"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'' (stylised in all lowercase) 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 ...

''. 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 ''Datura'' is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, Vespertine (biology), vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's t ...

, 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 A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

. 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 drummer, record producer and songwriter. He has played with various artists, including Pearl Jam, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Morrissey, The Wallflow ...

at her studio, Martian Engineering in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 Steve Caton is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and visual artist, perhaps best known for a lengthy association with Tori Amos. Career Caton's first band experience was as a member of Pegasus in the late 1970s. He first gained wide ...

- 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