Crucify (song)

Crucify
EP by Tori Amos
Released 12 May 1992 (US)
8 Jun 1992 (UK)
15 Jun 1992 (UK limited edition)
Genre Alternative rock
Length 21:35
Label Atlantic, EastWest
Producer Ian Stanley, Davitt Sigerson
Tori Amos EP chronology
Crucify
(1992)
Hey Jupiter
(1996)
Tori Amos Single chronology
"Winter"
(1992)
"Crucify"
(1992)
"Cornflake Girl"
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Rolling Stone [1]

"Crucify" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fifth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes. It was released on May 12, 1992 by Atlantic Records in North America and on June 8 by EastWest Records in the UK.

Contents

Background

The song served as the fifth single from the album Little Earthquakes. It was released as an EP in the US and as a single in Europe and Australia. The song has been covered by Sharon den Adel, vocalist of Within Temptation, and Nolwenn Leroy, French singer.

The EP version included a single remix, famous cover versions and "Winter", which was released earlier as a single from the album. It sold 450,000 copies in the US according to Soundscan as of 2005, coming close to a Gold certification. Although the EP sold extremely well it failed to chart on the Billboard 200.

Track listing

US EP single
  1. "Crucify" (Remix) – 4:18
  2. "Winter" – 5:41
  3. "Angie" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 4:25
  4. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl) – 3:17
  5. "Thank You" (Robert Plant, Jimmy Page) – 3:49
UK CD single
  1. "Crucify" (single edit) – 4:18
  2. "Here. In My Head" – 3:53
  3. "Mary" – 4:27
  4. "Crucify" (Alternate Mix) – 4:58 (mispressed as "LP Version" - actually Alternative Mix)
Limited UK EP single
  1. "Little Earthquakes" (live) – 6:58
  2. "Crucify" (live) – 5:19
  3. "Precious Things" (live) – 5:03
  4. "Mother" (live) – 6:37

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1992) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 83
Canadian Singles Chart 74
Dutch Mega Top 100[2] 79
French SNEP Singles Chart[2] 17
German Singles Chart[2] 84
Irish Singles Chart[3] 25
Swedish Singles Chart[2] 16
UK Singles Chart[4] 15
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[5] 22

Appearances of the song on television

Live performances

Tori Amos performed "Crucify" on David Letterman's show in May, 1992, and on CBS This Morning on September 9, 1992. She also played it on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 13, 1993, along with the song "Winter". Additionally, she played "Crucify" live on MTV in 1992, as well as on Top of the Pops.[6]

Music video

The "Crucify" video, directed by Cindy Palmano (photographer and video director) and Atlantic Records, was released in 1992 as well. It was shot using the radio edit of "Crucify" that can be found on the EP and singles, but the version used on Tori's 2006 Fade to Red 2DVD set is an edited version of the remastered track that is found on the compilation Tales of a Librarian. It includes images of Tori at the piano shot using overhead cameras, twin Toris who sing together at a counter, clothing "reminiscent of Anne Boleyn",[7] and shots of Tori climbing into a bathtub fully dressed, then dancing in the wet dress.

Cindy Palmano has said that Atlantic Records finished the video because "I took it to a certain stage and then the record company wanted to edit it in a different way". Yet she approves of the bathtub sequence: "I like when she steps into the bath and comes out of the bath. It all looks really Hitchcock, I love it."[8] (Palmano also directed the videos "Silent All These Years", "Winter", "China" and "Pretty Good Year", this last one from Amos' second album, Under the Pink.)

The music video can be found on Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos: Complete Videos 1991-1998 and Fade to Red: Video Collection.

Later appearances of "Crucify"

In 2003, Tori Amos released the compilation album Tales of a Librarian, which included remastered versions of many of her most popular songs. The original LP version of "Crucify" was one of them.

Amos has performed "Crucify" differently live in recent years. The verses are a lot slower and have some degree of repetition. One example of how she plays it now can be found on the Welcome to Sunny Florida DVD.

References

  1. ^ Rolling Stone review
  2. ^ a b c d "Crucify", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved January 13, 2009)
  3. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved January 13, 2009)
  4. ^ "Crucify", UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved January 13, 2009)
  5. ^ Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved January 13, 2009)
  6. ^ "Tori Amos: Compilamos". HereInMyHead. http://www.hereinmyhead.com/collect/videos/compli.html. 
  7. ^ "Videography: Crucify". HereInMyHead. http://www.hereinmyhead.com/videos/cru.html. 
  8. ^ http://www.hereinmyhead.com/videos/cru.html