Strange Little Girls

Strange Little Girls was a concept album released by singer and songwriter Tori Amos in the year 2001. The album's eleven tracks were cover songs written by men but reinterpreted by Amos from a female's point of view. Amos created thirteen female personas (one song featured twins) and sang the songs from those characters' fictional perspective. A synopsis:

• "New Age" by The Velvet Underground, as performed by a pseudo-intellectual nymphomaniac.
• "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" by Eminem as performed by the 'Mommy' character in the song: a woman with her throat slit, bleeding to death in the trunk of a car.
• "Strange Little Girl" by The Stranglers as performed by the now-adult daughter of the dying woman in "'97 Bonnie and Clyde."
• "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode as performed by an aging Vegas showgirl.
• "I'm Not in Love" by 10CC as performed by a goth-girl involved with a married man.
• "Rattlesnakes" by Lloyd Cole as performed by a female drifter.
• "Time" by Tom Waits as performed by the female personification of Thanatos, or Death.
• "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young as performed by a set of seductive twins involved in international espionage.
• "I Don't Like Mondays" by Bob Geldof as performed by a female police officer stumbling upon a school shooting crime.
• "Happiness is a Warm Gun" by The Beatles as performed by the prostitute visited by John Lennon's killer just hours before the murder.
• "Raining Blood" by Slayer as performed by a German vaudeville performer watching the Gestapo invade her club.
• "Real Men" by Joe Jackson as performed by an androgynous lesbian.

The album's greatest attention was garnered from Amos' cover of Eminem's "'97 Bonnie and Clyde". Originally a rap song sung from the point of view of a father who disposes of the corpse of his ex-wife while accompanied by his four-year-old daughter. The song was meant to be humorous and was heralded by rap fans and many critics as a work of genius. Amos was so disturbed that she reinterpreted it from the point of view of the dying wife without changing a word.

The album's cover of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was also a standout track; the song was translated into a discussion on the right to bear arms, and included sound bites from both George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, as well as from Tori's own minister father.

The album also received attention because each female character was represented in photography featuring the extraordinary make-up skills of the late Kevyn Aucoin. Short stories accompanying the photos and songs were written by popular novelist Neil Gaiman.

The album received two 2002 Grammy Nominations: Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Strange Little Girl," and Alternative Music Performance for the album. A single of "Strange Little Girl" was released/leaked (depending on the source) in Europe, and featured non-album tracks "After All" (a David Bowie cover) and "Only Women Bleed" (originally by Alice Cooper.)