[GWRIeEQp]

"The songs started coming. Blood Roses was the first, and it was that feeling of ripping open your vein and going, 'This blood has sold millions of records. This blood can do many things.' And the men are like, 'Yes, Tori, and this blood isn't enough for us.'"
(every time I quote Tori, I probably got the quote from yessaid)

Lyrics (as sung)

The spire is hot
and my cells can't feed
and you still got that Belle dragging your foots, yes.
I'm hiding it well,
Sister Ernestine,
but I still got that Belle dragging my foots, yes.

Some wonderful imagery here. Whilst fire is something glorious and powerful that Tori is attempting to reclaim in this album, the 'hotness' here is literally killing Tori - it's a heat so potent that the enzymes in her 'cells' are denatured and become unable to respire, or 'feed'. It's an oppressive heat, the religious fire of the spire, as it's a fire that overwhelms Tori's own. The meat of this section, however, is the 'Belle' dragging her 'foots'. She's still tangoing with the Belle of New Orleans, still acting the part of the subordinate southern lady, and her 'foots' are 'dragging' under the weight of the role. Sister Ernestine, as we know, gave Tori piano lessons once she had left the Peabody Institute; Tori has talked about these lessons representing a "very dark time" in her training. Mentioning her in CALS has the effect of conjuring the Blood Roses image of rejection and punishment, of Tori's blood not being good enough. In the context of a piano lesson under Sister Ernestine, therefore, the Belle 'dragging' her 'foots' takes on new meaning; it has the effect of preventing her from properly using the pedals, and becomes a creative impediment. She's 'hiding it well' - coping, not flourishing - but how long has she been hiding it? Is it only now, in her third album, that she's realising her 'foots' have to be reclaimed? Is this her creative spirit finally running free?

now you've cut out the flute
from the throat of the loon,
at least when you cry now
he can't even hear you. At the end of the song, we are back where we were at its beginning. Back on the street. There is no major change taking place in this song - there is only realisation, and building anger. No sense of where to go next, not yet. 'Cut out the flute from the throat of the loon' is a wonderful image - dat wordplay - and seems to show the altering of something, violently, in order to fit someone else's image. 'At least when you cry now he can't even hear you' seems to show this, as now that BR can no longer cry, he can no longer be irritated by her. The use of 'flute' to describe the vocal chords is particularly relevant, as it again shows Tori's connection to music and composition - by cutting out the 'flute', effectively ripping out her musical heart, she is compromising her creativity and her musicianship in order to fit his needs.

I can't speak about music without making myself look stupid, so I'll just say that the use of the organ and church bells in sections of this song have links to the whole oppressive Christianity thing - there seems to be a finger of blame being pointed at parts of her upbringing for the way BR's life has turned out. The bells are tolling unsympathetically and cruelly off in the distance, right at the back of the mix. The use of the harpsichord can also be seen as relevant, as it is quite a repressive instrument - the main keyboard of choice before the invention of the piano, its dynamic range was very limited, and could achieve only loud and soft, with no in-between. As there is creative repression going on in the song, the instrument is also creatively repressed.

What do you think of this song? Experiences etc.? I think this is one of the songs that I think immediately conveys a lot of what I love about Pele, so it's always the first song I link someone as an introduction. It's just a mad, mad song.

[makemoneyonli]

I've always interpretted the "He likes killing you after you're dead" line to tie much more closely into female genital mutilation/Possessing The Secret of Joy. An orgasm being "the little death," and having your clitoris (warm little diamond/chicken's meat) removed would end any sort of sexual climax in that way. Basically, he still likes fucking her even though there is no pleasure for her in it.

Just a little extra thought... (btw I love what you've written about this song)

[DesautocaD]

The "I shaved every place that you been" line is one of my all-time Tori faves. 1996 me loved the idea that not only was a guy out of my life, but I could take some control in the situation and erase his existence in my world, leave no trace of him.

I listened to a live version recently and it still moves me. Such a good song, fantastic vocals, moving lyrics.

[Ruiceara]

^I always took that line as he gave her crabs and she had to shave everything!

I have no idea why.

[GeorgeEckland]

Blood Roses is a weird fucking song. It's also completely brilliant and one of my favorite Tori songs. I can't imagine it without the harpsichord and I love that Tori brought the harpsichord into 90s alternative music. I probably would have never even heard of the instrument had it not been for this song. Also, Blood Roses makes so much sense at the beginning of BFP. Can you imagine it just jolting out somewhere in the middle of the record? No way.

Also, no one has brought up Trent. Don't you think he's referenced anywhere in the song? Yes, I went there.

[FuXA8nQM]

Spoilered for size (it's huge!), but this Salvador Dali painting sums up Blood Roses for me.



I have an ex-boyfriend who had a poster of this on his wall. I remember thinking many years ago, when I started listening to Tori, that it was Blood Roses personified. It may have helped that he also had a poster of Tori playing piano directly above it

I may post more thoughts later when I am not at work.

*edit* I only just noticed today in the painting the shadow of a man who is watching the woman from a distance. Interesting.

[elalmhicabalp]

You know what's really underrated is the hammond version from 2005. There's one on the Frankfurt bootleg that I used to listen to a lot, around Easter time (tee hee!) several years ago. It's like dark church music - speaking of which, why the hell has Tori never used a pipe organ in any of her songs? I think there's one on Abnormally Attracted to Sin but of course she buried it in the mix.

[r9tbayfC]

This song is both brutal and delicate. It's like Tori's dragon wings coming out.

[FuXA8nQM]

OK, so I've had some time (and some wine) to think about this song.

The painting I linked to in my post above: I can't help but wondering if it had some influence on Blood Roses. To me, it seems such a perfect fit: Blood Roses to me describes promises that were never fulfilled (can't forget the things you never said) as in Tori's wish to have children - the bleeding roses in the womb area emphasise this perfectly. There may have been unspoken issues between her and Eric. I do remember her saying in a '98 interview that her next career step was to be a mother. This is my interpretation only of course.

And (I may be completely off-track)
"you think I'm a queer"
I don't know if this is 1) meant as a derogatory term for homosexual, or 2) simply to mean that her ex has told her she's weird, and she's replying with "well, you're weird!" If it's meant to be the first instance, then it could be a rebuttal to someone refusing to sleep with her, or could be she's refused to sleep with him and this is them fighting about it. There are men in the world who assume that if you don't want to shag them then you're gay.

I also echo the love for the line "shaved every place where you've been"

It's quite final, it's erasing any evidence of sexual contact...

Long story short, I listen to this song when I feel angry about a past relationship (see: ex-boyfriend poster) and I need to let out. It is Tori at her most beautiful and demonic.

[LkEHaduy]

Spoilered for size (it's huge!), but this Salvador Dali painting sums up Blood Roses for me.

What a find! It sounds very plausible to me that Tori was inspired by or used that imagery.

[uneniaPhenits]

did tori do the brass section arrangements for this song because the bit bw 02.55 - 03.16 has always been the BEST part I think.

Also, +1 for the Frankfurt 2005 'blood roses'. brilliant concert.

[GWRIeEQp]

I've always interpretted the "He likes killing you after you're dead" line to tie much more closely into female genital mutilation/Possessing The Secret of Joy. An orgasm being "the little death," and having your clitoris (warm little diamond/chicken's meat) removed would end any sort of sexual climax in that way. Basically, he still likes fucking her even though there is no pleasure for her in it.

Just a little extra thought... (btw I love what you've written about this song)

mmm yeah! That's so good. It ties into the whole idea of being meat, etc.

OK, so I've had some time (and some wine) to think about this song.

The painting I linked to in my post above: I can't help but wondering if it had some influence on Blood Roses. To me, it seems such a perfect fit: Blood Roses to me describes promises that were never fulfilled (can't forget the things you never said) as in Tori's wish to have children - the bleeding roses in the womb area emphasise this perfectly. There may have been unspoken issues between her and Eric. I do remember her saying in a '98 interview that her next career step was to be a mother. This is my interpretation only of course.

And (I may be completely off-track)
"you think I'm a queer"
I don't know if this is 1) meant as a derogatory term for homosexual, or 2) simply to mean that her ex has told her she's weird, and she's replying with "well, you're weird!" If it's meant to be the first instance, then it could be a rebuttal to someone refusing to sleep with her, or could be she's refused to sleep with him and this is them fighting about it. There are men in the world who assume that if you don't want to shag them then you're gay.

I also echo the love for the line "shaved every place where you've been"

It's quite final, it's erasing any evidence of sexual contact...

Long story short, I listen to this song when I feel angry about a past relationship (see: ex-boyfriend poster) and I need to let out. It is Tori at her most beautiful and demonic.

It's an amazing painting! Thanks for sharing it. That onlooking, ambivalent man's shadow is creepy as hell, especially since the woman is obviously suffering hard. It's fitting for roses to be likened to reproductive organs in that way, since that's essentially what they are.

"There are men in the world who assume that if you don't want to shag them then you're gay." I like this. In the kind of universe that Tori is singing about, in which everything is ruled, and the worth of all things judged by sex, it makes sense for "queer" to be used in that derogatory way, or for that to be the subject of the argument. It's pretty disturbing to see a relationship built upon sex in such a way.

yeah, beautiful and demonic, so true - there's such beauty in her voice, especially during the bridge section, but there's such manic violence in her sighs and all the gothic musical elements.

did tori do the brass section arrangements for this song because the bit bw 02.55 - 03.16 has always been the BEST part I think.

wait... I thought that was the organ?

[uneniaPhenits]

^yikes! just gave another thought with 'organ' in my head and, yes, I do think you're absolutely right! can't believe i've always thought it was brass! incred.

[GWRIeEQp]

ha! it does sound a bit brassy, to be fair.