I think the songs, they're almost like my teachers really. I have to be willing to open that closet, and be willing to bring out all my little party hats.

Silent All These Years Video

Monsters are the best, most wonderful. Monsters are, um, ya know, it's like you have to fight for your right to have a monster.

Leather Live

As a performer I work as a mirror, whatever you're giving me I give back ten fold. That's how mirrors can work, when all this love is coming to you, and all this projection is coming to you, and all this stuff is coming to you, what the audience is really doing is they want to give to themselves. Performers do have this power. They can keep what you're giving them and not give it back. It's how you think, you can stop the wheel. You have to keep the wheel going which is intake - out take.

Precious Things Live

Being a minister's daughter means you get really good poppy seed cake at Christmas time, and you get these really wonderful dresses and things made for you by these really nice little old ladies. You also get an incredible amount of confusion. But when you're 14 years old and you don't know what your beliefs are, you're taking on every body's beliefs around you and you're making them yours. And I'm not about the institutionalized church at all.

Crucify Video

Me and A Gun is based on a personal experience and I wouldn't talk about it for seven years. I saw Thelma and Louise and it's like a door opened. And I began to open that door and free myself from being a victim in my head. You can carry that with you for the rest of your life really, and I smashed that.

Me and A Gun Live TV appearance

Tori begins to play Little Earthquakes and gets to "big year for hunters" then says "Hang on, this is rattling my piano. These things happen you know. That's okay, how is everybody doing? This is how it really works you know. We spend hours before you show up figuring this out.
(To the piano guy) That's great
I'm really glad he came out here, because his hair looks really great with this light on it. I told him earlier he needs to walk around with this blue light See isn't that good? Okay, guess what the first song is, guess?

Little Earthquakes Live

Audiences and adolescence go together, um, because I remember playing this song when I was twelve for this boy. I'd written a song for this boy and everybody knew in the school, about it. And he threatened to beat me up if I played it. It was gonna be infront of the whole school, you know assemblies. His name was John. Well, you know I had braces and big tails, and he was dating the girl, Slyvia. You know, 14 and should be, you know, um, on the front of a ship. You know, one of those.... And the point is she... I sat there wetting my pants. I mean my knees were water. He was sitting there with all his cute friends. And what do you do? You're twelve years old , you have a crush on somebody. And you really wanna say ‘You know buddy it fifteen years I'm not gonna have braces anymore, and I'm not gonna have my knees like water, and I might be an interesting person. And you know, you shouldn't be so mean to me.' But adolescence is that time when I think, it can be the... it's the cruelest place on Earth. It can be heartless and I played that song. And everybody knew what was going on. Needless to say he didn't beat me up. He came up to me and said ‘That was really better than I thought it was gonna be.' And I never heard from him since. So I think about that sometimes when I have to go out an play in front of an audience. And I go ‘Oh my knees are weak and they're full of water'

Interviewer: Do you ever play the song?

Tori: No, No

China Video

Before I walk out on the stage I set my peramiters for room. It's kind of like a witch with her brew. I decide what I'm bringing to the party that night, and I bring different things with me in every city that I play. But I try and attune myself to the audience out there. And again it's smelling what's cooking in the kitchen. It always comes back to (sniff) a little garlic (sniff) she's got pudding in the oven, and then once you know what that's all about you go ‘We're gonna bring a little of this tonite'

Happy Phantom Live

Interviewer: You said that the songs are like your teachers, like your children. How do you choose which children to adopt and which children not to adopt?

Tori: They decide, they decide where they want to go. Not all of them want the limelight. Not all of them want to come and be on the record. And some of them don't want to work as hard as others you know. Some like to have holidays. So they just show up, it's real obvious who wants to come, and there's certain ones, lately "Here. in my head" just keeps wanting to show up. It gets a new pair of shoes, and decides it wants to go out. So I end up playing even more than some of the songs that are on the album.

Interviewer: Just because it comes in? Um, I mean...

Tori: It shows up and nothing else can get in, when they show up it's kinda like, you know. When you have to have an enchilada you just have to have one.

Here. In my Head Live

We all get intimidated by showing ourselves for whatever reason we think "If I really show who I am, and somebody goes thpttt(?) Then it's gonna crush me" Well it's not gonna crush me. I doesn't crush you when somebody does that, somebody will do that. Many times. And once you accept that, that's not why you're doing it, you doing it becuase that's your form of expression

Winter Video

Interviewer: It seemed to my tonight that there were lots of things flying around you tonite as you were trying to decided which songs you were going to sing, what were those things?

Tori: Things fly around (knock on door) Somebody's knocking. Who's this? Hey. It's John, John you want to be on camara? You love it.

John:Protect the innocent

Tori: Um, buzz off, I'm gonna answer a question.

John: Nobody told me you were filming.

Tori: Bye

Interviewer:Speaking of people flying around...

Tori: Flying around... Um...There's one song that I just love singing. It's Song for Eric and it's a capella so my hands don't know what to do with themselves when I'm singing it. I always think about, you know you have a memory of something and you can't quite put your finger on what it is. But you just kind of feel it in your belly. Song for Eric reminds me of a different time, something that isn't in this time, and I go there.

Song for Eric Live

At the end of it she says "Thank you you've been great" and leaves.

Tori : I don't play for races or religions, you know, I'm into faeries.