Putting the Damage On

"Putting The Damage On" is a ballad by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos, and is featured as the 17th track on her 1996 album, Boys For Pele. The song may have been initially considered as a single for the album, because copies of the album were accompanied by a sticker listing this song, along with "Caught a Lite Sneeze" and "Talula," as feature songs, but of all five singles released from the album, "Putting the Damage On" was not one of them. In the song, Amos is accompanied by her own piano playing, and by the Black Dyke Band (which decades earlier had provided the brass band segments in The Beatles song Yellow Submarine).

Subsequent appearances

An edited version appeared as a bonus track for Amos' 2003 compilation album, Tales of a Librarian. A remastered version of the album track was featured in the 2006 box set, A Piano: The Collection.

A live version was officially released for the Denver, Colorado, show of the The Original Bootlegs series that Amos released in conjunction with her 2005 tour promoting The Beekeeper.

Twilight Mix

An alternate version of the song, titled the "Twilight Mix", was released in 1997, and includes extra background vocals, snare drums, and a structural edit that removes the bridge. The "Twilight Mix" was featured on a promotional CD titled Tori Amos the benefit for RAINN, numbered Atlantic #PRCD 6995-2, issued by RAINN in 1997. (The other song on this CD was a live version of "Me and a Gun," recorded during the 1997 RAINN benefit concert in New York City featured on Tori Amos: Live from New York.) The 2-track CD was given out during several promotions in order to raise money for RAINN throughout 1997.

The "Twilight Mix" began climbing the charts in Poland and Austria in late 1997, peaking at # 28 in both countries.