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Fiona Apple
From the Book/Documentary "Music" by Andrew Zuckerman
"Not to be gross, but music is sort of a creative mental form of shitting. You keep taking things in and putting them out to make more room to take more nutrients in. Life nutrients: conversations with people, experiences, seasons. Hopefully, though, what you put out isn’t shit."
Fiona Apple and her new album's co-producer Charley Drayon open up recently about how they got together and about the creative process, they're search for a new sound.
Fiona said:
"He (Charley Drayton) is my partner now in music. We're working together producing my next album, and the way that I feel with him has influenced the way I write. I've written things that are a little more challenging for me to play and a little more challenging for me to sing because I know that he's going to be with me and that I'm going to get that feeling of focus and dedication to every single thing that I get when I'm around him.”
And then Charley added:
“A little over a year ago I did a gig with Fiona and [keyboardist] Dave Palmer, just a trio. For some time she'd been looking to perform her music in a different way than the original formula, which I believe may have been research toward a new path for ideas to flow musically. And during that phase I felt she'd soon find new territory to explore and create.
Not long after, she called and asked if I would listen to some new songs and ideas she'd been working on. The song treatments were piano and vocal only and on my first listen, I not only thought they were amazing, but also that they could have been released just as they were. I thought her fans would love that as well. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed to be one of the first to hear the body of work, although once I landed back on my feet, I realized the challenge in front of me.
Fiona expressed wanting to incorporate minimal instrumentation to the new material. She asked me how I would join rhythm to the pieces and if any ideas came to me, would I share them with her? She was already in producer mode.
A few weeks later I told her I had some ideas to investigate, so we went into the studio and it all began to unfold. In two weeks we'd pretty much built strong treatments for half of the songs. The feeling I had was like being on a great first date, one night after the next. She liked the character and space we were constructing. Eventually, I began to wonder when we would hit a bump, but some universal force left the path wide open for us to grow deeper into the journey.
At the end of two straight weeks, we looked at each other, exhausted but buzzing on something we'd never been on before, and she said she wanted to continue working on the project together.
Fiona and the material have exposed a much wider spectrum of my musical vocabulary, even to my surprise at times. Seldom does a musical experience reach my soul in the way Fiona's has. I'm blessed to have this chapter in my life."
Spring 2011!
The wait is almost over!!!!!
5 years after her last official album, the extraordinarily Extraordinary Machine, Billboard.com is reporting that Fiona Apple is prepping the release of a new album by Spring 2011.
First came the news from a recent profile in Modern Drummer Magazine of Fiona
Apple's drummer and co-producer Charley Drayton, on the article they state that
"Drayton, who has toured with Apple since 2006, co-produced and mixed the record, as well as played on it".
And then the second news about the album came from singer-songwriter Michelle Branch, who twitted that "Hate to brag but I heard a couple new Fiona Apple tracks today. Amazing" and also that "Apple's new material should be worth the wait", she shared this info from her Twitter account on Sept. 12, which was one day before Fiona's 33rd birthday.
The tittle of the album and an exact release date is still not known, Spring means the album could be release on either March, April or May 2011, but obviously these are big, big news and I can't wait to hear new music from Fiona!
To celebrate Fiona's 33rd birthday I decided to post what I consider the sweetiest breakup ballad ever written.
I opened my eyes
While you were kissing me once more than once
And you looked as sincere as a dog
Just as sincere as a dog does,
When it's the food on your lips with which it's in love
I bet you could never tell
That I knew you didn't know me that well
It is my fault you see
You never learned that much from me
Oh you silly stupid pastime of mine
You were always good for a rhyme
And from the first, to the last time, the signs
Said 'Stop' - but we went on whole-hearted
It ended bad, but I love what we started
It said 'Stop' - but we went on whole-hearted
It ended bad, but I love what we started
I took off my glasses
While you were yelling at me once more than once
So as not to see you see me react
Should've put 'em, should've put 'em on again
So I could see you see me sincerely yelling back
I bet your fortressed face
Belied your fort of lace
It is by the grace of me
You never learned what I could see
Oh you silly stupid pastime of mine
You were always good for a rhyme
And from the first to all the last times, all the signs
Said 'Stop' - but we went on whole-hearted
It ended bad, but I love what we started
It said 'Stop' - but we went on whole-hearted
It ended bad, but I love what we started
Fiona Apple
Parting Gift
Extraordinary Machine
2005
Directed by Spencer Maggart (aka Fiona's half brother)
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart, September 13, 1977
PS Day 13 out of 13.
