So Fiona Apple is coming out with a new album and touring North America this summer... that's minor news, huh?
To say I'm excited would be a wee bit of an understatement... and this is coming from someone who only knew about five of her songs up until about two years ago.
Fiona will not be visiting Buffalo on her tour, but you have three chances to see her this summer as she will be making stops at the following venues:
Ithaca - State Theatre - June 19
Toronto - Sound Academy - July 4
Cleveland - Cain park - July 6
The news of a new album and tour got me thinking about how I've always known Fiona Apple but how I hadn't listened to more of her music until recently... then I remembered why. Read the article, watch the video, and comment with your memories of Fiona's music.
I remember sitting on the carpeted living room floor of my father's house on North Ellicott Creek Road. I was watching music videos on MTV and anticipating what seventh grade, merely weeks away, had to offer me. [not much]. It was the summer of 1997 and I, despite not really having discovered music quite yet at that junction in my life, knew that if I saw the music video for "Fly" by Sugar Ray one more time than it would be one time too many.
Commercial.
Commercial.
Commercial.
Commercial. Commercial. Commercial.
The commercial break ended and a dark and unsettling video began with a camera flashing in unison with the pop of a snare drum. I watched with guilt for what seemed like ages but, in reality, was probably no more than ninety seconds.
That's a weird bear, why is his snout so long? I'd ask myself. Why are all these people lying on the floor? She's a bad girl? She looks like a bad girl. And why is she in the bathtub? Is the other person sleeping or actively bathing? She's taking her clothes off! Is this what seventh grade is going to be like? [sadly, no] Wait, why is she in the pool now? She's gonna smell like chlorine... definitely gonna have to take another bath. Definitely.
I decided to let the deeply philosophical questions of an adolescent mind fall by the wayside. I decided that changing the channel and suppressing the uneasy feeling from what I had just seen was the best course of action. Number one, someone could walk in at any time and see me watching some malnourished Calvin Klein model in various states of undress on MTV. Number two, and certainly more important to me at the time: SWAT Kats was about to start on Cartoon Network.
That was my first experience with Fiona Apple.
Since that lazy summer day I have come to take great enjoyment from Fiona's music but, until recently, never delved deeper than the five of six songs I had come to love. I was driving home several months ago when "Carrion", the final track on Tidal, Apple's debut album, came on and swiftly put an end to having merely casual respect for a few songs I had heard over the years. Wow, I thought to myself, how could I have possibly come this far in life without hearing this song!? I proceeded to turn up the volume and played the song two more times before I pulled into my driveway that night. I have easily listened to the song 50+ times since... oh, and there have been myriad nights I have sat in disbelief, listening to the awesome power of Fiona's vocals as she warbles those heart-wrenching lyrics over the jazzy rhythm section and the 'summer of love' guitar with the heavy tremolo.
I mean, jesus, think of all the people who haven't experienced this song yet...
"All I want is to save you, honey/or the strength to walk away"
Who can't relate to that? I don't know, maybe a lot of people... hopefully a lot of people. I sure as hell know that I've been on both sides of that lyric.
The whole point is that this beautiful beautiful song was right there. It was right in front of my face the whole time. I mean, sure, "Criminal" was the song on heavy rotation back in that summer of my youth, but they were on the same album; an album I have owned for at least seven years.
It's funny, in a sense, but also really really strange.
It's one thing to discover a song from before I was born that I come to enjoy, and even love... but when a song from my lifetime finds its way into my life, especially when I can remember seeing and hearing about the artist before I knew anything about them... that really sends me for a loop. Maybe it's the nostalgia of it all.
Looking back, it kinda feels like the whole 'innocence to experience' teachings from my high school days (thanks again, Mr. Crock). I eat, sleep, and breath music; I have for quite some time... but there was a time when I didn't.
There was a time when I hadn't the faintest comprehension of what having to walk away from something was like (and how hard it can be)... or what it was like to be so lost that someone else was asking for the strength to leave me. There was a time when Fiona Apple creeped me out. I was certainly innocent when I saw "Criminal" for the first time.
...I'm glad those days are over.
I can't wait to get her new album in June. I've been listening to Every Single Night and it is amazing. You should check it out! http://soundcloud.com/fionaapple/every-single-night