Fiona Apple has never been one to mince words. She’s loquacious and bold, but there’s never been a word wasted. Not in her various interviews over the years, and not even in her 90-word album title from 1999. She speaks her mind no matter the consequences, and there have been consequences.
In addition to having a certain way with words, Apple also has a certain way of expressing criticism. That is, unapologetically (if you haven’t noticed already, this is a Fiona Apple-positive space). Consistently, she’s called out bias in the music industry, bigotry, misogyny, and disenfranchisement across the board. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1997, she commented on public perception, and specifically the perception of her art.
Contextually, this interview took place two months after Apple’s infamous MTV VMAs speech. Then, she was only 19 years old, but self-aware enough to know what was up. While accepting her award, she said that “this world is bulls–t” and drove home the idea that “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.”
This caused a lot of backlash at the time from all sides (incidentally, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder said something similar at the 1996 Grammys, but which of these artists experienced career-halting wrath?).
Fiona Apple in 1997: “I’m Absolutely Miserable”
When speaking with Rolling Stone, Fiona Apple was open and honest. Asked about how she’s doing—the exact words being “you seem a little down”—she candidly replied, “I’m absolutely miserable because everybody hates me because of what I said at the MTV Video Music Awards.”
She elaborated, “I mean, I went through some s–t, so I wrote songs about it, to help myself. Once those songs came out, people started asking me what they were about, and I didn’t lie. I thought that I was doing something right, because I didn’t want to be somebody that people necessarily looked up to, but just somebody that people could relate to.”
The parasocial relationships that happen specifically between musicians and fans have been happening basically since music was invented. Fiona Apple wanted to be relatable, not idolized. However, that idolatry still happens whether it’s intended or not. It happened in the 1800s with Lisztomania. We saw it in recent years with Chappell Roan. Unfortunately, it will continue to be a phenomenon as long as there are celebrities in the world.
“If you’re going to be in the public eye, why can’t you just be a human being and say how you feel about things?” Apple posited next. “Why can’t you just say, ‘I feel sad, I feel confused,’ and have people relate to that?”
She continued, “It makes me more glad that I said that this world is bulls–t because I was trying to talk to the people that were modeling themselves after all us freaks. The majority of us artists have felt awkward at times in our lives; we use our music to feel better and be appreciated by other human beings. That’s what everybody wants: just to connect with people. I couldn’t connect my whole life.”
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images
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