| A Sorta Fairytale | |
| Cover: | A Sorta Fairytale (Tori Amos.single - cover art).jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Tori Amos |
| Album: | Scarlet's Walk |
| B-Side: | Operation Peter Pan |
| Released: | October 2002 |
| Recorded: | 2002 |
| Prev Title: | Concertina |
| Prev Year: | 2000 |
| Next Title: | Taxi Ride |
| Next Year: | 2003 |
| Italic Title: | no |
| A Sorta Fairytale | |
| Type: | video |
| Artist: | Tori Amos |
| Cover: | Tori_amos_a_sorta_fairytale_dvd.jpg |
| Released: | 8 April 2003 |
| Genre: | Rock/Pop |
| Length: | 25:00 |
| Label: | Sony Music Video |
| Director: | Sanji |
| Prev Year: | 1998 |
| Next Title: | Welcome to Sunny Florida |
| Next Year: | 2004 |
"A Sorta Fairytale" is a song written and performed by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was released as the first single from her 2002 album Scarlet's Walk. The song reached number 14 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, and number two on the Triple A (adult album alternative) chart.[1] The song has since been featured in episodes of the television shows Nip/Tuck and The L Word. There are three commercially released versions of the song: the album version (5:30), the 101 Mix (4:00) and the original single version (4:01). It was released as a CD single (UK/Canada) with "Operation Peter Pan" as the B-side (which marked her final B-side to date), and as a DVD single (US) with the music video, co-starring Adrien Brody.
From the promotional CD Scarlet Stories:
In a 2009 interview, Amos was asked about the meaning of one of the lines:
"A Sorta Fairytale" is widely regarded as one of Amos's best songs. In 2014, Stereogum ranked the song number five on their list of the 10 greatest Tori Amos songs,[2] and in 2023, The Guardian ranked the song number six on their list of the 20 greatest Tori Amos songs.[3]
The music video, directed by Sanji, features Amos, as a head attached to a disembodied leg, falling in love with another head attached to a disembodied arm (played by Adrien Brody). The two creatures show signs of romantic interest in one another, until the arm accidentally hurts the leg's feelings by laughing at her crooked fifth toe. The leg then flees by jumping onto a passing skateboard, and ends up alone on a deserted beach. The arm finds her and they consummate their love with a deep kiss. The act of kissing causes the arm and leg to suddenly start swelling up and grow their extra body parts—they finally become complete, "whole" humans by realizing their love.
*The "single version" and "original single version" are identical though titled differently. Issued with a picture sleeve. Disc has small center hole
| Peak position | ||
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[4] | 6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (Media Control Charts) | 98 | |
| US Adult Alternative | 1 | |
| US Hot Singles Sales | 9 | |
| World Adult Top 20 | 3 |
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[5] | 40 |
|---|