Ear candy (with suprising flavours of note)
Click to viewSong to slit your wrists to or self affirmation?
You decide.
The sublime Fiona Apple is a songwriter extraordinaire; her songs of dreamy explorations of the dark side of human emotions resonates. Melodious and haunting, her music is flavoured by various genres from early jazz, alternative rock and pop. She uses her life experience to power her deeply personal lyrics, relating joy, unhappiness and even alluding to the trauma of being raped as a child. Her voice is a smoky alto that flows smoothly with the instruments (usually an unusual and delightful conglomeration of mediaeval to modern instruments), powerful enough not to be swallowed.
This song is the first of her songs that I came across, a tale of weariness and acceptance and recognition of dysfunction that is wry and bittersweet. Complex and layered, and that's just the lyrics. I could only dream of being able to sing like she could.
The Way Things Are (Fiona Apple)
I wouldn't know what to do with another chance
If you gave it to me
I couldn't take the embrace of a real romance
It'd race right through me
I'm much better off the way things are
Much much better off, better by far, by far
I wouldn't know what to say to a gentle voice
It'd roll right past me
And if you chalk it up you'll see I don't really have a choice
So don't even ask me
I'm much better off, the way things are
Much much better off, better by far
So keep on calling me names, keep on, keep on
And I'll keep kicking the crap till its gone
If you keep on killing, you could get me to settle
And as soon as I settle, I bet I'll be
Able to move on
How can I fight, when we're on the same side
How can I fight beside you
So keep on calling me names, keep on, keep on
And I'll keep kicking the crap till its gone
If you keep on killing, you could get me to settle
And as soon as I settle, I bet I'll be
Able to move on