Scarlets Walk is a unique and innovative album by Tori Amos. A singer, songwriter, and musician, Amos is one of the most prolific women in rock music today. She is never afraid to tackle an issue on her mind, whether personal or political, or anything else in between.
Scarlets Walk is an example of music today that analyzes America, its politics, history, and people. It focuses mostly on the treatment of repressed minorities by the American government throughout Americas short history. Most significantly, the album focuses around the plights of the Native American people, a subject that only recently has gained attention in schools. However, when it is talked about in schools, it is almost always misconstrued and clouded to show Americans as the good guys and Native Americans as the bad guys.
Scarlets Walk is constructed as a sonic novel of sorts. The songs function almost like chapters painting a picture of the United States past, present, and possible future. Whether concerning Native Americans, homosexuals, or other repressed peoples, Amos tells the story from seemingly every angle. Sometimes the subject matter gets very dark, but Amos portrays the country the way she sees it, the good and the bad.
This novel is told from the perspective of a character named Scarlet, whom Amos refers to as her alter ego. Like Amos, Scarlet is a descendent of the Cherokee people, hence the incredible emphasis on Native American history throughout the story.
Scarlet is on a post September eleventh road trip, and each of the songs details certain parts of her journey. Along her way, she meets many different people, visits sacred Indian lands, and begins to question what she believes in. A tour de force from start to finish, Scarlets Walk is an unsettling yet empowering journey through the American history not taught in schools.
Scarlets Walk is an example of music today that analyzes America, its politics, history, and people. It focuses mostly on the treatment of repressed minorities by the American government throughout Americas short history. Most significantly, the album focuses around the plights of the Native American people, a subject that only recently has gained attention in schools. However, when it is talked about in schools, it is almost always misconstrued and clouded to show Americans as the good guys and Native Americans as the bad guys.
Scarlets Walk is constructed as a sonic novel of sorts. The songs function almost like chapters painting a picture of the United States past, present, and possible future. Whether concerning Native Americans, homosexuals, or other repressed peoples, Amos tells the story from seemingly every angle. Sometimes the subject matter gets very dark, but Amos portrays the country the way she sees it, the good and the bad.
This novel is told from the perspective of a character named Scarlet, whom Amos refers to as her alter ego. Like Amos, Scarlet is a descendent of the Cherokee people, hence the incredible emphasis on Native American history throughout the story.
Scarlet is on a post September eleventh road trip, and each of the songs details certain parts of her journey. Along her way, she meets many different people, visits sacred Indian lands, and begins to question what she believes in. A tour de force from start to finish, Scarlets Walk is an unsettling yet empowering journey through the American history not taught in schools.
