My 10 Favorite Tori Amos Songs, Ranked

by Marisa Torrieri Bloom

On August 22, piano-rock starlet Tori Amos turns 61. But given her extensive musical catalogue, it’s almost impossible to pick just ten favorites. So instead, here are the ten that I love the most from the greatest decade in rock: the 1990s.

#10: “She’s Your Cocaine” (From the Choir Girl Hotel)

This swirling, psychedelic blues-rock tune is a bit off the beaten path, as far as Tori Amos tracks go. Yet the subject matter, which researchers suggest revolves around Trent Reznor and his friendship with Courtney Love, keeps the listener guessing.

#9: “Bliss” (To Venus and Back)

“Bliss,” the lead track from Amos’ fifth studio album To Venus and Back, showcases the depth of her music — from the deep introspection to the hopeful refrains — atop an enchanting, piano-pop melody.

# 8: “Cornflake Girl” (Under the Pink)

Buoyed by a percussive piano beat, this fun singalong tune cloaks a deeper, darker theme of female betrayal. The video, featuring girls on a fun road trip who soon turn on each other, is pretty telling (and darkly humorous). The high notes Amos reaches in the refrain — “you bet your life it is!” — stay with the listener long after the song fades. 

#7: “Winter” (Little Earthquakes)

One of Amos’ most iconic piano ballads of all time, “Winter” is nothing less than a masterpiece. The song, which many initially interpret as a piece about Amos and her father, is more about change and acceptance. As Stereogum notes, “it bears all the weight of a song one might expect from a songwriter looking back at a life’s worth of experience, yet its imagery and all-too-real lyrics come by way of someone not yet even 30.”

#6: “Professional Widow” (Boys for Pele)

Anchored in an infectious, atmospheric beat, “Professional Widow” is wild, with some of the artist’s most biting lyrics. When Tori seethes, “Starfucker … just like my daddy,” the listener can practically feel it. There’s lots of speculation as to what and who this song is about (some listeners have alluded to Courtney Love?), but the mystery is what makes it so intriguing.

#5: “God” (Under the Pink)

Hook is everything in this song from Amos’ 1994 album, Under the Pink. The juxtaposition of her airy, sultry vocals — “Ooh-who’s” that hook the listener in — against the lyrical critique of patriarchal religiosity is deep, yet brilliant. At the same time, there’s a free-spirited vibe to this song, and I love singing along to it, in all its painful beauty.

#4: “Caught a Light Sneeze” (Boys for Pele)

This single off Boys for Pele emphasizes the artist’s search for meaning and sisterhood in a culture that oozes with toxic masculinity.

#3: “Precious Things” (Little Earthquakes)

As Stereogum notes in its own “top 10” Tori Amos writeup, “Precious Things” quickly pairs the deliberate melodic hesitation with a commanding chord in the bass clef, “establishing a kind of ominous but constant foundation that remains throughout the song’s nearly four-and-a-half minutes.” But it’s the lyrics that stick to me — of Amos recalling a time she needed to run from painful experiences that marked her coming-of-age years. 

#2: “Blood Roses” (Boys for Pele)

This harpsichord-heavy tune sticks out as one of the artist’s most memorable deviations from the piano-ballad staples of her first two albums. When I first heard “Blood Roses,” I knew it was the best song on Boys to Pele — and the one I would crave over, and over, again. Also, I hadn’t heard anything like it before — the pairing of the then-little-used harpsichord with Amos’ expansive, dramatic vocal range, and cloaked references to a taboo subject. It’s one of my favorite songs to play on guitar, and sing along to, although I’ll never be gifted with that kind of vocal range.

#1: “Crucify” (Little Earthquakes)

Amos had attention the moment she sung, “Every finger in the room is pointing at me.” When this song was released in the early ’90s, it was rare to use crucifixion as a metaphor for self-destructiveness and self-loathing. And Amos did it so effectively, with an urgency in her tone that felt so relatable and fresh. The song is a masterpiece that rises and falls and rises again.

Marisa Torrieri Bloom is the founder and editor of Rockmommy.