Modern Rock No. 1s: Tori Amos and "God"
Tori Amos hits the top of the charts with "God," a song that both challenges the role of a deity while calmly asking if, perhaps, a woman's perspective might help
Tori Amos - “God”
Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock chart: 2 weeks (March 19 and 26, 1994)
Previous Modern Rock #1 hit: Crash Test Dummies - “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”
Next Modern Rock #1 hit: Morrissey - “The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get”
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:
Ace of Base - “The Sign” (3 total weeks, 3/12/94 to 3/26/94)
As I’ve mentioned before, my Musical Awakening™️ happened sometime in late 1994, owing to a lot of factors: accessibility to music, older schoolmates and friends who had an ear to what was hot in the zeitgeist, and eventually driving, which granted me the exclusive privilege to listen to whatever I wanted to on the car radio.
What’s interesting, in hindsight, is the lack of information I had about female artists, particularly female solo artists. I mean, there were plenty in the pop realm (think Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, a now-emerging Sheryl Crow, among many others), but alt-rock female acts largely escaped me in early 1994.
My theory: As an attendee of an all-male high school, the ubiquity of female artists being played amongst friends or on school trips was minimal to non-existent. Indeed, the bulk of my awakening to alternative rock music was borne out of school trips where the guys were playing Nirvana, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins and the like. The idea of playing anything female was verboten, a silent boys club of musical mix tapes where girls weren’t allowed.
The reason? Listening to female artists presumably attached a layer of femininity to you personally, and at an all-male high school, even a whiff of femininity took you down a path that could irrevocably damage your social cred in the halls. Am I saying this perception was right? No. But, for the time, it was usually kryptonite to listen to female artists without some potential backlash.
This would all change around 1996, when artists like No Doubt, Alanis Morrisette, Garbage, and Hole started to enter the pop mainstream, and it was no longer a social conundrum to be outwardly passionate about female artists. By the end of my high school days going into college, I was listening as fervently to female artists as I was their male counterparts, and it was all fine and good.
None of that would have been possible without the contributions of some highly talented and successful female alt-rock pioneers, like the subject of this week’s newsletter: the former vocalist and keyboardist of the ‘80s band Y Kant Tori Read. Tori Amos, who blazed a trail with her tremendous vocal range and unique blend of keyboard and guitar-based alternative sounds, hit #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart with a song about God. She called it “God.”
Oh, you didn’t know Tori Amos once fronted an ‘80s synth-pop band? Yeah, that one escaped me, too. Though it seems hard to believe given how far removed her solo career is from ‘80s synth pop, Amos once was the lead singer and talent for a band named Y Kant Tori Read, named for a real-life incident where Amos was asked to leave a musical conservatory in Baltimore because she didn’t want to read sheet music.
Check out this video for “The Big Picture,” the first single from Y Kant Tori Read’s first (and only) album. It’s definitely something…
Honestly, it’s not bad for its genre. The video accurately captures the aesthetic of the time, and in a different timeline, it might have been interesting to see where Tori Amos’s career would have gone with Y Kant Tori Read into the ‘90s and beyond. But you’ll notice that, in the video, there are really no other band members present. By the time the video was released, most of the band was jettisoned and Atlantic Records effectively pulled the plug on the group.
Thus, Tori Amos the solo musician was born, and though she hasn’t appeared in this space yet, she was already making minor ripples on the MRT chart prior to the release of “God.” In 1992, when R.E.M. commanded the charts with “Losing My Religion,” Amos cracked into the chart with “Silent All These Years,” the second single from her debut album Little Earthquakes.
It’s not really “alt-rock” in the traditional sense; indeed, the song almost sounds like it’s plucked from the soundtrack of a Disney movie. But the lyrical depth is there, a song about dealing with insecurities and uncertainties that come with growing up, and making your voice heard. It’s this spirit that helped catapult Amos into the alternative mainstream, and once audiences got a taste of this sound, they were ready for more.
A follow-up single from Little Earthquakes, titled “Crucify,” made bigger waves on the MRT chart but peaked at a still relatively pedestrian #22 in the summer of 1992. Thematically, Amos continued to explore ideas of self-doubt, self-reflection and finding one’s place in the world, themes that existed in a much darker and cynical realm at the time thanks to artists like Nirvana, Beck, and Cracker. Amos took those Gen X tropes and expressed them in a way that feels more accessible to everyone.
By 1994, with the zeitgeist fully into Gen-X-slacker-generation mode, the alt-rock space was ripe for the taking by acts like Amos, who capitalized on this angst-ridden self-reflective period and not only questioned the way of the world, but had the guts to challenge God directly.
Right from the start, Amos doesn’t pull any punches. In “God,” she asks God directly if the deity is doing OK and wonders if maybe he could benefit from some assistance by a woman, because he seems to have lost his way a bit:
God, sometimes you just don’t come through
God, sometimes you just don’t come through
Do you need a woman to look after you?
She chides God for making “pretty daisies,” yet disappearing “when the wind blows,” noting the juxtaposition between the beautiful bits of creation and the perceived lack of accountability when things go awry and humanity is left holding the bag, specifically women.
from really did a good job encapsulating what Amos intended with the song when he wrote a brilliant piece about “God” on his newsletter in June 2023. Reacting to the line about God needing a woman to look after him, Mark highlights the rest of the song’s message in brilliant detail:“But that line’s just the beginning. From that seed of irritation blooms a rock song with a sinuous groove that pushes the metaphor of God being a capital-D Dude, running off to play golf or drive his four wheeler while the women who love Him are burning at various stakes.”
