108. Fiona Apple, "When the Pawn ..."

 


I went to Peru.  Peru is wild, man!  We were in Lima for a few days and then we went to this area near Ica called Huacachina with these massive sand dunes where we took a semiterrifying dune buggy ride up and down the slopes and then I watched my family try to sandboard and shit.  Then back to Lima.  Man, they have some good-ass food in Peru but also if you think it's bad for pedestrians here you would get laughed at in Lima, where the drivers may not be trying intentionally to kill you but they sure drive like they are.

Then I got Covid.  Not really a surprise, I guess, travelling internationally and all, and it really hasn't been a big deal, just more annoying than anything else.

Which brings us to Fiona Apple's sophomore album, the full title of which is When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right.  One of the most surprising discoveries of doing this blog is learning that I'm kind of a huge Fiona Apple fan!  I did not see that coming.  At heart, I think I'm a pop guy.  I love catchy earwormy melodies and big choruses and this does not really have that.  Apple's songs twist and turn and rarely end up where you expect, but they're fascinating somehow, and I just love her voice.

Although Apple's lyrics are widely regarded as confessional and personal, she's said that a lot of the lyrics on this album were not diary entries, and were composed without any specific incident or personal experience in mind.  Still, even the title of the album is a poem reflecting Apple's reaction to the pillorying she received after an unflattering profile in Spin.  And a lot of the songs, like the first single, "Fast As You Can," for example, seem to be about the world's failure to respect the narrator and also to underestimate her:

I may be soft in your palm
But I'll soon grow hungry for a fight
And I will not let you win
My pretty mouth will frame the phrases
That will disprove your faith in man
So if you catch me trying to find my way into your heart
From under your skin

The album was produced by Jon Brion, who we've seen again and again on here, and he brings his richly instrumented sound to bear here.  There are horn blasts and Apple's piano and weird time signature changes and it's just a rich palette of sound, pretty much unlike anything else in 1999 or since.  

Is this album in my personal Top 500? Yeah, for sure.

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