Six Definitive Songs: The ultimate beginner’s guide to Fiona Apple
When Fiona Apple was just 18 years old, she released her debut album, Tidal, which earned her a Grammy award for Best Rock Vocal Performance for the track ‘Criminal’. Ever since, Apple has proved herself to be one of the industry’s most uncompromising and highly-skilled artists of the last 25 years.
With five albums to her name, Apple has retained her popularity despite numerous hiatuses due to her honest lyricism and magnetic voice that is instantly compelling. All of her albums have charted in the Billboard Top 20, and the release of her latest album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, was received with overwhelming positivity – labelled as an “instant classic” and a “masterpiece.”
Apple’s music is assertive, raw, and often uncomfortable. Yet this is just what makes her such a captivating figure. Despite the industry’s desire to turn Apple into a mainstream figure, the outspoken artist has refused to be controlled, instead leaning further into weirder and braver territories that always pay off.
During the MTV Awards in 1997, 19-year-old Apple was criticised for her acceptance speech where she said: “This world is bullshit. And you shouldn’t model your life—wait a second—you shouldn’t model your life about what you think that we think is cool and what we’re wearing and what we’re saying and everything. Go with yourself.” In response, the forthright musician said: “When I have something to say, I’ll say it.”
Apple’s attitude, particularly as a young woman in a heavily male-dominated industry, has always been admirable. With Kanye West even claiming that he wanted to be “like the rap version” of Apple, the musician’s influence is unquestionable. Here are six songs that define Fiona Apple…
The six definitive songs of Fiona Apple:
‘Slow Like Honey’ (1996)
Taken from Apple’s gorgeous debut, ‘Slow Like Honey’ is a silky, jazz-influenced cut that is just as smooth as dripping honey. Carried by her piano-playing, Jon Brion’s vibraphone, and contemplative drums, Apple’s voice shines with a maturity well past her 18 years.
Yet Apple is actually singing about her experience of high school, where students, particularly males, would ignore Apple because she was naturally quiet. She recalled that “no one would come near me […] people think that if you’re silent, then you’re like, snobby or something.”
‘Criminal’ (1996)
‘Criminal’ might be Apple’s most successful and well-known song, but for good reason. According to the singer, the song is about “feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality.” Sounding part-sincere, part-wry, the song opens with Apple’s devilish cry of “I’ve been a bad, bad girl” before begging for redemption over the top of inescapably catchy drums and piano.
The song became well-known for its controversial heroin-chic-esque music video, which features Apple undressing and laying over mystery men and women.
‘Fast as You Can’ (1999)
It’s hard to pick a definitive track from Apple’s second album, When the Pawn because every song is just so good. However, ‘Fast as You Can’ perfectly balances soft melodies and a lively, radio-friendly sound. The song features upbeat and energetic drums, which become the focal point of the song’s extended instrumental ending,
Apple’s voice is largely defiant, instructing the mystery man to “Run, free yourself of me/ Fast as you can.” Yet she also wavers, contorting her voice with moments of lingering uncertainty. The dynamic instrumentation pairs up perfectly with Apple’s commanding lyrics, making it one of the album’s most memorable moments.
‘Hot Knife’ (2012)
Bellowing timpani drums welcome Apple’s voice, which acts as the centrepiece of the instrumentally minimal track, ‘Hot Knife’. The musician creates a thick air of intense sexual tension as she repeats the words “If I’m butter, then he’s a hot knife,” with Apple’s sister, a cabaret singer, providing hypnotic backing vocals.
Eventually, keys are introduced as Apple announces with perfect clarity, “He excites me / Must be like the Genesis of Rhythm / I get feisty / Whenever I’m with him.” Appearing on The Idler Wheel…, released in 2012, ‘Hot Knife’ is one of Apple’s most unforgettable cuts from her entire career.
‘Shameika’ (2020)
Acting as the second track from Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Apple recalls her time at middle school on ‘Shameika’, where “I didn’t smile, because a smile always seemed rehearsed/ I wasn’t afraid of the bullies, and that just made the bullies worse.” The artist has frequently recalled how definitive middle school was for her – a period where her friends would abandon her to hang out with the popular kids.
On ‘Shameika’, Apple takes us on a journey through her time at school backed by chaotic piano keys, often punctuated by dramatic vocal inflexions. When writing the track, Apple wasn’t sure if she had imagined Shameika, but she has since discovered that she was a real girl that went to her school, even collaborating on a song with her.
‘Under the Table’ (2020)
Whereas Apple begs for redemption on ‘Criminal’, she asserts that “I would beg to disagree, but/ begging disagrees with me” on ‘Under the Table’. Taken from Fetch the Bolt Cutters, the track sees Apple at her most defiant, declaring, “Kick me under the table all you want/ I won’t shut up.”
The piano-led track explodes with Apple’s powerful voice that demands to be heard. Lyrically, it was inspired by a dinner party that the musician attended where she “called [one of the guests] out. And may have messed the dinner up a little bit. But I was right.”
