{{Infobox song | name = Carry | cover = CoverArtToriAmosCarrySingle.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = [[Tori Amos]] | album = [[Night of Hunters]] | released = August 18, 2011 | recorded = | studio = Martian Engineering (Cornwall)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/night-of-hunters-mw0002149352|title = Night of Hunters - Tori Amos | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website = [[AllMusic]]}}</ref> | venue = | genre = * [[Classical music|Classical]] * [[baroque pop]] | length = 4:07 | label = [[Deutsche Grammophon]] | writer = * [[Tori Amos]] * [[Claude Debussy]] | producer = [[Tori Amos]] | prev_title = [[A Silent Night with You]] | prev_year = 2009 | next_title = [[Flavor (Tori Amos song)|Flavor]] | next_year = 2012 }} "'''Carry'''" is a song by American singer-songwriter and pianist [[Tori Amos]], released as the main promotional single from her twelfth solo studio album ''[[Night of Hunters]]'' (2011). The track was released Aug 18, 2011 as a digital download only with an accompanying [[music video]].
==Background and release== Like the rest of the tracks on the album, ''Carry'' builds upon a classical composition, with musical variations, arrangement and added lyrics by Amos. ''Carry'' is a variation on ''[[La fille aux cheveux de lin]]'' (Girl with the Flaxen Hair), originally released in 1909 by [[France|French]] composer [[Claude Debussy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=24152|title=ShieldSquare Captcha|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=28 May 2022}}</ref> In addition to piano by Amos, the track features instrumentation by the [[Apollon Musagète Quartet]].
''Carry'' is the last track of the album and the final piece in the song cycle and narrative story that spans the entire album. After the tumultuous shattering of the protagonist's relationship to her lover early in the album, and the emotional processing and understanding that subsequently follows, ''Carry'' describes the protagonist having despite it all found an eternal place in her heart for her lover. The lyrics are about coming to terms with the fact that people can disappear from your life without being forgotten, and that they can still remain a part of you. In a track-by-track introduction of "Night of Hunters" for Amazon.com, Amos writes: "With the dawn comes ''Carry'', and the sentiment: you will not ever be forgotten by me, in the procession of the mighty stars your name is sung and tattooed now on my heart, here I will carry, carry, carry you forever.".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005182374|title = Night of Hunters|website = Amazon UK|year = 2011}}</ref>
The song was performed live regularly during the artist's [[Night of Hunters tour]] in support of the album.
An instrumental version of "Carry" appears on ''Sin Palabras'', the instrumental companion album to ''Night of Hunters'', released in December 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue|title=Catalogue|website=Deutschegrammophon.com|access-date=28 May 2022}}</ref>
==Critical reception== ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' found "Carry" to be one of the prettiest moments on the album, describing it as a lush closer.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/night-of-hunters-20111018|title = Night of Hunters|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date = 18 October 2011}}</ref> ''[[Slant Magazine]]'' complimented it as a captivating melody, but felt the album as a whole was without pop structure or notable hooks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/tori-amos-night-of-hunters|title = Review: Tori Amos, Night of Hunters|website = [[Slant Magazine]]|date = 19 September 2011}}</ref> Writing for All Music Guide, Thom Jurek describes "Carry" as the most powerful and accessible track on the album.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/night-of-hunters-mw0002149352|title = Night of Hunters - Tori Amos | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website = [[AllMusic]]}}</ref> ''Glide Magazine'''s reviewer felt "Carry" along with its preceding track "Seven Sisters" acted as an ideal couple to end the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glidemagazine.com/18917/tori-amos-2/|title=Tori Amos: Night of Hunters|website=Glidemagazine.com|date=9 September 2011 |access-date=28 May 2022}}</ref>
==Music video== The accompanying music video features Amos playing the piano and singing the track in the studio, edited together with scenes from the Irish landscape and the [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] style house owned by Amos, where the photoshoot for the album art took place. Amos' daughter acts the part of "Anabelle" from the album's narrative in the video clip.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/tori-amos--a-strange-little-girl-grows-up-2359174.html|title = Tori Amos - A strange little girl grows up|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 22 September 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{YouTube|h0oiBNSjKPY|Official video clip}} *[http://toriamos.com/ Tori Amos official website] *[http://www.apollon-musagete.com Apollon Musagète Quartett official website] *[https://www.facebook.com/toriamos Tori Amos official Facebook page]
{{Tori Amos}}
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[[Category:2011 songs]] [[Category:Songs written by Tori Amos]] [[Category:Tori Amos songs]] [[Category:2011 singles]]