“Crucify” by Tori Amos

"Crucify" comes from Little Earthquakes, the 1991 debut that introduced Tori Amos as a singer-songwriter at the piano, and in 1992 it became the fifth single pulled from the album, out on Atlantic in North America in May and on EastWest in Britain that June.

Amos wrote it alone and plays the piano, and Davitt Sigerson's production surrounds her with a surprisingly busy little band: Ed Greene on drums, Jef Scott on bass, Paulinho da Costa on percussion, and the folksy sparkle of John Chamberlin's mandolin and Eric Williams' ukulele. Tina Gullickson and Nancy Shanks add backing vocals, and Paul McKenna mixed it.

For all that company, it's her voice that runs the show, swooping from a hush to a full-throated cry while the piano drives underneath.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.