Tori Amos Lyrics: Virginia - my perceptions

in the lush virginia hills
they kept her as long as they could
cause they knew when the white brother found
white shell beads wrapped around her skin
a life giving river
her body open as will his hand
and with a "goodbye" there she goes

she may betray all that she loves
and even wait for their savior to come
and in some things, maybe he'll be right
but as always the thing that he loves
he will change from her sunrise to clockwise to soul trading
still she'll lay down her body
covering him all the same

so hundreds of years go by
(the red road carved up by sharp knife)
she's a girl out working her trade
and she loses a little each day
to ghetto pimps and presidents
who try and arouse her turquoise serpents
she can't recall what they represent
and when you ask, she won't know

~tori amos

I've always loved this song, it is so full of meaning. The song has meaning within the storyline of the album, of course, and there is also a much deeper meaning as well. In my experience listening to this song, like many of Tori's songs, the meaning evolves with time.

At this stage in my conception of the song, it talks of what has happened to us in the most recent epoch; how we have all been somewhat forced to fit into a patriarchal world, a greed wrenched world which was built to best suit the ambitious and greed laden man.

in the lush Virginia hills, they kept her as long as they could

This seems to be referring to Scarlet's (the character who is followed throught the album) family, trying to protect her from the inevitable exploitation eventually to be wrought upon her by the industrialized world.

'cause they knew when the white brother found
white shell beads wrapped around her skin
a life giving river

This seems to indicate that the white brother, which seems to mean that the white "brotherhood" found that they could achieve more economic power through the exploitation of women. Shells were, after all, a form of money for many cultures throught history.

her body open as will his hand
and with a "goodbye" there she goes

Here is another reference to western greed followed by the departure of Scarlet into the world.

she may betray all that she loves
and even wait for their savior to come
and in some things, maybe he'll be right
but as always the thing that he loves
he will change from her sunrise to clockwise to soul trading
still she'll lay down her body
covering him all the same

This is one of most beautiful and eloquently spoken verses in the whole album. It has taken me a couple of years to even begin understanding what it means.

Most of the major religions are awaiting a savior of some sort. Although there are many of us who don't feel that we should wait for a savior to take control of our own lives; to love what we will in the manner which best suits our life, we are still somewhat stuck in this system in which the corporations have grown up around us and deprived us of our basic freedoms.

The change that Tori speaks of has to do with the gradual introduction of exploitative techniques into the our everyday lives. sunrise to clockwise seems to describing the use of time to control the minutaie of nearly everyone's life, especially in the industrialized portions of the world.

soul trading seems to be alluding to the various forms of slavery, both corporate fascist slavery and what is traditionally viewed as slavery. Although the world is a ludicrous place filled with hatred and plunder, she will lay down her body, or sacrifice the precious moments of her life, to be a part of it; probably because there is, seemingly, no other choice.

so hundreds of years go by
(the red road carved up by sharp knife)
she's a girl out working her trade
and she loses a little each day
to ghetto pimps and presidents
who try and arouse her turquoise serpents
she can't recall what they represent
and when you ask, she won't know

In the last couple of centuries, the economic role of women especially, has changed drastically. The role of Women changed from being the provider of various economic needs at the homestead, which would have been a sort of farm, to working a trade at some sort of corporation.

It is difficult to steal from a family who lives a self-sufficient life such as the life of a farmer; it is not, however, difficult to steal from someone who is dependant upon monetary income and the money system. This is done in a myriad of ways, two of the most prevalent forms of plunder being taxation and inflation.

This has been going on for so long, however, that few see how truly manipulative the system is. What is even worse, however, is that many of us fail to realize that our governmental and economic systems are becoming more exploitative, at a rapidly increasing rate, each day.