2003-09-19 - 10:21 a.m.

I am happy to announce that Tori Amos has achieved a new plateau in fame.

A murderer has written her song lyrics on the walls of his jail cell . . . in his own blood.

You know, I think it's an important step not simply for Tori, but for women rockers in general. So often, it's been the men who have been cited as being connected with horrifically violent crimes. The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, NWA, Eminem, and so many other male rockers and male-fronted bands have been the ones reportedly inspiring manslaughter for so many years. I think it's important, as a feminist, to take time to acknowledge this important step forward for women in music.

Apparently the murderer wrote, in his own blood:

"And if I die today I will be the phantom exit 75 I'm still alive."

The newspaper that reported this said that these were the lyrics from a Tori song he liked. Au contraire! They are, in fact, the lyrics from TWO Tori songs. The first half is from "The Happy Phantom." Note how the murderer has ommitted the word "happy" from the excerpt. The second half is from "Hotel" off of From the Choirgirl Hotel. I feel that, if a man cares enough about a singer to write the lyrics in his own blood, journalists should make the effort to report correctly about the singer.

So . . .

This doesn't disturb me too much, but it blows my "Toriphiles are good people" theory out of the water. I'm just glad he didn't pick any of my favorite songs to write in his own blood. If he had written "Flying Dutchman, are you out there?" I would have needed a lie down.

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