A Sorta Fairytale

"A Sorta Fairytale" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her 2002 album Scarlet's Walk. The song reached #14 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, and #1 on the Triple A (adult album alternative) chart. The song has since been featured in episodes of the television shows Nip/Tuck and The L Word. There are three commercially released versions of the song: the album version (5:30), the 101 Mix (4:00) and the original single version (4:01). It was released as a CD single (UK/Canada) with "Operation Peter Pan" as the B-side, and as a DVD single (US) with the music video, co-starring Adrien Brody.

"A Sorta Fairytale"
Single by Tori Amos
from the album Scarlet's Walk
B-side"Operation Peter Pan"
ReleasedOctober 2002
Recorded2002
Genre
Length5:30 (album version)
4:01 (single version)
LabelEpic/Sony BMG
Songwriter(s)Tori Amos
Tori Amos singles chronology
"Concertina"
(2000)		 "A Sorta Fairytale"
(2002)		 "Taxi Ride"
(2003)
A Sorta Fairytale
Video by
Tori Amos
Released8 April 2003
GenreRock/Pop
Length25:00
LabelSony Music Video
DirectorSanji
Tori Amos chronology
Tori Amos: Complete Videos 1991–1998
(1998)		 A Sorta Fairytale
(2003)		 Welcome to Sunny Florida
(2004)

Song information

From the promotional CD Scarlet Stories:

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 affected you. At the end, though, you know... it's us as individuals with our... mm... with our love for the land. For something intangible, that when soulmates come and go, you're never alone even when you're standing just you in your shoes, because you carry them with you.

"A Sorta Fairytale" finds Scarlet back in LA with a man she has convinced herself is her life's soul mate.

They take the big trip in the classic car up the Pacific Coast highway and across the desert. But as they go on, the masks drop away and they discover the fantasy they have of each other isn't who they really are.

They end up back where they started and Scarlet leaves.

They did care. But somehow they lost each other. Which is why it's only "A Sorta Fairytale." - [Scarlet's Walk bio]

In a 2009 interview, Amos was asked about the meaning of one of the lines:

Interviewer: I have to ask you this because it's been killing me for the past five years. On the song A Sorta Fairytale ... you sing about pulling back the hood. Are you talking about the hood I think you're talking about?

Amos: Oh, I want you to think whatever you want to think.

Interviewer: That is not an answer!

Amos: I want you to take it there! I want you to take it there!

Interviewer: Because then when you sing about tasting heaven perfectly—

Amos: And my mom thinks it's talking about a convertible! And you know what? Let's just let her think that.[1]

Music video

The music video, directed by Sanji, features Amos, as a head attached to a disembodied leg, falling in love with another head attached to a disembodied arm (played by Adrien Brody). The two creatures show signs of romantic interest in one another, until the arm accidentally hurts the leg's feelings by laughing at her crooked fifth toe. The leg then flees by jumping onto a passing skateboard, and ends up alone on a deserted beach. The arm finds her and they consummate their love with a deep kiss. The act of kissing causes the arm and leg to suddenly start swelling up and grow their extra body parts—they finally become complete, "whole" humans by realizing their love.

Track listing

Maxi-CD single (UK and Canada)
  1. "A Sorta Fairytale" (101 Mix)
  2. "Operation Peter Pan"
  3. "A Sorta Fairytale" (original single version)*
  4. "A Scarlet Story" (Enhanced CD multimedia)

7" single (US)
  1. "A Sorta Fairytale" (single version)* (on both sides)

*The "single version" and "original single version" are identical though titled differently. Issued with a picture sleeve. Disc has small center hole

DVD single (US)
  1. "A Sorta Fairytale" music video (digitally mastered)
  2. Tori Amos biography
  3. Making of "A Sorta Fairytale"
  4. Interview segment (with Amos)

Charts
Chart (2002–03) Peak
position
Canadian Singles Chart[2] 6
Germany (Media Control Charts) 98
UK Singles (OCC)[3] 41
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[4] 14
US Adult Alternative 1
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[5] 11
US Hot Singles Sales 9
World Adult Top 20 3

References
  1. Michelson, Noah (May 4, 2009). "Songs in the Key of Sin". Out. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012.
  2. "Tori Amos Chart History (Hot Canadian Digital Songs Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  4. "Tori Amos Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  5. "Tori Amos Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2014.



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