i know

Fiona Apple should be in the encyclopedia under the heading New Blues Masters. Long before Amy Winehouse and Corinne Bailey Rae hit the scene, Fiona was cranking out the smoke and piano sound. She made room for them to come along and emulate the old school jazz but in a super current fashion.

I love them all truthfully. There’s something about that music that knows how I feel on my bluest Mondays and grayest Sundays. It gets inside my head and reads my mind and tells me what I’m trying to say.

The first time I experienced that clairvoyant music I was listening to Charlie Brown records as a child. From those I discovered Vince Guaraldi, the musician that gave Charlie Brown and the gang it’s special character. The Vince Guaraldi Trio made music that made dialogue obsolete. I hear that music and see Charlie’s frustrated face and I know how his soul feels.

What amazes me is that 20 years before I was born, Vince Guaraldi was making music that still has that effect on me. How did he read my mind and know my moods so many years ago?

That’s how I’ve always felt about Fiona Apple as well. The only difference with her is she speaks the new language. Modern times have brought women to the writer’s table, and this blues singer doesn’t hold back language or subject. It’s a perfect combination of the sound I love and rebellion.

Although she is often remembered as part of the rash of girly acts that appeared in second half of the nineties, her sophistication and talent set her far apart. Her second album title sums up her individuality and early maturity:

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 before 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

I believe it may hold the record for longest album title ever.

The last track on this album is a song that allmusic.com calls “a modern standard.” I agree. It’s one of my favorites. Even if sometimes it does leave me crying on the floor...

So be it, I'm your crowbar
If that’s what I am so far
Until you get out of this mess
And I will pretend
That I don’t know of your sins
Until you are ready to confess
But all the time, all the time
I'll know, I'll know

And you can use my skin
To bury your secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion,
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background
But all the time, all the time
I'll know, I'll know

Baby-I can't help you out, while she's still around.

So for the time being, I'm being patient
And amidst this bitterness
If you'll just consider this -even if it don’t make sense
all the time- give it time

And when the crowd becomes your burden
And you've early closed your curtains,
I'll wait by the backstage door
While you try to find the lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late, for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so
It's ok, don’t need to say it...


I Know by Fiona Apple