"Dātura" is a song by singer, songwriter, and pianist

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 ...

, released on her fifth studio album ''

To Venus and Back ''To Venus and Back'' is a double album by American singer, songwriter and pianist Tori Amos. Released on September 21, 1999, it comprises her fifth studio album and first live album. The first disc, entitled ''Venus: Orbiting'', shows Amos i ...

''. At eight minutes and twenty-five seconds in length, it is the longest song in the studio portion of the album.

Background

The song takes its name from the Datura a hallucinogenic plant with the potential to be lethally toxic. The lyrics of the first section mainly consist of a list of plants found in Amos' garden. Also included in this section are cut-up and manipulated vocals from Amos in the background, and the repeatedly occurring phrase "get out of the garden". This is then followed by a bridge section which switches to

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

. In the second half of the song, the lyric "dividing Canaan" appears prominently. The song's intricate arrangement includes shifting time signatures (, , , and ), simultaneous drum tracks, and drum pads being fed through guitar amps and pedals. Due to the complexity of the song, it has never been performed live in full, although excerpts from it have been interspersed with other songs in concert, such as with "Take to the Sky". "Dātura" was created partially through improvisation with drummer

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

at her studio, Martian Engineering in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The plants appearing in the lyrics come from a list given to Amos by her gardener, containing all the remaining plants from her garden that had not yet died.From an interview with ''All Music'' magazine, October 1999 The inclusion of "Dātura" on ''To Venus and Back'' caused another lengthy track, "Zero Point", to be cut from the album. "Zero Point" later appeared on the 2006 boxset '' A Piano: The Collection''.

Personnel

- vocals, piano, synths, production *

- drums, percussion * Jon Evans - bass * Steve Caton - guitars * Andy Gray - additional programming and additional drum programming Additional personnel: * Jon Astley - mastering * Mark Hawley - recording and mixing * Marcel van Limbeek - recording and mixing * Rob van Tuin - assistant recording and mixing

References

{{authority control Tori Amos songs 1999 songs Songs written by Tori Amos