flashback friday - etienne trilogy

so, i've mentioned before my adoration of tori amos when i was younger and how i have a rather large and embarrassing collection of imports and singles of hers spanning her first three official albums (even i couldn't deal with a bunch of the random weirdness that emitted from future recordings). one of those albums that i paid an extraordinary sum for, at least, being a poor college student and all, was tori's first recorded venture, y kan't tori read.

now, let's face facts. as brilliant as little earthquakes was, that's how abysmal y kan't tori read was. filled with terrible cliches and standardized, poppy sounds, the album, which tori is reportedly unhappy with and refuses to reissue, despite being out of print, is utterly forgettable if not for two songs. the first, cool on your island, is everything a guilty pleasure song ought to be. it's also cliched and ridiculous, but in a likable way.



try not to giggle too hard at the album cover now.

but the etienne trilogy...

yeah. i'll admit to liking it quite a bit. perhaps i ought to clarify that part of this is because it waxes poetic about scotland, a country that i've long harbored deep and devoting crushes on. it also has medieval references and the name etienne, which i lovelovelove (and yet, knew better than to bring up in suggestion to my husband for any of my three sons).

for those of you who haven't heard it yet (and, let's face it, that's got to be most of you, because few people actually have heard this album), this is a trilogy due to three distinct songs that blend together. the first, entitled the highlands, is an instrumental. the second, which is the only section to have lyrics, is aptly titled etienne. and the third is called skyeboat song, and it's all about bagpipes and dreamy images of scotland.

will it ever be remembered as one of tori's best? definitely not. it'll not even enter the top 10, or, frankly for tori-philes, top 20. but one must remember that it stems from the late 80's and, for that time period (to which i admit to digging, being a gen-xer and all), it certainly isn't the worst thing out there.

hm. doesn't sound very endorsing, does it? perhaps you need to listen to it yourself and discover its charms.

maybe i'm a witch lost in time
running through the fields of scotland by your side
kicked out of france
but i still believe
taken to a land far across the sea

etienne, etienne
hear the west wind whisper my name
etienne, etienne
by the morning, maybe we'll remember who i am

maybe you're the knight who saved my life
maybe we've faced the fire side by side
well, here we are again
under the same sky
as the gypsy crystal slowly dies

oh, etienne, etienne
hear the west wind whisper my name
etienne, etienne
by the morning, maybe we'll remember who i am

i close my eyes, see you again
i know i've held you, boy
can't remember where or when

oh, etienne, etienne
hear the west wind whisper my name
etienne, etienne
by the morning, maybe we'll remember who i am

maybe i'm a witch, etienne
whisper my name
whisper my name
etienne, whisper my name
maybe i'm a witch

(m4a) etienne trilogy by y kan't tori read (aka tori amos)

here she is in 2007 performing the song in concert. the footage is dark and not the best, but it's the song that counts, right?



feel like having a bit of tori history? you can get a new (well, take that as you will) copy of y kan't tori read for $129.99. there's a collector's version (um, okay?) for $199.99. or, if those are too rich for your blood, nab a used one for $59.95. thank god when i bought my copy, i paid nowhere near those prices. go HERE if you seriously want one.