I tell you how I feel, but you don't care
I say tell me the truth, but you don't dare
You say love is a hell you cannot bear
And I say gimme mine back and then go there - for all I care
I got my feet on the ground
And I don't go to sleep to dream
You got your head in the clouds
And you're not at all what you seem
This mind, this body
And this voice cannot be stifled by your deviantways
So don't forget what I told you
Don't come around, I got my own hell toraise
I have never been so insulted in all my life
I could swallow the seas to wash down all this pride
First you run like a fool just to be at my side
And now you run like a food
But you just run to hide, and I can't abide
I got my feet on the ground
And I don't go to sleep to dream
You got your head in the clouds
And you're not at all what you seem
This mind, this body
And this voice cannot be stifled by your deviantways
So don't forget what I told you
Don't come around, I got my own hell toraise
Don't make it a big deal, don't be so sensitive
We're not playing a game anymore
You don't have to be so defensive
Don't you plead me your case, don't bother to explain
Don't even show me your face, ''cause it's a crying shame
Just go back to the rock from under which you came
Take the sorrow you gave and all the stakes you claim -
And don't forget the blame
I got my feet on the ground
And I don't go to sleep to dream
You got your head in the clouds
And you're not at all what you seem
This mind, this body
And this voice cannot be stifled by your deviantways
So don't forget what I told you
Don't come around, I got my own hell to raise
Sleep To Dream is the second single from Fiona's debut album Tidal (1996), and it was directed by french video and film auteur Stephane Sednoui.
In honor of today's MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS I decided to post the second video from the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, while accepting the 1997 MTV Video Music Award for "Best New Artist" for "Sleep to Dream," she proclaimed: "This world is bullshit, you shouldn't model your life on what you think that we think is cool, and what we're wearing and what we're saying, go with yourself" referring to the mainstream music industry. Host Chris Rock would comment on her speech later on during the program, saying, "That Fiona Apple was mad, huh? Fiona X was up here."
Though her comments were generally greeted with cheers and applause at the awards ceremony, the media backlash was immediate.
However, Apple was unapologetic: "I just had something on my mind and I just said it. And that's really the foreshadowing of my entire career and my entire life. When I have something to say, I'll say it." Stand-up comedian Denis Leary included a satire of this speech on his album, Lock 'n Load, titled "A Reading from the Book of Apple". Janeane Garofalo parodied Apple's comments in light of the fact that her video for "Criminal" seemed to reinforce the same celebrity fixation on weight and appearance that Apple condemned.
A while after that, both she and Janeane attended the same event, but instead of talking face to face with her the comedianne ignored Fiona all night, Apple responded to these criticisms in an article in Rolling Stone in January 1998
accepting her part of the blame but also by calli Garofalo "a cowardly bitch".
PS: Day 12 out of 13.
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai guru de va om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
That call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
Jai guru de va om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing
Through my open ears inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
million suns, it calls me on and on
Across the universe
Jai guru de va om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Jai guru de va, jai guru de va
jai guru de va, jai guru de va
jai guru de va.
Jai guru de va, jai guru de va.
The video for Across The Universe is the first Fiona video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, for the soundtrack of the movie Pleasantville, and of course the original is a Beatles song.
PS: Day 11 out of 13.
You wanna make me sick;
You wanna lick my wounds,
Don't you, baby?
