Caught a Lite Sneeze
Caught a Lite Sneeze is a song by American singer Tori Amos. It was the first single from her 1996 album Boys for Pele and came out on January 1, 1996. The track lasts 4 minutes and 27 seconds. It was recorded in two places in Ireland: a church in Delgany and a Georgian house in County Cork.
The song deals with trying to hold a relationship together even when it’s ending. It includes a nod to Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine with the line about a “pretty hate machine.” Atlantic Records made the song available to stream on December 11, 1995, making it one of the early major-label streaming releases.
On the charts, the song reached #60 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #3 on Billboard’s Triple-A chart, and #20 on the UK Singles Chart. It’s one of Amos’s higher-charting singles, though it’s not included on her best-of collection Tales of a Librarian. In live performances in 1996 and 1998, she sometimes cited lines from Nine Inch Nails’ song Hurt.
Critical reception was positive. Billboard called it a strong move toward top‑40 success with accessible lyrics over a moody rock beat. Cash Box praised Amos’s vocal delivery as stunning and powerful. The Irish Times noted the song’s contagious quality, and Melody Maker named it Single of the Week, though it said the track was pleasant but not especially memorable. The song was written by Tori Amos and produced by Tori Amos, with credits listed in the Boys for Pele booklet.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:56 (CET).