gold dust synchronicity

wordy last post, huh? sometimes i don't have much to say about my food, if you can believe it!

but i do have a lot to say about where my thoughts have been lately. when i started this blog it was for recipes, but it has evolved into a journal of sorts. i hope you don't mind me sharing more than my animal-friendly food.

friday i was reading tavi's blog when i was reminded of a song called gold dust from one of my most beloved tori amos albums, scarlet's walk.

as tori spent childhood summers with her grandparents, whose cherokee grandparents survived the trail of tears, she has a deep understanding of the horror this nation is built upon. in creating scarlet's walk, tori traveled the united states after 9/11 in an attempt to re-examine the nation's history, the myths, and what it means to be american. you can read more about the album's concept here: lost in a place called america.

the album came out in the fall of 2002 when i was a senior in college. its somber feel enchanted me, and when the pain of adolescence and early adulthood was too much to bear, music was therapy, especially tori amos.

"how did it go so fast
you'll say as we are looking back
and then we'll understand
we held gold dust
in our hands" 



friday night, john and i watched the movie, frida based on the life of frida kahlo. before she's severely injured in her trolley accident, frida's given a handful of gold paint particles. upon impact, a shimmering shower of gold dust rains over the wreckage. the lyrics, 'we held gold dust in our hands' replayed in my head from earlier that day as i sat in awe of the timing. was the gold dust a coincidence or a symbol for me?

i'm still not sure, though the synchronicity did lead me to some reflecting while youtubing my favorite songs from the album. these videos are so beautiful to me that i wanted to share, though i understand if they're not for you. tori herself says she is an acquired taste, like anchovies.=)

here tori shares some insights she gained from a native american woman whom she met while researching for her scarlet's walk album.



"big brave nation
but instead
her medicine
now forgotten"
-scarlet's walk



a bouncy lil' number with yummy bass...



"I think that there is a place where she [Scarlet] realizes that people come in and out of your life. Sometimes for a day, sometimes for longer. And all of them make you what you are. You can't separate these people out of you. They form who you are. Even the ones that you kind of say well...you know, I don't know if I wanna be formed by them anymore. (laughs) But you are in some way. You are. That's why, maybe, you don't have to look at them so harshly because they have effected you." - From the promotional-CD "Scarlet Stories" (source)



"woke up to a world
that i am not a part
except when i can play
its stranger"
-strange



a haunting song symbolic of 9/11...



and lastly, the winning video for a "taxi ride" contest, one of my favorites on the scarlet's walk album.



i had to stop myself from posting more, and i didn't even get to share all my favorites. if you'd like to see them, i'd be more than happy to share!=)

any other tori amos fans out there?