You want the badge of honor when you save my hide
But you're the one in the way
Of the day of doom, baby
If you need my shame to reclaim your pride
And when I think of it, my fingers turn to fists
I never did anything to you, man
But no matter what I try
You'll beat me with your bitter lies
So call me crazy, hold me down
Make me cry; got off now, baby-
It wont be long till you'll be
Lying limp in your own hand
You feed the beast I have within me
You wave the red flag, baby you make it run run run
Standing on the sidelines, waving and grinning
You fondle my trigger, then you blame my gun
And when I think of it, my fingers turn to fists
I never did anything to you, man
But no matter what I try
You'll beat me with your bitter lies
So call me crazy, hold me down
Make me cry; get off now, baby-
It wont be long till you'll be
Lying limp in your own hand
Limp was the second single from Fiona's second album "When The Pawn..."
the video was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
About working with Fiona on her videos PT Anderson said:
"While we like working together and obviously benefit from it, we're aware of the super-couple stigma. We are consciously "trying to keep a slightly low profile because we realize that we would hate us. We want to stick to the work. I wanted to direct Fiona Apple videos before I went out with Fiona, so generally what we do is do cool videos together and keep our mouths shut about them."
The second video is Fiona's performance of the song on Saturday Night Live on
Feb/19/00.
PS: Day 10 out of 13.
I lie in an early bed
Thinking late thoughts
Waiting for the black
To replace my blue
I do not struggle
In your web
Because it was my
Aim to get caught
But daddy longlegs
I feel that I'm finally
Growing weary
Of waiting to be
Consumed by you
Give me the first taste
Let it begin
Heaven cannot wait forever
Darling, just start the chase
I'll let you win
But you must
Make the endeavour
Oh, your love gives
Me a heart confusion
Adagio breezes fill
My skin with sudden red
Your hungry flirt
Borders intrusion
I'm building memories on
Things we have not said
Full is not heavy as empty
Not nearly my love
Not nearly my love
Not nearly
Give me the first taste
Let it begin
Heaven cannot wait forever
Darling, just start the chase
I'll let you win
But you must
Make the endeavour
The First Taste
Fiona Apple
Tidal
1996
Directed by Dewey Nicks
*Fun fact about this video is that it was never release anywhere (not even in the U.S.) except in France, and it isn't even available on Fiona's official website, but now thanks to the magic of the internet is there for everyone to see.
PS: Day 8 out of 13.
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" from American IV: The Man Comes Around 2002
& from the Unearthed Box Set (Disc 3 Redemption Songs) 2003 "Father And Son", which was released 2 months after Johnny's passing on September 12th 2003.
The 2 songs were produced by Rick Rubin who got Fiona to colaborate on both songs thanks to the advice by video director Mark Romanek.
There isn't much to be said about the songs, except I loooooove them and Fiona sounds like an angel!!!
PS: Day 7 out of 13.
Fiona Apple met comedian Zach Galifianakis after one of her performances at Club Largo, when she saw a video he made for Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy",
Fiona liked it so much she decided to ask him to appear in the video for her song "Not About Love" from her album "Extraordinary Machine."
Later In June 2006 Galifianakis released the single "Come Over and Get It (Up in 'Dem Guts)", a comedic rap/hip-hop/dance song which features Fiona Apple's vocals.
The Last video is from an online "interview" for Myspace called Artist On Artist.
PS: Day 6 out of 13.
Say it is only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.
Yes, it is only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.
Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.
It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.
Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.
"It's only A Paper Moon"performed by sisters Fiona Apple and Maude Maggart (real name Amber Maggart), I think that although their voices have very different tones and ranges (Fiona's lower), this jazz standard from 1933 suits their tones very beautifully.
The song has appeared in plays, movies and TV series and has being recorded by some of the biggest names in music, including: Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Rufus Wainwright among many more.
PS: Day 5 out of 13 (of my Fiona celebration)
"So Sleepy" Fiona Apple & Jon Brion from the album "Chickens In Love" to benefit the 826LA School students who not only hand-picked the artists for the album, but wrote the songs themselves.
Cute as a button, and I'm glad to hear fiona's voice is still in top form!!!
PS: Day 4 out of 13.
