Past the Mission
| "Past the Mission" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Tori Amos | ||||
| from the album Under the Pink | ||||
| Released | May 1994 (US) | |||
| Format | CD, cassette | |||
| Recorded | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Baroque pop, alternative rock, piano rock | |||
| Label | Atlantic, EastWest | |||
| Producer(s) | Tori Amos | |||
| Tori Amos singles chronology | ||||
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"Past the Mission" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the third single from her second studio album Under the Pink. It was released in May 1994 by Atlantic Records in North America and by EastWest Records in the UK. The single was only released as a cassette single in the US but received two CD releases in the UK in addition to the cassette release, which featured several live tracks as B-sides.
Background
Regarding the origins of the song, Amos commented:
| “ |
"Past the Mission" refers to a personal experience with sexual violence, which I had a song about on Little Earthquakes also. So, the remark 'I once knew a hot girl' is painful. Where’s she gone? On this record there are songs about the healing from that experience, like "Baker Baker" ('Make me whole again'), "Past the Mission", "Yes, Anastasia". The idea is to rescue myself from the role of a victim. That I have a choice left. Though I can't change what has happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up. That’s also the thought behind the phrase 'past the mission/I smell the roses'.[1] |
” |
Trent Reznor, founder of the industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails, sings background vocals on this track.
Despite the massive successes of the album's lead singles, "Past the Mission" failed to chart on the U.S. Hot 100.[2] An alternate mix of "Past the Mission" appears on Amos' compilation box set A Piano: The Collection (2006).
Music video
The video begins with Tori, holding hands with two young girls, walking along a dirt road. As the three begin walking through a town, women join them in their march until there's a large parade as the men look on. The women are eventually confronted by a male priest, who blocks their pathway. One by one the woman move to the ground, laying flat as the priest walks around them. The priest is joined by the rest of the men, who all walk away as the women stand up and continue their march, eventually finding themselves in the open field we saw at the beginning of the video. The video ends with a young boy running to catch up with the ever advancing parade of women.
Track listing/Releases
The U.K. CD single set was sold in two parts. The non-limited part (Single 2) comes in a slim jewel case and the disc features a photo-negative image of Amos playing a piano. The limited part (Single 1) comes in a triple gatefold digipak case with two slots for both CDs in the set. In the place of the other disc there is a cardboard cutout that looks like the CD. The owner can switch out the cutout for the actual CD from the other half of the set. Single 2 was also released in Germany and looks nearly identical excepting that the image on the disc is a positive image, not photo-negative. The UK 7" single was released with a picture sleeve and is fairly scarce.
- US cassette single
- "Past the Mission" – 4:05
- "Black Swan" – 4:04
- UK CD single
- "Upside Down" (live) – 5:57
- "Past the Mission" (live) – 4:21
- "Icicle" (live) – 7:50
- "Flying Dutchman" (live) – 6:31
- UK CD single 2
- "Past the Mission" (LP edition) – 4:05
- "Winter" (live) – 6:37
- "The Waitress" (live) – 3:29
- "Here. In My Head" (live) – 6:05
- UK 7" single
- "Past the Mission" (LP edition)
- "Past The Mission" (live in Chicago March 1994)
Sources
- ↑ St Louis Dispatch - July 15, 1994
- ↑ http://www.hereinmyhead.com/collect/under/ptmuk.html -- hereinmyhead.com
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