all on your own, Tuesday.