China (Tori Amos song)

Last updated

"China"
Tori Amos China.jpg
Single by Tori Amos
from the album Little Earthquakes
B-side
  • "Sugar"
  • "Flying Dutchman"
  • "Humpty Dumpty"
ReleasedJanuary 20, 1992 (1992-01-20) [1]
Length5:01
Label EastWest
Songwriter(s) Tori Amos
Producer(s) Ian Stanley
Tori Amos singles chronology
"Silent All These Years"
(1991)		"China"
(1992)		"Winter"
(1992)

"China" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos, released as the third single from her debut studio album, Little Earthquakes . It was issued on January 20, 1992, by EastWest Records in the United Kingdom. It was the first song written for Little Earthquakes[ citation needed ] and was originally titled "Distance"; [2] a recurring lyric and theme in the song. It was originally submitted to the Library of Congress in 1987. [3]

Contents

Background

The song is often cited as one of Amos's least abstruse and most traditional ballads. It is a lament about lost love with lyrics like, "Sometimes I think you want me to touch you/How can I when you build the great wall around you?" This particular lyric likely inspired the cover art of Amos standing at an upside-down teacup shaped wall. This visual theme also occurred in the music video, which showed Amos lamenting on a rocky beach in England.

The single peaked at number 51 in the UK [4] but did not chart in other countries. One of the B-sides on the single, "Humpty Dumpty", is exclusive to this release. The B-side, "Sugar", was included on the Australian B-sides album, More Pink: The B-Sides, in 1994 and a live version appeared on the single, Hey Jupiter , in 1996. A live version of "Sugar" also appears on the live disc to Amos' 1999 2-CD album, To Venus and Back . Amos recalls that during the creation of Under The Pink, she considered re-recording the song to put it on the album, but it was later deemed unnecessary because she had enough new material to work with. [5]

Track listings

U.K. Cassette single– Atlantic A7531C / U.K. 7-inch single– Atlantic A7531

  1. "China" – 5:01
  2. "Sugar" – 4:27

U.K. CD single– Atlantic A7531CD / U.K. 12-inch single– Atlantic A7531T

  1. "China" – 5:01
  2. "Sugar" – 4:27
  3. "Flying Dutchman" – 6:31
  4. "Humpty Dumpty" – 2:52

France Cassette single– Carrere Music 7567-85755-4 / France CD single– Carrere Music 7567-85755-9

  1. "China" (Edit) – 3:55
  2. "Flying Dutchman" – 6:31

Charts

Chart (1992)Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [4] 51

References

  1. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week . January 18, 1992. p. 19.
  2. ↑ Jacobs, Jay S. (2006). Pretty Good Years: A Biography of Tori Amos. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN   978-1-4234-0022-6.
  3. ↑ China by Tori Amos Archived March 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine from free-pianosheetmusic.com
  4. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Blender Magazine - February/March 2002". thedent.com. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
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