I've been a bad, bad girl
I've been careless with a delicate man
And its a sad, sad world
When a girl will break a boy
Just because she can
Don't you tell me to deny it
I've done wrong
And I want to suffer for my sins
I've come to you 'cause I need
Guidance to be true
And I just don't know where I can begin
What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal
And I need to redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love
Heaven help me for the way I am
Save me from these evil deeds
Before I get them done
I know tomorrow brings
The consequence at hand
But I keep livin' this day
Like the next will never come
Oh, help me
But don't tell me to deny it
I've got to cleanse myself of all these lies
'Till I'm good enough for him
I got a lot to lose, and I'm bettin' high
So I'm beggin' you:
Before it ends, just tell me where to begin
What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal
And I need to redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love
Let me know the way
Before there's hell to pay
Give me room to lay the law and let me go
I've got to make a play
To make my lover stay
So what would an angel say?
The devil wants to know
What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal
And I need to redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love
What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal
And I need to redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love
Criminal
Fiona Apple
Tidal
1996
Directed by Mark Romanek
Continuing with my lil Fiona celebration, the post for today is probably Fiona's best known video "Criminal"
directed by Mark Romanek, it brought Fiona not only aclaim but lots of controversy for its depiction of what many people compared to 70s like porn,
to all of them I say F.U.
the video looks great and Fiona looks a-mazing, and is also the song that made Fiona a Grammy Award winner in 1998 for Best Female Rock Performance,
Thank U
hahahaha
PS: Day 3 out of 13
I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star
To pray on, or wish on, or something like that
I was having a sweet fix of a daydream of a boy
Whose reality I knew, was a hopeless to be had
But then the dove of hope began it's downward slope
And I believed for a moment that my chances
Were approaching to be grabbed
But as it came down near, so did a weary tear
-I thought it was a bird, but it was just a paper bag
-Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
-Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
And I went crazy again today, looking for a strand to climb
Looking for a little hope
Baby said he couldn't stay, wouldn't put his lips to mine,
And a fail to kiss is a fail to cope
I said, "Honey, I don't feel so good, don't feel justified
Come on put a little love here in my void,' - he said
"It's all in your head,' and I said, "So's everything' -
But he didn't get it - I thought he was a man
But he was just a little boy
-Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
-Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
-Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh it kills
'cause I know I'm a mess he don't wanna clean up
I got to fold 'cause these hands are too shaky to hold
-Hunger hurts, but starving works, when it costs too much to love
Fiona Apple
Paper Bag
WHEN THE PAWN...
1999
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Continuing with my Fiona Apple celebration I'm posting this video for the song
'Paper Bag', because not only is one of my favorite songs, is also one of my favorite videos.
A while ago I listened to an interview Fiona did exclusively for Itunes where she talked about how the story and title for this song is very literal,
because one day she was in a car with her dad, saw a plastic bag and thought it was a bird, of course being a vegan when she wrote the song she changed it to paper,
hahahahaha
PS: Day 2 out of 13.
Comedian Margaret Cho's brand new album, "Cho Dependent", featuring comedy songs she collaborated on with Ben Lee, Tegan and Sara, Fiona Apple, Brendan Benson, Jon Brion, Ani DiFranco, Tommy Chong, Grant Lee Phillips, Rachael Yamagata, AC Newman, Patty Griffin and Andrew Bird.
Here's the story behind this song and how she and Patty Griffin wrote it and how Fiona ended up collaborating in the song after her dog died:
My dearest wish is that humans and dogs could actually speak to each other and then the one next to that is that we could sing together. As I wrote the lyrics to this song, I sat with my big boy Ralph and imagined what he would say to me if he could speak, what he would sing to me if he could sing. I stared in his root beer eyes, as he cocked his butterscotch blonde eyebrows one then the other and tried to decipher his thoughts. He was a very large dog, intimidating to new people, but as gentle as a giant could be, with an irrational fear of the wind. Every time the Santa Anas would start their engines, Ralph could be found in the very bowels of the house, hiding far away from where the wind could find him. He absolutely hated the sound of the breeze slapping the trees together. He would shake and whine and salivate and refuse to be petted or held. I couldn’t understand it as much as he couldn’t understand why I checked my messages constantly – never hearing from the person I wanted to hear from – feeling destroyed by nothing at all. It was going to be a song about people problems versus dog problems, and the idea that maybe we could solve these problems together “Oooooooo-ooo! Oooooooo-oooo!”
