Fiona Apple: The Gift of Honesty
October 6, 2022
Fiona Apple Mcfee-Maggart, professionally known as Fiona Apple, was born on September 13th, 1977 in New York City. She is a singer-songwriter, known for her unique music style, lying somewhere between art pop and jazz, and her raw, bold lyrics. She writes all her own songs, and as of 2022, has released five albums.
Growing up in Manhattan, she was often made fun of for her appearance. Her classmates would call her a dog. According to Rolling Stone, Fiona would regularly skip school. Fiona’s emotions were disturbingly deep for such a young age. One day, she told one of her classmates; “I am going to kill myself, and I’m going to take my sister with me.” She was taken in for a psychiatric evaluation and told she had depression. The therapist also said she had a problem with thinking too much.
Fiona’s relationship with music would begin at a young age- she was composing her own songs on the piano when she was only eight years old. In an article from Rolling Stone, her father recalls suggesting that they write a song together. She wasn’t interested. By next summer, she had written these “inaccessible lyrics about darkness.” Songwriting had become an emotional outlet for her.
In 1996, Tidal was released. Like much of Fiona’s work, Tidal deals in raw, uncomfortable emotions. In my opinion, it’s one of her saddest, most melancholy albums. The fourth song on the album, Criminal, would become one of her most well-known songs, and win two awards: A Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and the VMA Award for Best Cinematography (for its music video).
A year after Tidal was released, she received the VMA award for Best New Artist. She didn’t even think she would win, but her unprepared speech would become very well-known. Though iconic, it completely turned her image around, and not for the better.
Fiona was on stage, and instead of delivering a typical acceptance speech, which she had no plan for, she simply said what was on her mind.
“I didn’t prepare a speech and I’m sorry but I’m glad I didn’t because I’m not gonna do this like everybody else does it. … See, Maya Angelou said that we, as human beings, at our best, can only create opportunities.
And I’m gonna use this opportunity the way that I want to use it. So, what I want to say is – um, everybody out there that’s watching, everybody that’s watching this world? This world is bullsh*t. 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. Go with yourself.”
By “this world” she meant the world of celebrities and show business. In my mind, this speech was meant to encourage people to be themselves, and not care about celebrity culture. But not everyone seemed to understand or appreciate this. She went from being seen as a sort of ethereal, tragic victim to a bratty drama queen who couldn’t be taken seriously.
Regardless of the media’s perception of her, some people admired her for being so genuine and upfront on stage. This has remained consistent throughout her public life. Personally, I think it’s admirable that she has stayed so true to herself, and didn’t get caught up in the superficiality of Hollywood.
Fiona Apple might not be to everyone’s taste. But that’s okay. No one can please everyone, and it’s better to just be genuine than wear yourself out trying. Despite anything said about her, Fiona has amassed a loyal fanbase over the years, and her five albums have all received glowing ratings online.
Today, she lives in California. Although she does have social media, she is relatively private about her life and has not performed in concert since 2019. Her most recent album, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, released in 2020, received overwhelmingly positive reviews. It’s unknown whether she will release any more music, but if she does, I’m sure it will be just as fresh and insightful as her other work.
Fiona Apple Youtube Channel:
