By James Bow

Do you know what they need to invent?

A braille combination lock.

And then I need to learn how to read braille.

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One of the joys of channel surfing is that sometimes you just stumble upon a gem. Without looking for it, we came upon PBS’s Soundstage, featuring an hour-long live concert with Tori Amos, who is probably my favourite musician at the moment. It was a slick presentation, with plenty of close-ups of Tori performing her magic.

I often wish that I could write stories the same way Tori Amos writes songs. She has a way with her words that makes you stop what you’re doing and listen. She couples together phrases that resonate in the subconscious. Here’s an example:

Don’t Make Me Come to Vegas
Music and Lyrics by Tori Amos

Don’t make me come to Vegas
don’t make me pull you out of his bed
I am vigilant…
That it will not be
you on the menu
he’s serving up for his friends

Don’t make me come to Vegas
don’t make me pull him out of your head
athena will attest
that it could be done
and it has been done
and i think that i am up to it

And the jacaranda tree
is telling me of the trouble you’re in
just by the way
she bends
remember dancing and wondering
as you were swaying
what kind of woman you’d be
“what will be will be”
over my dead body

slip through your hand again and again
slip through your hand again and again

My old flame was a jester and a joker
and a dealer of men
they called him the prince…
the prince of black jacks and of women
and of anything
that’s slipped into his hands

and the ranches and the mustangs
and the way you said
“you can have all this,
except for me—
you see, lady luck is my mistress
and you’ll have to play second to her wishes

and the jacaranda tree
is telling me it’s not over yet,
just by the way she bends
“if you come breezin’ through”
you said “i’ll know that it’s you
by the taste on my lips,
bet on the deserts kiss”
i could slip through your net
“over my dead body”

slip through your hand again and again
slip through your hand again and again

don’t make me come to vegas…
hmmm

It’s no accident that Tori’s songs dot my “soundtrack albums” for various stories, including Rosemary and Time (Cornflake Girl) and Fathom Five (1000 Oceans). Another song of her’s that I like is Wednesday.

If I could put together sentences that resonate the way some of the word choices do here (and in her other lyrics) my stories could burst with eye-popping images. But word choice is not my strong suit. It’s clearly Erin’s.

Ah well. We’ll see what happens with practise.