And I will actually type them all out for you right here. I promise, I'm not cheating.
(Not that you should take into account the videos for any of the songs I post, since the focus should be the aural and not the visual, but I do believe that Paul Thomas Anderson, Fiona Apple's then-boyfriend, directed this music video.)
Fast As You Can - Fiona Apple
I let the beast in too soon. I don't know how to live without his hand on my throat. I fight him always and still. Oh darlin', it's so sweet - you think you know how crazy, how I crazy I am. You say you don't spook easy, you won't go, but I know, and I pray that you will.
Fast as you can, baby, run, free yourself of me, fast as you can.
I may be soft in your palm, but I'll soon grow hungry for a fight, and I will not let you win. [That's my favorite line right there.] My pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will disprove your faith in man. So if you catch me trying to find my way into your heart from under your skin,
Fast as you can, baby, scratch me out, free yourself, fast as you can. Fast as you can, baby, scratch me out free yourself, fast as you can.
Sometimes my mind don't shake and shift, but most of the time it does. And I get to the place where I'm beggin' for a lift, or I'll drown in the wonders and the was. And I'll be your girl if you say it's a gift, and you give me some more of your drugs. Yeah, I'll be your pet if you just tell me it's a gift, 'cause I'm tired of whys, chokin' on whys - just a need a little because, because.
I let the beast in, and then I even tried forgiving him, but it's too soon, so I'll fight again, again, again, again, again. And for a little while more I'll soar the uneven winds, complain and blame the sterile land. But if you're gettin' any bright ideas, quiet, dear! I'm blooming within.
Fast as you can baby, wait watch me, I'll be out fast as I can, maybe late but at least about, fast as you can, leave me, let this thing run its route, fast as you can... fast as you can... fast as you can... fast as you can.
---
Short rant of sorts:
I miss when mainstream music featured women who were talented songwriters and performers (without needing a shit-ton of vocal processing and sound production), who didn't have to rely on their sexuality to be popular (but they didn't suppress it either). What happened to women like Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, etc? They used to be all over the place, and now we have Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and Ke$ha and I'll-stoop-to-any-level-to-get-attention Christina Aguilera. (I haven't decided if Beyonce gets a pass from me or not.) Now they're all tarty pop stars whose vocals are all dressed up with fancy studio equipment to hide the fact that some of them are just really unremarkable singers, singing songs that have no intellectual value, and shoving their sexuality down our throats. Sure, they're catchy and enjoyable, but it's throwaway consumable entertainment. The "Lilith Fair" ladies of yore actually inspired me, and they made me think and feel. They made me want to sing and play the guitar and be a musician, not a pop star. The MUSIC was the thing, not the image or the hype, but at the same time, they were iconic as female musicians and artists - they weren't just nameless, faceless women fronting a band.
They were my heroes during my particularly impressionable early teen years. What musical heroes do girls have now?
(Not that you should take into account the videos for any of the songs I post, since the focus should be the aural and not the visual, but I do believe that Paul Thomas Anderson, Fiona Apple's then-boyfriend, directed this music video.)
Fast As You Can - Fiona Apple
I let the beast in too soon. I don't know how to live without his hand on my throat. I fight him always and still. Oh darlin', it's so sweet - you think you know how crazy, how I crazy I am. You say you don't spook easy, you won't go, but I know, and I pray that you will.
Fast as you can, baby, run, free yourself of me, fast as you can.
I may be soft in your palm, but I'll soon grow hungry for a fight, and I will not let you win. [That's my favorite line right there.] My pretty mouth will frame the phrases that will disprove your faith in man. So if you catch me trying to find my way into your heart from under your skin,
Fast as you can, baby, scratch me out, free yourself, fast as you can. Fast as you can, baby, scratch me out free yourself, fast as you can.
Sometimes my mind don't shake and shift, but most of the time it does. And I get to the place where I'm beggin' for a lift, or I'll drown in the wonders and the was. And I'll be your girl if you say it's a gift, and you give me some more of your drugs. Yeah, I'll be your pet if you just tell me it's a gift, 'cause I'm tired of whys, chokin' on whys - just a need a little because, because.
I let the beast in, and then I even tried forgiving him, but it's too soon, so I'll fight again, again, again, again, again. And for a little while more I'll soar the uneven winds, complain and blame the sterile land. But if you're gettin' any bright ideas, quiet, dear! I'm blooming within.
Fast as you can baby, wait watch me, I'll be out fast as I can, maybe late but at least about, fast as you can, leave me, let this thing run its route, fast as you can... fast as you can... fast as you can... fast as you can.
---
Short rant of sorts:
I miss when mainstream music featured women who were talented songwriters and performers (without needing a shit-ton of vocal processing and sound production), who didn't have to rely on their sexuality to be popular (but they didn't suppress it either). What happened to women like Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, etc? They used to be all over the place, and now we have Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and Ke$ha and I'll-stoop-to-any-level-to-get-attention Christina Aguilera. (I haven't decided if Beyonce gets a pass from me or not.) Now they're all tarty pop stars whose vocals are all dressed up with fancy studio equipment to hide the fact that some of them are just really unremarkable singers, singing songs that have no intellectual value, and shoving their sexuality down our throats. Sure, they're catchy and enjoyable, but it's throwaway consumable entertainment. The "Lilith Fair" ladies of yore actually inspired me, and they made me think and feel. They made me want to sing and play the guitar and be a musician, not a pop star. The MUSIC was the thing, not the image or the hype, but at the same time, they were iconic as female musicians and artists - they weren't just nameless, faceless women fronting a band.
They were my heroes during my particularly impressionable early teen years. What musical heroes do girls have now?