"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'', 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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

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 New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

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

Background

The song served as the fifth single from the album '' Little Earthquakes''. 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 Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

", 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 female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

", 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 Sharon Janny den Adel (born 12 July 1974) is a Dutch singer who is the lead vocalist of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. She has been performing since age 14, and co-founded Within Temptation with partner Robert Westerholt in 1996. S ...

, 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 infl ...

, and

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

, French singer.

Track listings

U.S. release (May 1992)

Cassette single – Atlantic 4-87463 # "Crucify" (Remix) – 4:18 # " Me and a Gun" – 3:42 CD EP – Atlantic 7 82399-2 / Cassette EP – Atlantic 7 82399-4 # "Crucify" (Remix) – 4:18 # "

" – 5:41 # " Angie" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

) – 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. Having sold over 13 million units worldwide, it i ...

" (

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

Krist Novoselic Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician, politician and activist. Novoselic co-founded and played bass on every album for the rock music, rock band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the ban ...

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

) – 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 gr ...

" (

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

) – 3:49

U.K. release (June 1992)

7-inch single – EastWest A7479 / Cassette single – EastWest A7479C # "Crucify" (Remix) – 4:18 # "Here. In My Head" – 3:53 CD single 1 – EastWest A7479CD # "Crucify" (Remix) – 4:18 # "Here. In My Head" – 3:53 # "

" – 4:27 # "Crucify" (Alternate mix) – 4:58 (misprinted as "LP version") CD single 2 (Limited Edition) – EastWest A7479CDX # "Little Earthquakes" (Live) – 6:58 # "Crucify" (Live) – 5:19 # "Precious Things" (Live) – 5:03 # "Mother" (Live) – 6:37 Live tracks recorded at the

Cambridge Corn Exchange The Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located on Wheeler Street, Cambridge, Wheeler Street in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The structure, which was commissioned as a corn exchange, is a Grade II listed building. History The ...

, 5th April 1992.

Personnel

* Tori Amos – acoustic

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Jef Scott –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Ed Greene –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Paulinho Da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* John Chamberlin –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

* Eric Williams –

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

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

sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, 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 ...

* 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 television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'' 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. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was repla ...

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

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

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

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

in 1992, as well as on ''

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

''.

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 a "clean version," is a modification, typically truncated or censored, intended to make a song more suitable for airplay. It may be censored for profanity, vulgarities, or subject matter; or adjusted for length, instr ...

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''. 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''.) The music video can be found on '' Little Earthquakes'', '' Tori Amos: Complete Videos 1991-1998'' and ''

Fade to Red Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer-songwriter whose musical career began in 1980, at the age of seventeen, when she and her brother co-wrote the song "Baltimore (Tori Amos song), Baltimore". The song was selected as the winning song in ...

: Video Collection''.

Later appearances of "Crucify"

In 2003, Tori Amos released the compilation album '' Tales of a Librarian'', 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''

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 ki ...

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