| "Silent all these years" | |||||
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| Single by Tori Amos from the album Little Earthquakes |
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| Released | November 1991 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Label | Atlantic | ||||
| Writer | Tori Amos | ||||
| Producer | Tori Amos Eric Rosse |
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| Tori Amos singles chronology | |||||
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Silent All These Years is a single by singer/songwriter Tori Amos from her first solo album, Little Earthquakes. It was later re-released as a fundraiser for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
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Origins
"Silent All These Years" was written during Amos's search for self (and solo album material) after the failure of Y Kant Tori Read. According to her narrative during VH1 Storytellers, she originally wrote this song with Al Stewart in mind to sing it, and Eric Rosse, who was producing some other songs Amos had composed, heard it and told her, "You're out of your mind. That's your life story." So she kept it. In the Little Earthquakes songbook, Amos reveals that writing the song was a slow, evolving process and that the light piano riff during the verses came first. This "bumble bee piano tinkle," as she calls it, is one of the more emblematic and recognizable parts of the song.
Little Earthquakes release
The decision to release "Silent All These Years" as a single was obvious after radio stations rejected the A-side of "Me and a Gun" and began playing this song, its B-side. In the United States, "Silent All These Years" was released solely on cassette as the first single post-Y Kant Tori Read. Its lone B-side was "Upside Down." In the United Kingdom, on the other hand, the single was released much later, as the final one for Little Earthquakes. It was a more comprehensive release that included a 7", a cassette single with a B-side cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and two CD singles, part one and part two. Part one included the B-sides "Upside Down," "Me and a Gun" and "Thoughts"; part two contained "Ode to the Banana King (part one)," "Song for Eric," and a live version of "Happy Phantom." Part two was a quite limited edition release and is now a rare find at used record stores. The single was also released in Germany.
Video
The video for "Silent All These Years," which is now available on the Little Earthquakes VHS and Tori Amos: Complete Videos 1991-1998, was the first of Amos's solo career. It was shot by Cindy Palmano over the course of two days.
Palmano, who had been a stills photographer until this project, came up with the idea of Amos rolling inside a box, the image which is most often associated with the video. Other clips include impersonal shots of objects such as false breasts on a clothes hanger and flowing honey, which Palmano describes as having "a modern look, very clean." The video approaches a climax with shots of Amos twirling against an uneven surface, created by using a corner of a room painted such a crisp white that it's hard to tell that the wall is even there at all. For the final seconds, Amos's face fills the frame as she simply sings to the camera.
The video for "Silent All These Years" was well-noted by the mass media. MTV, in March 1992, used "Silent All These Years" as a "Buzz clip." Additionally, the video was nominated for Breakthrough Video, Best Cinematography, and Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1992. Rolling Stone magazine lists this video at #98 of the 100 greatest videos of all time.
Rerelease and later coverage
1997 saw the rerelease of "Silent All These Years" in the United States as a CD single as a fundraiser for RAINN. The original album version is included along with a live version, significantly longer, recorded during the Concert for RAINN that was aired on Lifetime Television. In 1998, the song was included on the compilation Atlantic Records: 50 Years--The Gold Anniversary. Another compilation, titled Respect: A Century of Women in Music and released in 1999 by Rhino Records, included this song on the last of its 5-disc set; the disc was labelled "Hip-Hop, Pop, and Passion." "Silent All These Years" appears between songs by Sinéad O'Connor and k.d. lang. "Silent All These Years" is also included in a few compilations released by radio stations, such as kCRW Rare on Air, Star Lounge 99 released by KYSR, and Live at the World Cafe released by WXPN. This song was one of sixteen to get a remastering treatment for inclusion on Tales of a Librarian, Amos's 2003 collection. Asian diva Faye Wong covered the song in both Cantonese and Mandarin. Her version is called "Cold War" (冷戰). Singaporean singer Sun Yan Zi also covered the original English version.
Charts
| Chart (1992) | Position |
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| U.S. Hot 100 Airplay | 66 |
| U.S. Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks | 26 |
| U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 27 |
| U.S. The Billboard Hot 100 | 65 |
References
- MoreThings Al Barger's notes on "Silent All These Years"
External links
- Silent All These Years Video - Tori Amos Fansite HereInMyHead.com's main page on the video, which includes quotes, stills, and the entire video itself in downloadable format (via a link near the top of the page).
- Lyrics - HereInMyHead.com's lyrics page for Silent All These Years, also including interview quotes and song credits.
