"Crucify" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

. It was released as the fifth single from her debut studio album ''

Little Earthquakes ''Little Earthquakes'' is the debut solo album by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Silent All These Years", "China", "Winter" and "Crucify". After Atlantic Records rejected the first version of the album, Amos bega ...

'', on May 12, 1992, by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in North America and on June 8 by

EastWest Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

in the UK. In Australia, it was released on July 20, 1992.

Background

The song served as the fifth single from the album ''

''. It was released as an EP in the US and as a single in Europe and Australia. The EP version of the same name includes a single remix, famous cover versions, and "Winter", which was released earlier as a single from the album. It sold 450,000 copies in the US according to Soundscan as of 2005, coming close to a Gold certification. Although the EP sold extremely well, it failed to chart on the Billboard 200. The length of this EP is 20:50. The UK CD single includes the songs "Here. In My Head" and "

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

", which are B-sides of "Crucify". The UK limited-edition EP includes live versions of "Crucify", "Little Earthquakes", "Mother", and "Precious Things".

Legacy

The song has been covered by Sharon den Adel, vocalist of

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

, and

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second ...

, French singer.

Track listings

US EP single # "Crucify" (remix) – 4:18 # "Winter" – 5:41 # " Angie" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

) – 4:25 # "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

" (

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

Krist Novoselic Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana. Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He is the founder of the rock band Foo Fighters, in which he is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Prior to forming Foo Fighters, he was the drummer of gru ...

) – 3:17 # "

Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...

" (

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

) – 3:49 UK CD single # "Crucify" (remix) – 4:18 # "Here. In My Head" – 3:53 # "

" – 4:27 # "Crucify" (Alternate Mix) – 4:58 (misprinted as "LP Version") Limited UK EP single # "Little Earthquakes" (live) – 6:58 # "Crucify" (live) – 5:19 # "Precious Things" (live) – 5:03 # "Mother" (live) – 6:37

Personnel

* Tori Amos – acoustic

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Jef Scott – bass * Ed Greene –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Paulinho Da Costa –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* John Chamberlin –

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Eric Williams –

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

* Nancy Shanks (Beene), Tina Gullickson – backgrounds * John Beverly Jones –

sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...

* Leslie Ann Jones – assistance * Paul McKenna – mixing * Davitt Sigerson – producer * Ian Stanley – producer

Charts

Release history

Appearances of the song on television

Live performances

Tori Amos performed "Crucify" on

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

in May, 1992, and on ''

CBS This Morning ''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...

'' on September 9, 1992. She also played it on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' on January 13, 1993, along with the song "Winter." Additionally, she played "Crucify" live on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in 1992, as well as on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

Music video

The "Crucify" video, directed by Cindy Palmano (photographer and video director) and

, was released in 1992 as well. It was shot using the

radio edit In music, a radio edit or radio mix is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay, whether it be adjusted for length, profanity, subject matter, instrumentation, or form. Radio edits may als ...

of "Crucify" that can be found on the ''Crucify'' EP and single release, but the version used on Tori's 2006 ''Fade to Red'' 2DVD set is an edited version of the remastered track that is found on the compilation ''

Tales of a Librarian ''A Tori Amos Collection: Tales of a Librarian'' is the first retrospective compilation album by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Given the option to be involved in the project, Amos elected to take a central role in the production of the co ...

''. It includes images of Tori at the piano shot using overhead cameras, twin Toris who sing together at a counter, clothing "reminiscent of Anne Boleyn," and shots of Tori climbing into a bathtub fully dressed, then dancing in the wet dress. Cindy Palmano has said that Atlantic Records finished the video because "I took it to a certain stage and then the record company wanted to edit it in a different way." Yet she approves of the bathtub sequence: "I like when she steps into the bath and comes out of the bath. It all looks really Hitchcock, I love it." (Palmano also directed the videos "Silent All These Years," "Winter," "China" and "Pretty Good Year," this last one from Amos' second album, ''

Under the Pink ''Under the Pink'' is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", and peaked at number 12 in the US. The alb ...

''.) The music video can be found on ''

'', '' Tori Amos: Complete Videos 1991-1998'' and ''

Fade to Red ''Fade to Red: Tori Amos Video Collection'' is a double DVD set from recording artist and musician Tori Amos and was released by Rhino Entertainment on February 14, 2006. It featured music videos spanning 1992 to 2005, including the singles "Sil ...

: Video Collection''.

Later appearances of "Crucify"

In 2003, Tori Amos released the compilation album ''

'', which included remastered versions of many of her most popular songs. The original LP version of "Crucify" was one of them. Amos has performed "Crucify" differently live in recent years, with the verses being performed slower and with some degree of repetition. One example of how she plays it now can be found on the ''

Welcome to Sunny Florida ''Welcome to Sunny Florida'' is the name of a DVD and CD set released by singer-songwriter Tori Amos in 2004. The set features a live concert performance by Amos from her 2002 " On Scarlet's Walk" tour, in support of her album Scarlet's Walk. It ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

References

External links

Crucify
{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs Atlantic Records singles East West Records singles Songs written by Tori Amos Tori Amos songs