I pulled out the words from out of my guitar case, weighted down by little Bean. I gave the dog warmed, wrinkled notes to Patty and she set them down in front of her. I left the room, returning moments later to Patty singing, “Ooooooo-ooo. Ooooooo-ooo!” and the song “Hey Big Dog” was born. We put on shawls and had dinner outside that night to celebrate. I played the song incessantly to practice, and had a rotating cast of dogs who would sing it with me at shows, sometimes Ian Harvie, sometimes John Roberts and sometimes Ben Lee. I sang the song many times while Ralph was dying. I sat alongside him in his massive dog bed, his big body fighting the eventual, the inevitable. The comforting chords would elicit great sighs accompanied by stinky farts, which would make the whole room smell like a hot springs. Very relaxing.
When he died, the song moved from guitar to banjo, where it could sound truly mournful. I cried as I tried to sing it to myself alone and it didn’t make me feel better but it did make me lose my voice for what felt like a dog’s age. Some time after I had regained my voice, at Largo, Fiona Apple was in the audience. She loved the song instantly, and said to me that she had been thinking of a song like this, one she wanted to write about her dog – and she said – which is the ultimate compliment for any songwriter – “You sang it for me.” I had the perfect duet partner! Fiona’s dog was also irrationally afraid of the wind and we traded dog pictures and many dog stories in anticipation of recording. I love Fiona’s voice on this song, and Ben Lee’s pitch perfect production makes it sound like pure Nashville meets Animal Planet.
I hope that this song will become an anthem to animal lovers all over, and a blessing for them and their beloved pets. We are not alone in this world ever. We have them. The hardest thing for me when Ralph was gone was facing the fact that he was not there anymore, but this song made me realize that this was not true. Now, Ralph is everywhere. Fiona said, “He’s on the wind now. And now, the wind will always bring him back to you.” This is so true.
PS: The "video" was made by yours truly with just the album cover since there's no video for this song yet.
PS2: Day 1 out of 13.
Read more...
I'm starting my "Let's celebrate Fiona Apple's birthday" by posting my all time favorite video,
O'Sailor, from her 3rd (and so far last) album Extraordinary Machine (2005), directed by
italian dynamo Floria Sigismondi.
I'm undecided about you again
Mightn't be right that you're not here
It's double-sided, cause I ruined it all-
But also saved myself, by never believing you, Dear
Everything good, I deem too good to be true
Everything else is just a bore
Everything I have to look forward to
Has a pretty painful and very imposing before
O' Sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that for
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards
O' Sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that forSaying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards
I have too been playing with fifty-two cards-
Just cause I play so far from my vest
Whatever I've got, I've got no reason to guard
What could I do, but spend my best
O' Sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that for
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards
O' Sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that for
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards
And after waiting, fighting patiently on my knees
All the other stuff tired itself out first, not me
And in its wake, appeared the touch and call
Of a different breed
One who set to get me wise, and got me there
And then, got me
And what a thing, to know what could be instead
Oh, what a blessed curse; to see
It took the agenda from its place in my bed
Made a merry paramour of me
O' Sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that for
Saying there's nothing to it
And then letting it go by the boards
O' sailor, why'd you do it
What'd you do that for
Giving me eyes to view it
As it goes by the boards
PS: Day 1 out of 13.
Read more...In January of this year Fiona Apple organized an event at L.A.'s Club Largo
to benefit the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, here she performs Billie Holiday's jazz standard He's Funny That Way
with producer/musician Jon Brion.
As always her voice is simply perfect!!!
PS: The reason the video is so shaky is because is a secret/unauthorized filming, since Club Largo has a very strict policy against use of any type of recording/photographing device!
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