We get a dual thread of angst coming from Amos: This song is not just a pushback against the issues affecting the angsty members of Generation X, but it’s also a referendum on the women of the time, dealing with all the shenanigans of the time they live in, while also being relied upon to provide counsel, while also being pushed to the side.
Of course, the song itself doesn’t come off as a hard-rockin’ declaration of angsty angst-filled angst; instead, Amos tackles the weightiness of the issue with grace, dignity, and nary a loudly sung word. Again, I turn to Mark to provide the details of what I mean, written far more eloquently than I could ever hope to attempt:
“Think about how this song would sound in the hands of a heavy metal band. There’s enough rage to blow a building apart, and no one could fault an artist for filling this track with screams and thrashing guitars. But instead, the groove is smooth as hell. It’s mellow, even. It’s accompanied by angelic backing vocals and a rather restrained lead vocal. Tori goes banshee wild on songs like ‘Precious Things’ and ‘The Waitress,’ but not here.
“To me, that suggests she’s got a certain spiritual peace, even as she’s railing against the ways her faith has failed her. Her restraint is just so interesting. It makes her arguments easier to take seriously. She knows she’s right, so she doesn’t have to yell.”
The music video is interesting, an amalgam of images of Amos watching over a candle and writhing around with omnipresent rats. The video and the song complement each other well, with the occasional instrumental shrieks in the song providing the right atmospheric touches for a world overrun by rats. The bass line that drives the rhythm of the song is hypnotic, and Amos brings an air of authority and calmness to the track. Put together, the song is one of the best from her catalog, and underscores why the song managed to break through to reach the top of the alternative rock charts.
“God” was the first single from Tori Amos’s Under The Pink album, which peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and is certified 2x platinum by the RIAA. That’s not too shabby given the relative lack of mainstream crossover potential for her songs. “God” did peak at #72 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first of six singles to hit the flagship chart, though none of her subsequent singles would ever place higher than #49 on that chart.
Follow-up single “Cornflake Girl” cracked the top 20 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the summer of 1994, but would top out at #12. None of Amos’s future singles would ever chart higher than the two released off Under The Pink, but those singles would be enough promotion to ensure successful album sales well into the 2000s. Indeed, Amos released seven albums between 1996 and 2009 that peaked inside the top 10 of the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and three of them were certified platinum.
I can’t say “God” or even Tori Amos are in regular rotation in my playlists, which is more a reflection of my overall tastes than it is a referendum on the greatness of her music. I appreciate her as an artist and honestly need to dig deeper into her catalog. I regret not being more invested in her works as a young guy during the most pivotal time in my music listening life, but I can appreciate how truly inspirational and influential her work was to up-and-coming artists in the ‘90s.
Rating: 8/10
Chart Check
Other notable MRT chart songs from this time period
Lots to discuss in “Chart Check” this week. “Beavis and Butthead” are up to their usual shenanigans, discussing why they’d be reluctant to go out with Tori Amos because of her love of animals. This week spells the end of Elvis Costello’s run on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and the beginning of Sheryl Crow’s. We also have the ‘90s MRT Chart peak for Alice in Chains.
“God” by Tori Amos (as reviewed by “Beavis and Butthead”):
It wouldn’t be Chart Chat without a “Beavis and Butthead” reference. It’s arguably a bit cringy when viewed through the lens of 2025, but, to be fair, so is most everything from “Beavis and Butthead.”
“No Excuses” by Alice in Chains (#3):
Future Modern Rock Tracks #1 artist Alice in Chains (but not for any of the songs you’re thinking) hit their ‘90s MRT chart peak with “No Excuses,” the first single off the band’s Jar of Flies EP. By this time, Alice in Chains was already well established in the album-rock sphere thanks to their efforts on their previous album Dirt, but with grunge continuing its push into the mainstream, Jar of Flies became a huge hit, going 4x platinum in the U.S.
“13 Steps Lead Down” by Elvis Costello (#6):
Declan Patrick MacManus, also known as Elvis Costello, charts for the final time on the Modern Rock Tracks survey with “13 Steps Lead Down,” the lead single from his 1994 album Brutal Youth. It’s a pretty solid acoustic-led track, to be sure, but likely got lost in the shuffle with the swell of grunge and post-grunge tracks dominating the charts at this time. It peaked at #6 behind Tori Amos.
“Leaving Las Vegas” by Sheryl Crow (#8):
Sheryl Crow emerges on the scene, both in the pop mainstream and in the alternative rock arena, with “Leaving Las Vegas.” The song was the first single off her Tuesday Night Music Club debut album, and peaked at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Crow managed to maintain crossover success on both the pop and alternative charts throughout the ‘90s, with released singles hitting high chart peaks on both sides. It’s a decent guitar track, but it’s her vocals and personal lyrics that helped this one stand out.
This is one of my favorite Tori Amos songs, of which there are many from that era. This one was so audacious and reflected my own conflicted feelings about religion that it made my Top Ten that year. Actually the whole album is really great.
Matt, thank you so much for mentioning my work in this write up... and for your insights on this song. Tori Amos' music was a huge deal to me and my friends, beginning with "Silent All These Years," but I was at a co-ed school. Plus, I did lots of theater, and theater kids treated Tori Amos like a saint on earth.