A Sorta Fairytale


"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 #14 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, and #1 on the Triple A chart. 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, the 101 Mix and the original single version. It was released as a CD single with "Operation Peter Pan" as the B-side, and as a DVD single with the music video, co-starring Adrien Brody.

Song information

From the promotional CD Scarlet Stories:
In a 2009 interview, Amos was asked about the meaning of one of the lines:

Music video

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. 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.

Track listing

Maxi-CD single (UK and Canada)

  1. "A Sorta Fairytale"
  2. "Operation Peter Pan"
  3. "A Sorta Fairytale" *
  4. "A Scarlet Story"

    7" single (US)

  5. "A Sorta Fairytale" *
*The "single version" and "original single version" are identical though titled differently. Issued with a picture sleeve. Disc has small center hole

DVD single (US)

  1. "A Sorta Fairytale" music video
  2. Tori Amos biography
  3. Making of "A Sorta Fairytale"
  4. Interview segment

    Charts